For Sale By Owner
‘I Can Do It Myself’

Many people believe that they can sell their house themselves and save on commissions. This statement can be true for a lot of situations. If you are ready and capable of doing all of the following, you may be a good candidate to sell your own home. 

• You have the time and skill to field inquiries and schedule appointments 

• You know how you will secure your personal safety and the safety of your family and belongings during showings 

• You are aware of the federal, state, and local disclosures you are required to make to the buyer 

• You know how to determine if buyers are qualified to purchase your home 

• You know how to market your home to the largest pool of potential buyers to get the highest price for your home 

• You have a strategy for avoiding litigation when providing buyers with information about your home 

• You are prepared to negotiate with bargain hunters and with the buyer’s demands for repairs 

• You have a plan on what to do if the buyer wants to back out of the transaction, tries to renegotiate, or fails to qualify for a mortgage.

• Since greater than 90% of buyers in the Triangle used a real estate agent in their home buying process, you have a strategy for marketing to the real estate brokerage community and are prepared to pay a commission to the buyers agent 

• Since 80% of buyers search for homes on the Internet, you know how and have time to advertise on the Internet, track traffic to your site, and follow up with leads you receive 

If you feel comfortable with all of these issues, you may be an excellent candidate to sell your own home. However, based on recent NAR statistics, here are some points to consider before making this decision: 

• 84% of all unrepresented sellers ultimately ended up listing their property with an agent 

• The median home price for sellers who use an agent is 31.9% higher than a home sold directly by an owner 

• Buyers are very sophisticated in their knowledge compared to years ago. They know for example that if a seller is unrepresented they are not paying a commission, so they expect a reduced price that takes this into account 

• 83% of sellers used full-service brokerage, 9% limited services and 8% used minimal service, such as simply listing a property on a MLS 

• In 2006, 71% of sellers were very satisfied with their full-service experience and another 24% somewhat satisfied. Limited services also received high marks with 76% being generally satisfied; however, 50% of sellers using minimal service were dissatisfied with their experience 

• When you factor out the properties that were not placed on the open market, the actual number of FSBOs is only 7 percent - the rest are simply unrepresented sellers in private transactions (between parties who knew each other in advance) 

• After paying a buyer’s agent, reducing the price to account for the lack of commission, paying all the marketing, and handling all the safety, legal, and time consuming aspects of selling a home, how much are you really saving?