Are you committed to selling for sale by owner?

In today’s real estate market, a home-made website, an ad in the local newspaper, and a yard sign with directional signs on the corner aren’t enough. For most homeowners for sale (FSBOs), there is little incentive to invest the time and effort to create a meaningful web presence, and the long-term upfront costs of running ads in local newspapers to promote your property are not practical.

Unless you’re lucky, illogical strategies like “I’ll try it out on my own for a month or two and then turn it over to a real estate agent” are doomed to failure. Such strategies illustrate a lack of confidence as well as a consistent plan to market your property effectively. You need both to be successful, and sadly, many FSBOs start out with strategies like these.

Whether you are a first-time homeowner (FSBO) or a seasoned real estate professional, buying, selling or renting a property requires commitment and hard work. If you don’t have time, don’t fool yourself. Hire a real estate professional. Trying to market your property on the ‘cheap’ usually offers little reward. In most cases, you will end up wasting valuable time and money. But if you really want to go it alone, do some research to understand what you’re up against and how to avoid common pitfalls.

Fortunately, most of the information you’ll need is readily available. You just need to take advantage of the many For Sale By Owner (FSBO) resources currently available on the web. Since much of this information is written by real estate professionals, it is quite comprehensive. These resources cover all aspects of the homeowner’s sales process, including preparing the property, determining and setting the sale price, the advertising process, the buyer-seller negotiation, and understanding the process. closing. Even the contracts and forms needed to close a property are readily available, and best of all, many of these services are free!