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Eight advantages of selling your own house (fsbo) on MiaDomo

The following describes some of the main financial and practical reasons for selling your own home. Knowing these arguments will help steel you against the doubts that real estate agents may try to foster in your mind as you are selling by owner.

1. To save large amount of money

   Why spend money when you can avoid it? Selling by owner is a good way to save your equity by avoiding expensive real estate sales commissions. A 6% commission on a home that sells for $150,000 is $9,000. Think of that $9,000 as a selling cost. It is helpful to consider the potential commission savings as a factor in a simple cost/benefit analysis when deciding to sell your own home. Do you think it will cost you $9,000 in out of pocket expenses to sell your own home? Most likely it will cost you a small fraction of that. And remember that when you sell your own home your selling costs (advertising, signs in the yard, etc.) may be tax-deductible, further reducing your out-of-pocket expenses (get IRS Form 2119 Expense of Sale for the current tax year). In fact, you would be hard-pressed not to save money when selling by owner compared to selling through an agent!

2. To sell faster

   Selling your home with an agent may actually delay its sale, contrary to what agents' advertising may say. Consider the common practice of inflating the price of the home to compensate for the agent's commission (It's a practice because it's how agents are taught to price homes in their training manual Modern Real Estate Practices). In the first place, a buyer knowing you're using an agent won't pay the inflated price so they will reflexively offer less. Now you must choose between accepting less, losing more equity or waiting for a buyer to pay the inflated price :all undesirable. An overpriced home will sit on the market for a longer period of time. Eventually buyers will think there is something wrong with the house otherwise it would have sold by now and it may never sell. In fact according to the real estate industry's own statistics, up to 60% of all homes listed with real estate agents do not sell within the listing period, which is typically 6 months to a year. In these unfortunate cases, either the listing expires or the owner gets discouraged and takes it off the market.

   Ben Hales, a private homeseller, found that in a head-to-head competition with a local real estate company, he reached the finish line before his agent ever left the gate: "I sold my house myself within 6 days (using your magazine)… for my asking price, and with two back-up offers as well. My realtor never brought a single person to see it, though he'd listed and advertised it in the paper with a photo, and at the same price, for a month before me!"

3. Greater market immunity

   What we mean by this is that selling by owner makes financial and practical sense in both buyer's and seller's markets. In buyer's markets, with lots of similar homes available, it can be difficult to sell because of the competition. Selling by owner gives a competitive advantage to that homeowner because they can afford to be more price-competitive, if they choose, than their neighbor listed with a real estate agent. All other factors being equal, common sense economics predicts that the buyer will prefer the comparable, though less costly home offered for-sale-by-owner. In the seller's markets, where the buyers' demand for homes outstrips the supply, it's not smart to pay a commission and sacrifice any portion of your equity. Knowing how to sell by owner will enable you to retain the maximum amount of your hard-earned equity. The good practical sense of selling by owner works in both types of markets.

4. Convenience

   YOU are in control when you sell on your own. You schedule your own appointments for buyers to visit. No more having to keep your home spotless just in case an agent decides to show it that day. No more leaving the house because an agent wants to show it. No more personal security threads from lock boxes and unannounced visits from agents. When selling your own home, you know when people are coming for a visit, and can prepare accordingly. In fact, we were somewhat surprised to learn from our customers that the convenience of selling by owner was often a major factor in their decision to drop their real estate agent and sell their own property.

   "One of the nicest thinks about selling on our own was that we were in control of the showing schedule. We did not have to leave the house in the morning and wonder if people were going to look at it. We had an answering machine - people called - we called them back and would set up a time at our mutual convenience" - Ben Hale.

5. Less stress and frustration

   Change is almost always stressful. The events surrounding the home selling and buying process involve major changes so anticipate stress. And you are getting stress from both sides because you are also probably looking for a new home at the same time as trying to sell your current property. Rest assured that since you are in control when selling your own home you will experience much less stress than you would if were selling through a real estate agent. Since you will know how much effort is being put into marketing your home, you won't get frustrated because "they are not doing enough". And since you meet prospective buyers you know how interested they are and won't be in the dark wondering what's going on. This direct feedback is easier to live with than is wondering how things are going, or worse, why no one has made an offer yet.

   Control=less uncertainty=less frustration=less stress.

6. You can sell your home best

   It's safe to say that no one knows a home better than the current owner. After all, you've probably lived there for a number of years. You know your home inside and out, the schools, the neighborhood, the tax base and what is special about the area and your neighbors. A well-maintained, fairly priced home will virtually sell itself; your role is simply to embellish information and help present the property in its best light.

7. Exclusive and special homes

   By definition, homes offered directly by owner are exclusive and special. They aren't listed with real estate agents or available anywhere else, except from the owner. This situation generates a heightened sense of urgency for the buyer to see your home first, before someone else purchases it. Buyers thoroughly search advertising publications for new properties listed for-sale-by-owner for this reason and, of course, for the better deals offered. In our experience, we have learned that the most desirable homes are offered for-sale-by-owner because the seller realizes that the home will sell itself if properly advertised.

8. Selling your own home is EASY

   There are no "secrets" to selling a home. In a manner of speaking , the secret is that there is no secret! What we've learned from our experiences with thousands of for-sale-by-owner homesellers is that HOMES SELL THEMSELVES. Attractively present your home, price it fairly and consistent with your market, effectively advertise it, and you will be in a great position to sell your own home and save your hard-earned equity.

By considering each of the points that follow, you can become more informed and that will go a long way toward building your confidence so that you can sell your own home.

If you want to learn about the process and become comfortable with selling by owner, please read more information in this practical, step-by-step, real-life experience book How to Sell Your Own Home: The Practical Homeowner's Guide to Selling by Owner by Ph. D., William F. Supple Jr.

For more information read Home selling tips, Why use MiaDomo and A few words of encouragement.

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