For Sale by Owner in Katy Texas

For Sale by Owner? Not this Owner.

This time of year, many 'For Sale by Owners' hit the market, and although some succeed in selling their home, the fact is about 85% don't and seek the help of a professional within a month or two. The simple fact is, putting a sign in the yard and placing a couple of for sale ads just isn't enough to sell a home anymore; even if one of those ads is on the internet. And as a For Sale by Owner, you're subject to lots of unqualified buyers and buyers who are looking to lowball you on the price. In their minds, they're thinking if you're not paying a Realtor, that commission is coming right off the price anyways.

There is an almost universal truth about selling your home yourself:

One way or another, you will end up paying a sales commission. The question is, would you rather pay a buyer by reducing your sales price and still have to go through all the hassle of actually completing the sale, or would you rather pay a professional who is looking out for YOUR interests and will take care of the day to day problems of selling your home for you? Keep in mind, more often than not - FINDING the buyer is actually the easy part!

A Quick Story About One of Our Clients...

One of our first listings was a FSBO in a popular neighborhood in Cy-Fair. Because of it's high-demand location, it's owners decided to sell it themselves. While they had a lot of curious lookers stop by and call on their home, after about 8 months, they grew weary of this cycle. They decided to hire us to help them sell their home. After completing a comparative market analysis, we advised them that they could probably get more for their property than they had been asking. They were confused by this since the only offers they had received were extremely low and they had been thinking they were over-pricing their home. But they agreed and we listed the home.

About a week into the listing after much activity, the owners started getting nervous and thought perhaps they should have accepted one of their earlier FSBO offers which was about $15,000 less than our listing price. They called wondering if we should lower the price by $10,000. Based on my market analysis and feedback from the public, I advised them to stay the course.

By the end of that second week, we got a solid offer close to asking price and went under contract. We subsequently closed within two weeks. When all was said and done, the owners of this home made more on this sale after the commission was paid than what they could have made had they accepted the original offer as a FSBO without any real estate fees. The new buyers were from out of town and had been working with a real estate agent they found on-line. They were highly-qualified and got financing with no trouble. Without the involvement of Realtors® this home would never have been exposed to these buyers.

Serious, motivated and financially qualified buyers tend to work with real estate agents. Don't get shut out from this pool of potential buyers because you think you can save money. Statistically, you'll sell your home for 13% more money when using a Realtor®.

A Final Though from At Home in Katy

We appreciate that you want to try to sell your home yourself, that's commendable. If however, you decide that it's more work than you want to deal with, we would love to speak with you about handling the sale of your home! In the meantime, should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call!

FSBO Docs:

Ready to get selling? You'll need the following documents to complete your sale successfully! Click the files below to download .PDF versions of the files.

Contracts:

TAR-1601
1 - 4 Family Residential Sales Contract

TAR-1901
Third Party Financing Condition Addendum

TAR-1922
HOA Addendum

HAR 400
MUD Addendum

TAR-1406
Sellers Disclosure

TAR-1906
Lead Based Paint Addendum

TAR-1903
Amendment to Contract

TAR-1506
General Information and Notice to Buyer

Helpful Tools:

AHIK-102
Security is a major concern for most FSBO sellers. Here are some helpful security tips that you should be aware of.

AHIK-105
Getting real feedback from your potential buyers is going to be difficult. Offer them this form along with a self addressed stamped envelope to get an idea of what your lookie-loos are thinking.