Go on, admit it, you’ve thought about selling your home yourself, instead of hiring a real estate agent? If so, you’re not alone — especially these days. More and more homeowners are planting “for sale by owner” signs in their front yards.

One of the biggest reasons is the savings on real estate commissions – 6% being the standard commission amount. The next biggest reason is control, many people like to make their own decisions.  No one knows the home like the seller, they know it inside and out!

While there are many ways to go about the Cape Coral and Fort Myers For Sale By Owner route, here are a few tips on how to proceed once a seller already has a buyer.

Offer and Negotiations

Someone wants to make an offer on your home. Now what?

First, make sure your buyer can buy it. Simple, right?  You want a buyer who can afford your home, before signing anything ask for proof of funds or a pre-approval letter from their mortgage contact.  You don’t want to waste time with unqualified buyers, so recruit a mortgage officer to meet with potential buyers. The officer can preapprove or prequalify the buyer — potentially saving you time and aggravation — while drumming up business.

The offer stage is one of the most important points in the whole For Sale By Owner process

You are going to want to brush up on how to negotiate to get the outcome you want.

Be ready for some buyer expectation that you’re going to provide a bargain, let’s face it, you are doing this yourself and saving a lot of money! A deal is made when everyone will feel as though they’ve won.

It is also very important where the offer presentation will occur. Think about it, it’s a business conversation, you may want to recommend that the buyer present the offer at a coffee shop or even at a title company, however the best would be at your home, at the kitchen table – not sitting by the pool or on the sofa – it’s going to be one more opportunity to sell the property.

So now you and your buyer have settled on a price.

Now, a rule of thumb when selling your home yourself: Put every last thing in writing. Including the offer from the buyer, any counteroffers, the final agreed-upon price, and of course contingencies -making sure all parties sign off.

Remember this is not the end, there are many nuts and bolts that need to be put together.

Part II – coming soon!

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