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- FSBO Info
(For Sale by Owner)
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- Many of you are looking for information on selling your own homes - for
sale by owner.
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- We'll provide you with some good information; but if you live here in
Jackson County, we'd like you to consider calling us because we believe we
can make it worth your while financially. We provide no-pressure
information. After talking with us, if you still believe you can do it
okay yourself, best wishes to you. Hopefully we're able to give you
some useful information and we'll be here later if you change your mind.
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- If you don't live here in Jackson County, we have connections with
agents all over the Northwest and can help point you in the right
direction.
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- The orientation of the following information is to
encourage you to ask for our help in selling your property... but, if you
read beyond the marketing stuff, it also shows many of the issues you
should take into consideration when you do it yourself.
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- Items
to Consider for the For Sale by Owner
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- 1. The primary reason homeowners try to sell their home themselves is
to save the commission.
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- 2. The most common problems that homeowners experience are attracting
potential buyers, getting the home priced correctly, selling in the
anticipated time, understanding and performing the necessary paperwork.
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- 3. Homeowners find it difficult to handle objections from buyers such
as "I want to think it over", "the price is too high",
"we don't have enough cash for the down payment and closing
costs", and "we've decided to rent for a while longer."
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- 4. Making appointments to show the home are difficult for owners
because it takes time away from work on a frequent basis, it conflicts with
their personal and social life, the ability to determine lookers from
qualified prospects, and the safety factor from "unknown"
prospects.
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- Are you available to show the property?
One of the difficulties sellers have when trying to sell their own home
is being available at all times. It poses problems because it interrupts work,
family, and social schedules.
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- When a buyer wants to look at a home, it
must be available for them at that time. Most
buyers are on some kind of a schedule and they are not flexible enough to look
at the home when it is convenient for the Seller.
The concept is similar to having a store open for business. There may be
times when there are no customers in the store and other times, when several
customers are in the store at one time.
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- Is safety a factor? It’s
unfortunate to have to concern yourself with safety in your own home but it is a
reality. There have been situations
where criminals have posed as potential buyers in order to "case" the
home to find out what personal belongings would be worth stealing.
By asking casual questions of the seller, they can find out when the
seller will be gone and whether there is a security system.
While a professional real estate agent is not totally exempt from such
tactics, they are better prepared to handle them.
Meeting a prospect at the real estate office where others can see the
prospect will discourage them because they can be identified.
Another common requirement some real estate agents make of prospects is
to make a copy of their driver's license and keep it on file.
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- Who really saves the commission, the
seller or the buyer?
Buyers automatically deduct “the commission” from the asking
price when dealing with a For Sale by Owner.
The buyer has to learn the process of buying on their own, identify the
neighborhoods, find the homes, write and negotiate the contract, secure the
financing, arrange the inspections, and coordinate the closing, on their own
rather than using an agent. Don't you think the motivating factor will be to save the
commission? It’s going to be hard
when both the seller and the buyer want to save the commission.
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- Most buyers will need help obtaining
financing. It would be important to
be able to advise buyers what different loan programs are available and where
they can be found. A familiarity
with the requirements and limitations of these different programs is necessary
to help advise the buyers. Having a
financial software program or a financial calculator can help to make a variety
of analyses that can make decision making easy for buyers.
The forms would show a person how much they qualify for, what the tax
advantages and investment potential are, and provide a comparison of different
loans.
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- Attracting potential buyers.
The real estate professional
has a collective of promotional efforts to attract buyers.
They include all of their different ads in the paper, all of the
different for sale signs, every open house they hold, past customers and
clients, company contacts, agent contacts, institutional advertising, referral
organizations, Multiple Listing Service, and the Internet.
Homeowners without the benefit of a real estate professional are limited
by placing a single ad in the paper, a single for sale sign, and their
occasional open house.
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- Methods used to purchase a home.
The majority of buyers, four out of five, purchase their home through a
professional real estate agent. In
fact, less than one out of ten actually purchase directly from an owner. This means that assuming your marketing exposure is as
effective as the entire real estate community, your market will only be 10% of
the total.
- Attracting potential buyers is the number
one problem encountered by owners selling their own home.
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- For Sale by Owner
Seller Problems
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- 1. Window shoppers are not serious about looking for a home but
actually use it as a form of entertainment or as a hobby looking for
decorating ideas.
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- 2. Lookers stopping at all hours of day & night to see the house
because it is convenient for them can be quite annoying for an owner.
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- 3. Mis-pricing the home can be very costly. Price too high and
your home can be for sale for a long time, making it "shop-worn"
and making you really tired of the inconvenience. Price it too low and
you'll sell quick, but you'll be giving a gift to a stranger worth thousands
of dollars.
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- 4. Inability to qualify buyers. You can lose a lot of momentum
and advertising dollars by getting into a sales agreement and then weeks
later find that the buyer wasn't able to swing it financially.
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- 5. Letting strangers in the home.
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- 6. Negotiating with buyer. Some people are good at this, some
aren't. If you aren't and the buyer is, you could end up for selling
for less than your property is worth.
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- 7. Knowing everything that needs to be done. Do you know the laws
concerning smoke detectors (they need to be Oregon approved since July '02),
lead based paint disclosures (for all homes built before 1978), Oregon
required rural well-water testing (for coliform bacteria and nitrates), and
sellers' disclosure statements (buyers can back out right up to closing if
you don't give them one for approval). There are others.
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- 8. Missed opportunities when away from home. Being "listed"
means you can take a day off once in awhile.
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- 9. Buyers wanting the commission savings. You want to save the
cost of the commission, but the buyers are going to want to get at least
half of that back from you.
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- 10. Buyers who don't like to deal directly with owners. -- Actually,
some do, especially if they are good talkers and can dicker your price to
below the market value. Many buyers who aren't good negotiators, are
afraid that you might be.
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- Information for the
Buyer about creating a Contract with a Seller
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- 1. Always make the offer and all
counter-offers in writing. In
Oregon, as in most states, verbal contracts involving real estate are not
enforceable.
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- 2. Include the names of all of the owners on
the contract and make sure that the offer is presented to all of the owners
whenever possible. If one owner
individually approves the contract, it does not mean that the other owner is
obligated to accept it.
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- 3. Put up sufficient earnest money to make
the seller know you are sincere about the offer. Have the earnest money held in an escrow account rather than
allowing the seller to hold it.
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- 4. Include any personal property (like
refrigerators, washers, dryers, etc) in the sales contract that is involved and
ask for a bill of sale.
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- 5. It is very unlikely that a seller will
make a serious counter-offer in response to an extremely low initial offer.
You will tend to find out what the seller will really accept by making a
fair offer first.
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- 6. Being pre-approved will give you a firm
loan commitment from a lender subject to an appraisal on the subject property.
This can be a valuable tool in negotiating because it will remove part of
the uncertainty from the contract. Experience
shows that owners might take less because they know their home is really sold.
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- 7. If you haven't seen a copy of the property
disclosure statement prior to writing a contract, include a provision that
allows you to see and approve it.
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- 8. Once you know you want to write an offer
on a home, do it immediately. You
will stand a better chance of getting a favorable agreement if you are not
negotiating against other offers.
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- 9. Decide on what you feel is most important
for the seller and try and give it to them in trade for something else.
As an example, if you feel that allowing possession after closing is
something the seller needs, maybe you can trade that for a lower price.
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- 10. Most people find it is difficult to
negotiate on their own behalf. That
is why having an agent negotiate for you can be very valuable.
That agent can present the reasons for your offer and might be able to
say things that the listing agent or homeowner haven't thought of or considered.
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- 11. Unless you are buying a property "as
is", you need to include a provision in the sales contract allowing for a
professional inspection. It should
state what things are to be inspected, when the inspections are to be made, and
who is to make (pay for) repairs. It is not
uncommon that if the repairs exceed a specified amount that the buyer has the
option to void the contract.
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- 12. If you or your spouse is out of town, a
specific power of attorney can allow one of you to sign for the other.
This can make negotiating a contract much more expeditious.
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- These are just some basics to an offer to
purchase real estate, consult with an attorney or a real estate professional for
additional details. Different
properties and different property types have different requirements.
Real Estate Agreements are contracts, it is cheaper and much less
stressful to do it right in the beginning rather than try to fix it later.
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- Should I Sell My Home
Myself?
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- It's a question thousands of homeowners
ask themselves every year. If
you're one of them, you have some difficult decisions awaiting you.
Selling your home can be a long and complex process.
It's important to think about all the potential implications - both
positive and negative - before choosing to go it alone.
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- Your first responsibility as in
independent home seller is assigning your home an accurate value, meaning the
highest price a ready, willing and able buyer will pay.
As part of that decision, you
need to consider comparable properties in your area, current market conditions,
as well as the cost of financing and its availability.
Remember that your home should be in line with comparable properties and
market trends - you don't want your home to linger on the market or sell for a
lower price than you might have otherwise received.
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- "For Sale by Owner" homes
typically attract bargain hunters who may expect you to lower your price since
they, too, are looking to save money on commissions. Independent
home sellers must also market their properties to the public, that means,
putting up signage that is consistent with local ordinances, developing and
paying for display and classified ads in your local newspapers, holding open
houses, working to ensure your home gets good word-of-mouth exposure among your
friends, neighbors and community organizations.
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- As an independent home seller, you would
be responsible for all showings of your home. With
that in mind, always encourage prospects to make an appointment, and discourage
drop-ins. Work to screen the "buyers" from the "lookers" -
curiosity-seekers are common at "For Sale by Owner" homes.
You should also pre-qualify potential buyers to ensure they can afford to
buy your home, before you spend any amount of time with them.
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- When the time comes to negotiate,
you'll need to be prepared and informed, try to resolve any doubts your buyers
might have, work to keep their interest high and make a final agreement as
quickly and efficiently as possible.
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- Once an offer is made, agree on the price
and terms, respond to objections and try to be responsive and flexible to
legitimate concerns. Every
independent home seller should have an attorney or another qualified individual
to preside over all agreements. That
individual will draw up the contract and manage the sale proceedings and
closing. He or she might also help
you set the closing date and time. You
should be sure to include a list of items you want written into the contract,
including any personal property that is to remain with the home (like the
refrigerator, microwave oven, dishwasher, etc.), or items excluded in the sale.
Also remember that as the seller, you are obligated by law to disclose
any material defects in your property to the purchaser.
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- Selling your own home takes a lot of hard
work and know-how. Making even a
small mistake can spell serious trouble. By
working with me, you gain the services of an experienced professional with advanced training in negotiations and sales.
Not only does that free you from the time-consuming tasks involved with
selling your home, it gives you the added expertise to help maximize the profit
from your home.
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- We
can help you sell your home faster and for the best price.
We'll will make sure you have the correct information to price your home
accurately by conducting a Competitive Market Analysis.
This research will help support the price with comparable facts and
statistics. In addition we will:
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advertise your home in the most
visible outlets in our area;
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access out-of-town buyers through
the REMAX website, through our own
websites, and through other regional and national real estate websites;
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suggest easy ways to make your
home more attractive to potential buyers;
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explore alternative financing
methods that can help relieve a potential buyer's financing concerns;
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scan the Multiple Listing Service
to locate active buyers through a special network of resources;
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act as a third-party negotiators
between you and the buyer;
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screen prospects so you don't have
to expose your family to any stranger who knocks at your door.
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- Think of our services as an investment, one that
immediately repays itself in the quick, efficient and successful sale of your
home.
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- We hope this has been helpful. Please call if we
can help further.
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