These are tips for the sellers who want to try selling on their own (For Sale By Owner). Click here for Tip #1 (Find A Good Realtor), and #2 (Offer to Compensate Buyer’s Agent).

Tip #3: Have a Budget and a Deadline by Which You Will List Your Home

If you are successful in selling on your own, you might* save some money on the the commission however, selling your home will still cost you something. You do want people to be aware that your home is for sale, right?

There is also time involved in preparing, marketing and showing your home to potential buyers. How much time do you have, what is your time worth, and when do you need to move? These are important questions you need to ask yourself.

Once you have the answers, establish a marketing budget and a strategy/timeline to sell your home.

Sign in the yard: If you live on a busy street, that is all you may need. If not, you’ll also want to place directional signs on strategic corners to direct traffic towards your home. Always keep an eye on your sign and directionals. Are they still there? Do they need to be repositioned? Is the phone number visible and large enough that people can read it from their car? Is your phone number fading on your sign?

A Flier box only works if you are willing to spend the time necessary to keep fliers in the box at all times. There’s nothing more frustrating for buyers (and Realtors) than pulling up to a house with an empty flier box. If you still live in the house you are selling, it’s easy enough to keep on eye on it, but if you do not live in the house, you will need to visit the property on a regular basis and check on your flier box. If you decide to put a flier box, start putting together a flier with pictures of your home, print copies and be willing to reprint if you change your price.

Web sites where you can market your home, such as owners.com or forsalebyowner.com may also charge a fee to feature your home. Internet exposure is most important nowadays and the more web sites you can find to post your home, the better. And yes, this takes time. You will have to take multiple pictures of your home, find the web sites, write your description, enter information and upload photos, place it all on the web sites and maintain it. Evaluate time and money necessary and have a plan.

Advertising: even if it is just in the classifieds, the cost of advertising can add up quickly. It also takes time to write the ads, place it in the paper and keep up with it. Research the costs in your local market, figure out a budget and start writing your ads.

It is important for you to establish ahead of time how much money you can spend on marketing and then stick to your budget. If you think you’ll be saving $10,000 in commission, don’t make that your budget because if you have to list in the future, your marketing will end up costing you twice as much and you will have wasted much of your time. If your home doesn’t sell within your budget in the time frame you have planned, turn to your Realtor (see tip #1) and let them spend money and do the legwork for you.

* Statistics from the National Association of Realtors shows that Sellers who list their home with a Realtor net more money on average than For Sale By Owners, even if they pay a commission.

Home sales jumped for a second month in a row in April with 259 homes sold in Lafayette parish and 357 in all of Acadiana.

If we look at Lafayette Parish and compare home sales to those of last year, we can see that there were 100 more sales this year in April alone. Through the end of April, there were 597 sales in 2009 and 723 this year.

There are currently 672 homes pending in Acadiana and 471 in Lafayette parish. These numbers are very high for our area and can, no doubt, be attributed in part to the home buyer tax credit. It remains to be seen what will happen once the closing deadline for all those transaction passes at the end of June.

If you are looking for space and a country like atmosphere, this home is perfect! Located near the town of Maurice, LA, this home features 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1846 square feet living area, a shop, and 4 acres.

Here are some of the features of this home:

• Wood floors and ceramic throughout. No carpet here!
• Tile counter tops in the kitchen
• All bedrooms are spacious with walk-in closets
• Small office area
• Beautiful patio with view of the acreage
• Double garage
• Shop for tools and toys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outdoor features include a wonderful patio with water feature, the shop, a kennel, and the yard around the house is all fenced in and ready for the family pets!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Price for this home is $215,000 and the owners are willing to pay the first full year of homeowners’ insurance. Click here to view full listing for this property.

 

 

Just listed is a remodeled 4 bedroom/2 bath home at 808 Broadmoor in Lafayette, LA that is ready for its new owner! If you have been looking in the broadmoor school district, this one is worth a look!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the features of this wonderful home:

• 4 bedrooms – 2 full baths
• 2136 square feet living area
• Bamboo floors in kitchen, breakfast area, and living
• New island and granite tile counter tops in kitchen
• New range/oven
• Large formal dining with cherry wood floors
• New light fixtures throughout the house
• New shower in master bath

Also, the back yard is a wonderful oasis with mature trees, a wooden deck, and a large patio for those family BBQs.

Click here For more details about 808 Broadmoor Blvd

Call or email me today if you have any questions about this home or any other home in the Lafayette, LA area. I would love to help you find that special place you’ll be able to call home.

FSBO Tip #1: Establish a relationship with a good Realtor

I know you do not want to list your home and you want to save the commission but you should still establish a relationship with a Realtor for several reasons:

• A Realtor can help you establish a fair market price for your home based on comparable sales in your area.
• A Realtor can help you prepare your home for a sale and give you some staging and marketing tips based on what is going on in your area.
• A Realtor can tell you which forms you will need to use throughout the process (Property Disclosure Documents, contract, etc.).
• A Realtor can possibly even help you with the paperwork and the transaction once you find a buyer (for a pre-determined fee) so that you have a successful sale.

The first mistake For Sale By Owners make is to think that once they find a buyer, their work is done when in actuality, that’s when the work starts. According to the National Association of Realtors, 2 out of 3 transactions do not close when there are no Realtor involved. Don’t take that chance. When you interview Realtors, ask them if they can unbundle their fees and possibly help you close the sale once you have a buyer for your home.

Why would a Realtor help you if you’re not listing your home, you ask?

Our business is all about relationships and referrals. You may be buying another home or know someone else on the market to buy or sell a home. Besides, only 15 to 20% of For Sale By Owners are successful in selling their homes themselves so there is a great possibility that you will eventually list your home with a Realtor.

Having a Realtor on your side also means that if you can’t sell your home on your own, you will know where to turn right away to take the burden off of your hands.

 

Tip #2: Offer to compensate if a Realtor brings you a buyer

Yes, you want to save the commission but you also want to sell your home, right? If you have a sign in your yard, Realtors will call you to either list your home or get information about your home if they think they might have a buyer for it. Don’t push them away; they may be able to help you sell your home.

If you’ve established a relationship with a Realtor (see tip #1) and another agent call, simply say: “I have a Realtor that will list my home if I am unable to sell it on my own, however, if you bring me a buyer, I will compensate you __% or $________” (for a fixed dollar amount).

When we work with buyers, we try to find them the best house for them and sometimes that home happens to be a FSBO (many of my buyers have bought FSBO in the past and still used me as their agent in the transaction). Be nice and polite to Realtors when they call. Who knows where your buyer will be coming from?

More tips to come…