How can I sell my house?

[SCUMFROG]

Has any one ever sold a house on they're own. I really need to move and don't want to pay a realitor to sell my place.

How do I get together all the paperwork and stuff?

[picksbigwagon]

Girl I work with did it a couple of years ago, they had a company that solely did the legal paper work, cost them very little, but was a source of legal opinions and to make sure everything was on the up and up......I wished we would have done that. I will ask her what that companies name was.......

[SCUMFROG]

Thanks.

I've seen those "we buy ugly houses" ads, and some one told me they only give you what they think the house is worth. I need to get at least what I owe.

[lawdog]

Any general practice law office can prepare the paperwork for you. I do tons of real estate forms here for realtors and for people going on their own. Its not rocket science to sell you place...

[marine_man]

I haven't ever sold a house by owner but did purchase one from a owner directly (no realtor). It was pretty simple... I paid the a lawyer $75 to draw up the purchase agreement, they paid the lawyer to get the abstract updated and the closing company (provided by the bank since we had to get a mortgage) took care of the rest of the paperwork.

It was pretty simple...

marine_man

[BobT]

The most important thing to remember is "Get everything in writing". NEVER assume anything. If you already have a buyer you certainly don't need a real estate agent. I would recommend hiring an attorney to be sure the paperwork is done correctly. You don't want loop holes to haunt you some day later on.

I sold a house on a contract. We went to a local office supply and they had generic purchase agreements and contract for deed forms. We just ammended as we agreed. They were very helpful by reminding of such things as earnest money, down-payment, well disclosures, taxes, abstract, title searches, etc.

Bob

Bob

[IT Guy]

I sold my last house by myself and used Direct By Owner. They put it in their magazine and on the web. It was about $1,000. I also contracted them to do the closing which was a bit less than $1,000. I would do the last part myself next time.

In my opinion, you just need to get your house on the internet. A lot of agents just troll the net looking for houses - same as you can do.

Buying / Selling a house is easy - finding the all the stupid required paperwork is the trick. A lawyer and closing company can do that for you.

Good Luck!

[barnyard]

We bought the house we are in now directly from the owner. She went online and found all the paperwork. It looked exactly like the stuff we got from our 1st realtor. We had everything in writing and it went off without a hitch.

Tom B

[CanOCorn]

If you aren't in a hurry, try it on your own. Otherwise, with it being a "buyers" market right now you may be wise to make the investment with an agency. I know that a real estate works in two directions. One, the buyers agent who incurs the advertising costs, MLS listing costs, etc. Second would be the sellers agent. I know from past dealings that a sellers agent will not even look at for sale buy owner properties to show their clients. It sucks but may save you a lot of headaches down the road to just list it with an agent.

[mtreno]

cause the selling agent makes no money selling them a house for sale by owner.

help you sell

direct by owner

buyself

three places to check out. they all help you with paperwork for a small fee. they get your property listed on the minneapolis mls system and get you signs for your yard with handouts.

you will be paying a listing flat fee. you will also be paying the sellers agent 2.8% fee. but they will show your house cause they are getting paid - you have to remember nothing in this world is free and you get what you pay for...... want to pay half price? well this is the way to do it but your getting half the service.

[SCUMFROG]

Thanks for all the info. I just don't want to get hosed on this or hose any one else. I will get a hold of a lawyer and see what they can do for me.

[FishingFather]

I sold my last house on my own about two years ago. We put the brochures outside and did an open house ourselves. We put an ad in the Star Tribune and the city paper and had big banners out in the yard so you could not miss it. We had a little blurb in the ad stating indicating we would work with buyers represented by a realtor but that the price we had listed was not guaranteed. I wasn't going to pay someone else's closing costs to purchase the house. We had a realtor who was willing to do the paperwork on the side for $500 so we didn't need a realtor for either us or buyer. We sold the house the first weekend (the market was pretty good then). The buyer had a realtor so I agreed to pay $1000 of the closing costs but their realtor had to do all the paperwork for the close (I figured it was going to cost me $500 either way) and then we tacked on the difference to the price of the house.

I found it much easier than having a realtor because I got to decide when people were coming into my house rather than those last second calls saying someone wanted to look at my house...ugh!

I am not sure if I would ever try to sell my house at first with a realtor.

[IFallsRon]

I have some pdf papers I'll share. Send me an e-mail: Ifallsron at charter dot net.

You don't need a Realtor. They will, however, do some of the hand-holding that many buyers need plus they have lists in their pockets of people looking for certain kind of houses.

Most attorneys can help with the proper paperwork.

[PierBridge]

It's a big red flag IMO.......and I believe it will make it much more difficult to sell your house.

I have sold two properties myself but this ain't your Daddys "cupcake" market anymore.....

Good Luck my guess is after 2 or 3 months on your own you'll pony up a realtor....

Don't Do it.....

[perchking]

I sold my house in Grafton Wisconsin in 3 days FSBO. I saved over 25K in real estate fees.

Opps I forgot my wife is a Lawyer and help out a little bit also.

[mtreno]

i would be real careful using a lawyer. i have been in more than one deal that has had huge proplems just cause the seller wanted to save a few bucks. ya the paper work is not rocket science - but it changes all the time and the market moves quickly - we get a good laugh around the office everytime we get a call from some lawyer who "took a property law class in law school". if you use a liscensed realtor and there is a problem - if falls back to that agent and that agents company - the first form a attorney will have you sign is one saying he is not liable for any leagal problems

not saying there arnt any good ones - just be carefull who you work with

grab a sign - put it up - make some flyers - run an add - have an open house or three - give it a month or two - and see what happens - you never know you may sell it the first day! the market is really slow right now anyway so you may as well make it a learning experiance. when you find a buyer and if they are not working with an agent - worry about it then...... usualy not to hard to find someone to do them for you once you have a buyer anyway - tac 1k on to the sales price and call around a bit you will find an agent willing to help ya out for the $

[Ely Lake Expert]

I was working as a Realtor and I am still licensed, but now I am in the insurance business because of the excessively high number of people trying to be realtors made it not worth my time.

Anyway,

fsbo's do sell, but if you are in a hurry to sell I would go get a Realtor right away. By selling through a realtor you get a whole lot more exposure to a bigger group of buyers, especially what was previously said, most realtors either would already have a buyer in mind or at least someone in that specific company would have someone in mind. People may not know, but most companies have a weekly staff meeting where all new listings that week are discussed and at least where I worked we would also go on a group tour of the new listings. Also alot of the more experienced realtors know every realtor in the area no matter what company they are with so that covers even more. Another thing with fsbo's, from what I have heard alot of people that look at them either aren't serious buyers or do not have the credit rating to get the proper loan. All in all, it may seem expensive to sell through a realtor, but you can raise the price to make up for it and with the connections they have and the money and time the spend on advertising, especially if you want a quick sell listing with a company is well worth it IMO.

Ryan

[SCUMFROG]

I really can't afford to pay a realtor. That's why I'm trying to do this on my own. I'm thinking of using one of those asset u sell or help u sell places. I've talked to a title place and that's what they recommended. Has any one heard any thing bad about them?

[Ely Lake Expert]

Scum,

As far as paperwork is concerned helpUsell or whomever you choose can help you with that, but the big negative with those type of companies is advertising. The market exposure is not nearly what it is compared to a coldwell banker, century 21, or remax. Whomever you choose, I hope you get a quick sell and everything works out well.

Ryan

[upnorth]

The biggest thing you will need it to find a way to market your house to buyers. You can do that through ads, flyers, open houses etc.

Once you have a buyer then you want to contact a lawyer to make sure you have everything in order on the purchase agreement. You really need to get everything down as to what is purchased and who is responsible for what as far as any taxes or assements etc. You can also have the lawyer close the deal for a fee depending on the financing.

If you are serious about selling yourself call a local Real Estate agency most will do a free market analysis. You can use what they find as a pricing tool. You can also ask them about their marketing plan and maybe mimic it the best you can.

[ChuckN]

I sold my house myself and it was fairly easy. Held a two weekend open houses, made some nice flyers, advertised in the paper and sold it on a Saturday after 2 weeks of advertising. The buyer did not have a realtor either. Granted, this was over 4 years ago, I think the market was much better than today, so you may have that against you, skumfrog.

I obtained disclosure statements from a realty company (all online) and sat down and filled out the paperwork with the buyer. I think the most important part of the sale is DISCLOSE everything. I don't care if you had a mouse in the house 4 years ago....just don't hide anything.

I know several lawyers and they all said go through the purchase agreement, get everything in writing with a sufficient down payment, work out the contingencies, and arrange a tentative sale date. And finally, turn over your paperwork to a closing company (law firm, typically) and they will do the rest (abstract, title work, contact the mortgage companies, handle money, etc..)

I was fortunate it was that easy, but dealing with difficult people is the toughest part. I feel for realtors from experiencing just some of the nightmares when purchasing our current home.

Good luck!

[Down Deep]

I've sold two houses without a realtor. You can avoid the commisssion, but it is not a free ride. Most likely you will have some marketing costs and you have to be available to show the house.You will have to do some research into the pricing of your house and it will usually take longer to sell than the average house on the market.The two houses I sold were flip houses so I knew what I had in them and what I wanted so my pricing was easy. I didn't really care how long they were on the market although the market was hot and both sold in less than 60 days. I wouldn't want to make a pricing assesment on my personal home. You will also have to let anyone look at the property that wants to. Both houses I sold were empty so security wasn't that big an issue, but I'm not so sure I would want just anyone walking the house I was living in without some form or screening. Also, be prepared for some real low-ball offers. The one cost you do not want to avoid is the cost of an attorney. A mistake at the closing or on the contract can cost you the money you save on the commision and might be even more. There is lots of informaion on the web on how to sell a house. Your mortgage company will have some info as well.

[toonfish]

My company can help you with some questions......I own my company and we run a free sellers assistance program. Shoot me an e-mail and I can help you out getting started and get you set up with some of the basics. My personal e-mail is benschnack at hotmail.com.....e-mail me there and then we can make contact by phone and help you out.

[eurolarva]

We sold ours last year through buyself.com. If you use one of their agents to buy a different house they will cover the mls listing all the showings and the paperwork. They give you everything you need to sell the house. If you are in a hurry to sell you will want to open it up to agents which means you will still have to pay 3 percent instead of 6 or 7 percent. Nice thing about having an agent to buy a house is the price is already fixed and the seller pays for your agent.

[Mr. Pike1]

When my wife and I got married we each owned a home and I used Direct By Owner. That was 5 years ago and the housing market was a "sellers" market. You are now in a "buyers" market and moving a property even with a realitor will most likely take 3-6 months and you will most likely get less for your property as the buyer has many many options in the market place.

Anyway by using Direct by owner and then a closing company to finalize the deal we saved 25k on each of properties by not having to pay the 6-7% in realator fees. There are risks but in the end it is your property and I decided I could better use the 50k to buy some toys and furnish the new house. Again when we sold it was a buyers market. Both properties sold after the first showing and we had multiple offers on each.

Using a realator when it is a tough market like today will have its advantages. If I were you and you can wait I would wait to sell until the market turns back in your favor.

[MossBoss95]

Well first of all let me tell you I am a Real Estate Agent and will offer of this as a way to help and not to solicitate business.

I have read the posts and some have some really good points.

First, the market as said above is a buyers market, and there will be a ton of competition in your price range. The average time on the market(MLS listings) is about 60-120days, and with more expensive homes even more. So if you are in a big hurry, agent listed or FSBO listed homes will take awile.

Second, is the for sale by owner shops. The FSBO shops will charge you on a sliding scale depending on how many "extras" you want, i.e. Advertising, paperwork, web listing and this can be expensive as well. Also if you list it with them on the MLS you will still have to pay a buyers agent 2.7% comission on top. So as with a 200k home it will cost 1-2K to the fsbo shope and 2.7%(5,400) to the buyers realtor. All in all about 6-7K. Now this dosent cover the Title company which will cost you another 400$ give or take a few dollars, which is a must.

Third, a realestate co will charge 4-6% depending on where you go I.E. Edina realty, coldwell banker. They will handle all of the things said above alonge with their large network of people. Final cost with a realtor on a 200K home, ($8,000-12,000). The 5,400 to the buyers agent is a constant and will always be 2.7% on a MLS listed home. One other thing to consider that when you list the agent he/she will know what your home will sell for in the current market,and pricing is the key.

Well I could go on forever but I hope I have helped a little. Yes, realtors are more expensive but again you get what you pay for. The most inportant thing to remember is get it in writting and have a professional look at the final paperwork.

If my info is contradictory to others please don't bash me this is only my experience, and am here to help.

Mossboss95

[castmaster]

one thing i'll say is take advice from those who have sold properties on there own OUTSIDE of the late 1990's-2005. during the boom of the past years ANYONE could sell a house. talk to folks who sold on their own during the 1980's as their experiences may more closely resmble yours. then rememebr to take into account the internet and such that will allow you to reach more buyers.

also, if you think there may be any problems with the home, be sure to have it inspected before and disclose any of these rpoblems to buyers. the last thing you'll want is a lwasuit 2 years down the road because of something you didnt disclose and were supposed to!

[SCUMFROG]

Well after this weekend my wife and I have decided to stay in the house and wait to sell. We talked to some realtors and they all say what you guys are saying here. It's a buyers market not a sellers. So I'll just keep it and do some more repairs and painting. Hopefully I can get some of the stuff done by my self.

I would like to thank all of you for your advice on this.