Table of Contents
Foreword
As founder and president of ForSaleByOwner.com, the worlds leading for sale by owner website and one of the largest real estate sites in the country, I jumped at the chance to assist in the creation of this extremely helpful book.
When it came to business, I had two passions in life, real estate and the Internet. As a serial entrepreneur, I have founded several Internet companies and managed my own portfolio of residential real estate. I must say I did get an early start. I was only 17 years old when I made my first real estate purchase. It definitely took some fancy negotiating and a small loan from my mother. So I thank God my mother and father believed in me because everyone else thought I was crazy to be making this kind of investment and commitment at such a young age.
Well, that first investment turned out great and thats what led me to my passion for real estate. During the next few years, I bought and sold real estate and realized that by selling my properties without the use of a real estate agent, I would greatly increase my profits by pocketing the 6% commission I would have normally given to an agent. This was my early experience with the For Sale By Owner method and I was intrigued and excited with the whole concept. I always thought, Why would anyone do anything different when it really wasnt very difficult at all?
Then came my second passion, my fascination with the Internet and its never ending possibilities. I could see the writing on the wall and predicted the Internet would change the way millions of people did so many things, from finding a date and booking travel to buying stocks and researching homework assignments. It was an endless stream of possibilities and my mind would run wild and I just loved it.
Thats when it hit me. What if I combined my two passions into one concept? What if I utilized the Internet to create a For Sale By Owner marketplace utilizing my knowledge and experience buying and selling real estate By Owner? It was the single best idea I have ever had. I could help hundreds of thousands of people sell their own home and save them hundreds of millions of dollars. So I did just that with the creation of ForSaleByOwner.com and to date ForSaleByOwner.com has helped consumers save over a billion dollars in would be commissions.
This is why I jumped at the chance to play a role in the creation of The Complete Idiots Guide to Selling Your Own Home because I knew that Id be part of another outlet that would help so many people successfully sell their own home and save thousands of dollars that they can now use for so many other great things.
This book is not only a guide but its also an education in the For Sale By Owner real estate marketplace. This Complete Idiots Guide will not only teach you everything you need to know about selling your own home, it will give you the tools and resources needed to help make the process simple and effective.
I truly believe that if you educate yourself by reading this guide and implement the strategies and services outlined, your rate of success will greatly improve and you, too, will be one of the many people who have saved thousands in would-be commissions.
Damon Giglio, Founder & President
ForSaleByOwner.com. No Commission, Lots of Help.
Introduction
If youre thinking of selling your home without a real estate agent, theres a good chance youre getting a lot of feedbackmuch of it questioning your good sense. To wit
You cant sell your home without an agent (its illegal or something like that).
Youll never get any buyers (the agents have them all hidden away, as everyone knows).
Youll never get through all that paperwork (its all written in some dead language, like Sanskrit).
And so on.
If it sounds like some people are a bit misinformed, you could not be more on the mark. The fact is, the number of people selling their home without a real estate agent is growing all the time. And armed with the material weve provided in this book, youre poised to join them.
Weve crafted this book to offer a systematic, step-by-step approach to walk you through every issue and element attached to selling your home without an agent. From powerful sales strategies to every last scrap of paperwork youll need, weve got you covered. In fact, weve gone well beyond that. For one thing, we conclude each chapter with several Internet sites that address some of the topics we discuss. Theyre designed to augment the material and provide you with additional resourceswhether its information, interactive search engines, calculators, or other useful tools.
One of the nice things about writing a book such as this one is that were able look back a bit and examine the successes and frustrations of those whove gone before us. In so doing, we see whats worked and what has not. While we pay exhaustive attention to those tips and strategies that others who have taken the FSBO route have put to good use, we also focus on those common mistakes that can trip up any sale. Just as important, we go in-depth to show you ways to avoid those problems.
Although, naturally, youre free to read as you wish, we urge you to try to make your way through most, if not all, of this book before getting started with the sale of your home. While weve generally arranged things in chronological order, examining the topic as a whole puts all the individual parts into perspective and balance. And that can help you map out your thinking and planning in the most organized and thoughtful way possiblefrom the first moment you consider selling your home without an agent to the instant the last dab of ink has dried on the final sales documents.
How This Book Is Organized
This book is presented in five sections:
In Part 1, The Nuts and Bolts, you get your first glimpse into the world of selling your home without a real estate agent. We help you decide whether a FSBO is right for you. If its a match, we move on to other basics, including getting your home in shape, others youll work with in selling your home, and the importance of setting the right price.
Part 2, Let The Selling Begin!, moves us into the actual mechanics of the sales process. Starting with advertising strategiesincluding how to write the best newspaper ad everwe discuss open houses, tips, and techniques when buyers come calling, and what to do if you want to move your sales effort onto the Internet.
Part 3, Setting Up the Deal, does just that. Here, youll be getting a handle on the nuts and bolts of the sale itself. You learn about the dos and donts of fielding offers, negotiation strategies, the basics of home loans and mortgages, and alternatives you can consider to sweeten the financial terms of your sale.
Part 4, That Sweet, Sweet Closing and What Comes After, leads you through the closing stages to the closing itself. First, we discuss the mechanics of the home inspection and various other tests that may take place. That can lead to some problems and misunderstandings, so we address those next. But, after those are ironed out, we enjoy the details of the closing itself (accompanied by the not-so-palatable tax discussion that follows).
Not every home is perfect. Part 5, The Problem House: The Less Than Perfect Buyer and Other Final Details,
