Anyone done FSBO?

[melrose7]

We are hoping to put our house on the market in a couple weeks and were thinking about for sale by owner. Not sure how that works regarding paperwork, do we get a lawyer to do that part then? We have an unique situation since we own a townhouse, have walls down on both floors so access to the whole thing and I run a daycare in it. So showings are evening and weekends only and not sure what people will think of the opened up townhouse. We need to sell quickly which makes me want to get a realtor but we've had bad ones in the past.
Any help from those that have sold on your own?

[lalasmama]

We just bought a FSBO. For paperwork, he got a form on a website, and whatever forms were needed through the state. Then we used a title company to do the rest. No lawyers at all, no realtors at all. Much easier than we expected!

[arivecchi]

I sold a house FSBO in the Milwaukee burbs back in 06 and it worked well. We did not use a r.e. lawyer, but that would probably be a good idea. I'll PM you the company we used to list.

[brittone2]

My parents sold a house FSBO in 2005. Seller and buyer used the same attorney, no issues.

We bought a FSBO house about 4 years ago. We had our own attorney, as did the seller. Her son is a big time attorney and handled the transaction on her end, so we wanted our own attorney. It actually ended up being a bit of a p*ssing contest, TBH, and it was like they were trying to outdo one another. In the end, it all worked out fine. I will say that we bought when housing prices dropped, mortgage requirements were tougher, etc. and our seller was definitely overpriced. We got things down to a reasonable enough price, but it was a difficult and emotional process. The seller was still quoting home prices in the neighborhood when the market had peaked, etc. We also factored in that she didn't have a realtor to pay a commission to, and used that to close the gap. She could have let it hit the market officially with a realtor, but she would have found she was overpriced, and after commission, she would have ended up with less than what we offered. Dealing directly with the seller can be awkward at times. In our case, the seller was listing after her husband had passed away suddenly, they built this house together 20+ years before, and it was quite an emotional thing for her, understandably. That did make negotiations awkward at times.

Best of luck.

If I was selling FSBO I'd try to get an MLS at least and advertise.

[knaidel]

I sold FSBO this summer. I would definetly get an attorney lined up. I used someone who was part of the title company. He charged $500 to handle the transaction. For example, if a buyer brings you a contract, your attorney will review it and make sure that there arent any clauses in it that make it easy for the buyer to walk away.

A word of advice: if people call and say "can I bring my realator?" Or if you get calls from Realtors (you will!) asking if you are willing to pay a buyers agent...just say, "everything is negotiable" or "all strong offers considered."-- something vague. Because, really, you dont want to encourage ppl to bring their agents, but you don't want to discourage potentially strong buyers.

I got tons of annoying calls from R.E. agents who " have a pre-approved buyer who is very interested in your neighborhood" (yeah, right)! They are trying to get this listing, but you have to be nice to them, as who knows? -there is an off-chance that they are telling the truth and really DO have a buyer for you!!

I listed my house on Zillow (estimates on that site are way, way too low in the area I sold in), but ultimately, a neighborhood posted about my house on her FB feed/wall whatever its called, and that's how my buyer found me.

[ray7694]

I sold twice fsbo before kids and it was a ton more work. I had an attorney but I had to set up the closing with title company, attorneys, bank. I also had to run paperwork. Someone has to do the work. It is also harder to negotiate your own deal and sometimes buyers have crazy requests after inspection. I wouldn't do it

[melrose7]

I sold twice fsbo before kids and it was a ton more work. I had an attorney but I had to set up the closing with title company, attorneys, bank. I also had to run paperwork. Someone has to do the work. It is also harder to negotiate your own deal and sometimes buyers have crazy requests after inspection. I wouldn't do it

This is what I am afraid of. We'll get in over our heads and not sure what we're doing and I don't want anything to gets messed up because we need to be out by summer.
I have a realtor coming Saturday, she actually got us an offer on our house 5 yrs ago, but we had to withdraw, so hoping she can help us again. Then another one to meet next week.

[mackmama]

I would definitely use a realtor. I know some attorneys who have done FSBO for their own houses but, for those of us who are not lawyers, I would not want to take that on. Too many details, legal issues, and red tape to handle. I suggest talking to the realtor about the different type of listing agreements available since the commission can change depending on which type of listing agreement is used.

[arivecchi]

This is what I am afraid of. We'll get in over our heads and not sure what we're doing and I don't want anything to gets messed up because we need to be out by summer.
I have a realtor coming Saturday, she actually got us an offer on our house 5 yrs ago, but we had to withdraw, so hoping she can help us again. Then another one to meet next week.

I'd hire a realtor if you are in a time crunch. Hopefully you can find a good one.

[Binkandabee]

I sold FSBO this summer. I would definetly get an attorney lined up. I used someone who was part of the title company. He charged $500 to handle the transaction. For example, if a buyer brings you a contract, your attorney will review it and make sure that there arent any clauses in it that make it easy for the buyer to walk away.

A word of advice: if people call and say "can I bring my realator?" Or if you get calls from Realtors (you will!) asking if you are willing to pay a buyers agent...just say, "everything is negotiable" or "all strong offers considered."-- something vague. Because, really, you dont want to encourage ppl to bring their agents, but you don't want to discourage potentially strong buyers.

I got tons of annoying calls from R.E. agents who " have a pre-approved buyer who is very interested in your neighborhood" (yeah, right)! They are trying to get this listing, but you have to be nice to them, as who knows? -there is an off-chance that they are telling the truth and really DO have a buyer for you!!

I listed my house on Zillow (estimates on that site are way, way too low in the area I sold in), but ultimately, a neighborhood posted about my house on her FB feed/wall whatever its called, and that's how my buyer found me.

This was exactly our experience. It wasn't difficult at all. I would absolutely do it again, but the house we have now is much more cookie cutter than the one we sold, so I think it will be more difficult to sell without an agent.