Buy By Owner Homes

FSBO is an acronym that stands for the real estate strategy of For Sale by Owner. The term For Sale by Owner means that an individual chooses to sell his without using the resources of a real estate agency. Real estate options also call homes sold by the owner “fizbos”.

There are a number of reasons that homeowners opt to sell their homes on their own. The most popular reason for choosing FSBO is to avoid spending money on real estate fees. Choosing FSBO may mean extra work for the homeowner but the profit gained more than makes up for it. Real Estate agents receive a commission of an average seven percents so when a homeowner chooses FSBO they have the potential of saving thousands of dollars. Also if a homeowner lists their home FSBO then they have a lot of control over the whole process including negotiating the contract and when they want to show the house.

Because property values continue to fall in the U.S there are a number of homeowners who are choosing to sell there home in hopes of regaining a bit of equity. They also hope to maybe break even or avoid a short sale.

With the high numbers of home inventories, a homeowner choosing FSBO should work on their technique when they are showing their homes so the potential buyer may choose to purchase the house.
When showing a FSBO home, be sure not to “stalk” potential homeowners by following them as they walk into the rooms of the home. If you follow the potential buyers all over the house, they will be uncomfortable and will leave quickly. The point is to show the home and point out a few features and then let them browse the home on their own. You can always tell the potential buyer of your FSBO home that you will be waiting in the kitchen or the yard if they have any questions.

It is also important not to over talk when it comes to selling your FSBO home. Of course you should show the home in the most positive light but the potential buyer of your FSBO home does not to know every little detail of each room and every aspect of every decision you have made when it comes to your home.
One of the most important things to consider when selling your home is to know important details such as, how much energy will cost on average, where the schools and parks are, information on the actual construction of the home and even where the property line is.

It is also important when selling your FSBO home that you are not sentimental. This may be difficult especially if you have lived in the home for a long time or if you are being forced to sell because of financial circumstances. Just because you may love the color of the living room and worked hard on the tomato garden out back doesn’t mean you need to disclose that to the potential buyer. After all, they may not be interested in your past with the home because they are thinking about their future with the home.

If you have a chance to call the potential buyer, follow up with them and ask them what they thought of the home. Do not use the term MY Home. Selling your home is about business, it is no longer personal.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 2:23 pm and is filed under For Sale by Owner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.