How I Sold My House in 4 Days FSBO on Zillow!

Let me start by saying that selling your home FSBO is not for everybody. There are qualified realtors available who specialize in selling, and I have used them in the past for other homes. I simply want to share another option, should you decide it is right for you.

I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to sell my house in just 4 days, and to save $13,500 in realtor fees! The market was hot, my neighborhood was very desirable, and move-in ready homes available were very low. This all worked together to make my home much easier to sell!

Here are a list of necessary things I did before I actually listed it for sale. I recommend that you consider each of these before you list your home:

• ·       De-clutter! Take a long look around every square foot of your house. Try to view it as an outsider would. I’ve seen many pictures of homes for sale that make me wonder why they posted them? There is clutter everywhere, laundry, numerous pictures and items that steer the eye away from the actual space. Start getting rid of unnecessary items (sell, donate, trash) and put other minimally used items in storage. Make your home as “open looking” as possible.
•       Paint! Realtors use the term “vanilla” to let their home sellers know how a home should look. This means that you want your home as neutral as possible. You may love Tomato Red for your dining room walls, but, not everyone will. Much better to use basic light colors that make the room look larger, and don’t distract from the room. I also re-painted my outdoor shutters and mailbox which instantly freshened my exterior!
•       Clean! I can’t say this enough! Make sure you’ve cleaned bathrooms, showers, closets, etc. Vacuum, or if you can, steam-clean the carpets. Dust the baseboards and blinds. Windex the windows. Prospective buyers are going to literally open every cabinet, closet, and shower. You will be amazed at what they look at. So, be prepared in advance. The last thing you want is to turn away buyers due to a dirty house. You also want as much natural light to enter in, so clean windows and blinds do matter! And, clean your front patio and door. Folks will come to your house when you’re not there, and will look at everything on the outside. Fix the broken doorbell, replace the dingy welcome mat, scrub the bird nest debris and remove spider webs, etc.
•       Yardwork! Curb appeal is everything! Folks will be driving by your house to scope it out from the road. Make sure you’ve taken time to mow the lawn, trim the hedges, pull weeds, edge and rake if needed. I even planted grass in a few spots that needed attention, and thankfully it grew in before I listed my house. I also purchased cedar edging to place around my shrubbery, as well as, a few solar lights to place neatly around them. What a nice  touch!                                                                                                                                                                              

So, those are just a few things I did that didn’t cost much, but did make a big positive impact. I then created a free website about my house on www.wix.com. It didn't take too long to create, and was quite easy to do. It’s a great thing to have for folks that email you desiring more information. They will appreciate a nice website to view more details and pictures.

Before I listed my house on www.zillow.com, I started gathering information about my house (square footage, neighborhood schools, POA fees, taxes, appliances included and their warranties, any upgrades, and similar). I also did a comparative market value based on 6 months’ worth of recent similar home sales, which helped me price my home competitively per square foot.

I made sure to have my house ready for sale in the spring. That is a top time for buyers to start looking for homes! My home was in a very family-friendly neighborhood, so timing of the school year was very important. Folks with kids want to move before the next school year starts. Plus, spring is typically beautiful weather, yards look nice, and flowers are blooming.

I priced my home very well on Zillow. This helped rank it higher in searches. I had a good idea of what it would appraise for, which is very important! You don’t want to price your house more than what it will appraise for, unless the buyer is willing to pay the difference in cash as banks won’t finance more than what it appraises for. Also (and I learned this the hard way), don’t include un-permitted spaces (like a finished bonus room) in the square footage. Unless the work was done with a permit, it won’t be included in your total square footage, thus, your price per square foot will be off, and it won’t appraise for as much as you had hoped. And, it won’t show in realtor sites who pick up the Zillow listings, at anything other than the true taxable square footage.

Offer a realtor incentive if you can (2-3%). Most realtors will not show a home unless they will get a commission to do so. Now this is totally up to you, but, you are going to have calls from realtors and they will ask about this. I was fortunate that my buyer was not represented by a realtor, so I never had to do this. But, I did offer it.

Make sure that you have a state specific real estate contract in advance, and read through every line so that you understand it! Know what “due diligence period”, “closing date”, “earnest money”, “contingencies”, "addendum", and similar terms are. Here is a great website for more information Understanding a Real Estate Contract. Understand clearly what you are including (certain appliances, window treatments, lighting, fans, etc). Also, have your list of disclosures ready and signed. This form will detail lots of information about your house such as when it was built, type of structure, any known problems, etc.

Be prepared to have a flexible schedule, pre-qualify your buyers, and don’t take things personally when they tour! Interested buyers will want to come and see your home sooner verses later, and, they will not see it the way you do! Make sure that you can set appointments that are convenient for them. Before they arrive, make sure your house is tour ready (all lights on, window blinds open, smells good, is cool or heated depending on weather, clean, decluttered, etc.). Also, they may make comments as they tour…if it is not positive, don’t take it personally just learn from it! I would suggest asking them if they have been pre-approved for a home priced as yours, before accepting an appointment so you don’t waste time with “Lookie-loos”. I must also advise you to use caution if you are a woman showing your home alone! Use your best judgement in screening folks, show during daylight hours, and consider having someone with you. I never had an issue, but, unfortunately this does need to be said.

Once an offer is accepted, you will also need to be flexible in your schedule to be there for the appraisal, the inspections, any repairmen that come due to the inspection, etc.. And, consider in advance what you will pay for and what you won’t pay for if the inspection comes up with issues…and they always do! Here is a great site to help you understand what the inspector looks for, and how to prepare your home in advance: The Home Inspection. The buyer may also want to come by and look at the house again several times to show family members, take measurements or other things, so be flexible. You will then need to schedule a good time for your buyer to come and do a final walk-through once the inspection is done, and the list of repairs have been completed.

Lastly, you will want to research good real estate attorneys in advance. You can ask them what they would charge to assist you in your selling process, and, it’s good to know what they would charge for the closing if the buyers wants to use them.

So, these are the highlights of things needed to sell a home without a realtor. There are plenty of helpful articles about it on Zillow, Trulia, and other sites. Hopefully my experience has been helpful to you. I was so blessed to have had a great experience, a great buyer, and a hot real estate market. I would do it all over again, and would definitely encourage folks to give it a try! Good luck and happy selling!!