Does anyone a good website that has some tips or do's and don'ts when selling a home without a realtor? Or any former realtors out there who would be willing to give some free advice?

We're trying to do this and I am so overwhelmed and confused. I just need some direction.

This is a gov pub that looks useful. I can't help you personally, never having sold my own home. Best of luck.

Sold by owner website may have some tips for you...

This is what I tell people when they come into my office: HIRE AN ATTORNEY! This gives you someone to blame.

As a compliance officer and a part-time realtor, my advise is to retain the services of a realtor. They must keep up with the regs, contracts, etc. And, believe me, they'll earn their fee just dealing with those lookers "kicking tires".

I assisted a friend who's selling her house FSBO. She now has a contract pending but she's also having trouble getting the thing closed.

Is the hassle worth the savings....you'll have to decide.

In my area, during those infomercials about using all your money to buy real estate, there are commercials for "Buy Owner"; it's a website or a service that assists in selling your home by owner.

Good luck.

A friend of mine just sold her home (in the $400M range) on her own saving tons of money. The one thing they did do is use an attorney. For less than $1M they had all documentation reviewed by the attorney (so they have someone to blame) and they're quite happy with the process. They did have a failed purchaser on their first offer. He lost his job and decided not to buy their home. He also wouldn’t move from his home (which he'd accepted an offer on). My friend kept the $5,000 earnest money and he's probably still in court with the other buyer who got screwed on his house. Even with an agent this could happen though.

I just purchased a home that was listed by a company called Assist2sell. I HIGHLY don't recommend them! Around $3M to list and they never did get it on MLS. Their agent nearly lost us the deal and we had to seek legal help to encourage the homeowner selling to us to understand the implications of breaching his contract.

I'm torn between doing it myself and using For Sale By Owner (which will cost around $1M). (I have two condos for sale). I already have 4 offers and I'm not even listed and the market is HOT right about now. Why don't we both list our homes and post our experiences heh heh.

Well heck you talked me into it (I needed to think this out I guess), I'm going to go ahead and try on my own with a listing next week. I’ve been thinking of doing an open house because I have so many offers and accepting offers of anyone who wishes to buy 5 days after my open house. Then take whichever one I like best. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thank goodness it wasn't the attorney comment that hit 200,000 ::Ducking:: heh heh Kidding boys!!! Down!!!

We actually have a buyer. But we don't know where to go from here. I think the next step is to complete the Buy-Sell Agreement. Then I think the buyers need to go to their mortgage company with it and arrange for financing (I believe they've been pre-approved), followed by an appraisal. After that, I have no idea. I have several friends that have sold their house on their own so I plan on seeking their advice also. Thanks for the tips and links everyone!

Look in your phone book under real estate attorneys. That's all you need now. You want them to review the earnest money and the bank can handle the balance of the issues. It will be cheap, but worth every penny!

In Dawn's situation, where there is a market imbalance (buyers chasing too few listings), selling yourself makes a lot of sense. But if you are operating in a normal market, in my experience it's worth it to hire a realtor.

I think this is especially true if you are in a relocation situation.

But if you are going to sell the home yourself, you need to think about several issues:

First, I agree wholeheartedly with the recommendations to retain counsel to review the documents.

Next, you need to decide if you will accept offers from buyer's agents. They typically get 1/2 of the normal commission. Even though their contract is with the buyer, they wind up getting paid from the seller's proceeds at closing.

Finally, do some research before you put your house on the market. Find out what other home in your area with similar features and architecture are selling for. Be realistic on your sales price. Most people (myself included) have an inflated sense of what their home is worth.

One thing a realtor is good for is doing this research efficiently and well. But realtor.com will show you lots of information about properties for sale in your area.

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Next, you need to decide if you will accept offers from buyer's agents. They typically get 1/2 of the normal commission. Even though their contract is with the buyer, they wind up getting paid from the seller's proceeds at closing.

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Sounds like this won't be an issue since she already has a buyer, but just an FYI. We wanted the place we purchased quite badly. Our agent wrote up the offer with her fee reduced, but still in the contract. We felt it was important, but we (the agent and myself) had a long discussion. If this was going to be a sticking point she'd understand if we had to counter back without her fee included. She explained that this is all part of the game for her.

Fortunately it was included but the property was so perfect, frankly I'd have taken her up on it if her fee became and issue.

The comment on market is very important. Ours is a mess now if you're buying anything that's not cheap new construction (cheap in the quality not in the price). Also timing and weather has an effect on Alaska home sales. (No one wants to move when it's 40 below)

If you want the most money as fast as possible, use a Realtor, preferably a member of the Council of Residential Specialists. Yes, I'm a licensed Realtor and a Compliance Officer at a community bank in a large Metropolitan area.

Can you do it yourself? Yes, if you have the skills at negotiating, pre-screening buyers, pre-screening mortgage companies, evaluating proposals of "creative financing", and then monitoring (daily) the progress of the closing. Don't forget your advertising budget to include the internet, newspapers, and "Homes" magazines.

Best of Luck!

When my wife and I bought our first hosue together, we signed a buyer's agency agreement with a realtor. He explained to us that normally, he would be paid from the seller's funds at closing. But, if we purchased a FSBO home, and the seller would not pay his fee, that we would be responsible for it.

He asked us if this would discourage us from looking at homes where the seller would not allow any agency participation. We decided that would not affect our decision, but we were glad it was expained to us.

We have sold all three of our homes by ourselves. The best advice is to hire a real estate attorney to draw up the buy-sell agreement detailing what was paid for by the seller (no fees to any realtor) and by the buyer. Also in both cases the closing was done by the attorney. The buyers were responsible for obtaining their own financing and had a clause in the one house that if they changed the date of closing it would cost them $200 per day (to take care of us possibly having to extend our rate lock on the new house). It definately saved us a ton of money, considering one house sold for 165,000 and the other for 270,000.