You may have heard about the FSBO – For Sale By Owner – way to sell your house. It is often appealing to people who want to save money on commissions and also those who believe in their own abilities to sell the house by themselves. So, if you have a house in Chesapeake and you want to sell FSBO, please take a moment to check this information out to see that way is the way for you to sell your house. There may be some pitfalls you never thought of that we describe here.
Costly? Yes
So, when you want to sell your Chesapeake house by yourself (FSBO), you may think you are saving money. Well, that is only partly true. You would still need to negotiate with your buyers and guess what, in most cases they will be represented by their agent, and you will need to pay their commission. Also, you would probably need to pay an appraiser or another industry professional to see what your house is worth. Don’t just go online and look at the houses for sale around your neighborhood. Comparison process as a little more complicated than you think, unless your house was completely rehabbed in the last 3 months. You could also call us and we’ll be glad to help. Moreover, if you are listing your house as FSBO, you would probably need to pay a lawyer to draft your contracts. No, you can’t just download a free copy of a contract online, because all the US states are different with their laws and regulations. So you may want to rethink the savings you think you’ll have by selling FSBO vs. selling direct to a cash house buyer like Coastal Edge Homebuyers for example.
Commissions Savings? Not So Fast
So, typically a commission is around 6% when you sell a house, even though these numbers vary today. In many cases, if we assume the commission is 6%, it means that when you sell your house, 3% will go to you ragent (or you’ll save that money if you sell FSBO) and the other 3% goes to the real estate agent who is representing your buyer. So, when you do FSBO listing, you would only be saving your agent’s commission portion of the money. Yes, that could be a significant amount, especially if your house is high-priced, but still, read on below to see what else you would be needing to do, pay for, and sacrifice and then on the bottom we will show you another way to sell.
What Repairs To Do
When you want to sell a house by your self and list it as FSBO, guess what, you will need to make a determination on what repairs to do and actually do them (or hire others to do it). So, you now have to get familiar with the real estate business and evaluate what repairs to do and what not to do and do it efficiently so you put minimal amount of money in the right types of repairs to get maximum ROI. Now you are becoming a Project Manger for the construction repair project for your house. Well, that’s a bit easier said than done. You may end up talking (or paying) an agent or many contractors to find out what repairs to do and make a plan to do them. On the other hand, you could always call us and we’ll be happy to advise on all of that, or even buy the house from you as-is today.
Time Commitments
Are you available on a moment’s notice to show your house to strangers (potential buyers), nights, and weekends included? Is your house properly cleaned up all the time(!) and staged for showings? If you are selling your Chesapeake house as FSBO, you need to understand that all of the potential repairs, contract preparations, meetings with lawyers, house repairs, cleaning, staging, multiple showings, this is all on you to do as far as time commitment.
Lost Opportunities
So, when you draw the line and review all the points above about what it takes to list and sell your Chesapeake house as FSBO, do you still think you would be saving a lot? What opportunities would you be loosing or what problems you could not solve fast enough if you had to do with all of the above and try to sell your house FSBO and it takes months to do that? Besides hiring an agent, there is something else you could do! Did you know that you could sell your house to a direct house buyer without any prep, time commitments, repairs, cleaning or staging? You could sell your house in 2 weeks to a direct house buyer like Coastal Edge Homebuyers. How does it work? You call, we evaluate your situation briefly on the phone, then come out to see the house and you’ll get an offer usually on the spot or within 24hrs! If time and convenience are important to you, and especially if your house needs work, selling direct to a buyer like us may be a great choice for you. Oh, and there are no fees or commissions whatsoever! Moreover, if being able to choose the closing date is also important to you, we could also be a great solutions, since you don’t have such choice really if you do an FSBO listing. Call us today to find out the best option for you: 757-414-7117.