MARKET YOUR HOME FOR SALE cont...

Yes, there are many free and low cost websites to market a FSBO property that will generate some attention, but it will not under any circumstances put your property on the single most popular website for home searches - Realtor.Com. Statistics show that 70% of all home buyers start their search here. That is a huge statistic. That is not 70% of those who use the Internet, that is 70% of ALL HOME BUYERS.

Only REALTOR® members of the MLS can have their listings on this influential and powerful website. All of the FSBO websites combined can't even make an impact on the number of visitors that REALTOR.Com receives.

Aside from all of the resources available to professional REALTORS® there are two very important distinctions that a REALTOR brings to the transaction.

First, as I mentioned in the previous part of this article the undisputed fact that all real estate is local. Hendersonville real estate will never be Sa Jacinto real estate anymore than North Carolina real estate will never be Florida real estate. Real estate is local.

When a Hendersonville REALTOR® markets a Hendersonville listing for sale, one of the foremost powerful resources is other Hendersonville and Henderson County REALTORS®. Local REALTORS® tend to know other local REALTORS as they often find themselves in transactions with one another on a fairly consistent basis.

(I often wonder what people are thinking when they retain a REALTOR® from another market to help them sell their home. I think they must believe it is a simple as putting a sign in the yard and putting a home on the MLS. Have you ever noticed the homes with out of town agents are the ones that never have flyers in the flyer box and their signs hang around forever?)

The Second advantage to using a Hendersonville REALTOR® is that the buyers are looking for a local REALTOR to help them find their dream home, because a Hendersonville REALTOR® knows the Hendersonville market - and typically does not charge the buyer a dime for their services. So, it only makes sense for a buyer to work with a REALTOR® because collectively, the professional REALTORS® have access to most of the buyers in the market at any given time.

The typical FSBO seller starts off by putting a sign in their yard, takes some digital pictures and prints some flyers and posts the listing to a handful of websites and then gets ready for their first open house - which is often disappointing at best.

Obviously, not every FSBO seller will encounter all of these pitfalls and there are those that when they do encounter them will have a game plan in place and move forward as if nothing has happened - although I am certain that is the minority of sellers who opt to sell their Hendersonville home for sale on their own.

In Hendersonville there are a number of legal requirements that the seller must comply with in order to have a legal transaction. The worse case scenario is not that the contract unravels, but that the buyer takes possession and then sues the seller for any number of issues that were done wrong or just not properly disclosed. Not because the seller is a bad person and tried to be devious, but because the seller just did not know what he was doing when it came to protecting himself by using a legally binding and enforceable document and going through the local and customary procedures.


LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT

One of the most difficult and frustrating aspect of selling a home without a professional REALTOR® will surface if and when an offer actually comes in - especially if it comes from an individual who like he FSBO seller is not represented by a REALTOR®.

Often the parties go to a local stationary store to buy a form packet. The problem is that more often than not they are worthless documents. Typically they are designed for very general purposes and are generally not specific to any particular local area or needs..

In addition to not having legally biding forms available, the FSBO seller typically will not be up to date on local disclosure requirements. A FSBO seller probably does not know about Radon Gas, Lead Paint, Natural Hazards or any of the other disclosures that must be adhered to in the Hendersonville real estate market. Of course these are considered to be the basics to a Hendersonville Realtor.

Many times a FSBO seller will rely on a local attorney who specializes in real estate (expensive). However, every attorney I know typically is not available on the weekends, which happens to be when most offers to purchase Hendersonville Real Estate take place.

So what should a FSBO seller do?

Let's assume the contract is prepared. How much good faith earnest money deposit should be collected? Who will hold it? What happens if the buyer decides to back out? What happens if the buyer cannot complete he transaction? These are all things that need to be spelled out in advance.

Then there are the inspection requirements. Do you know who traditionally pays for what? Do you know a highly recommended inspector? What type of Title report/policy do you need? Which Title company will you use? Why?

Are you beginning to get the picture?

Next we will take a look at the many different variables or contingencies to every real estate transaction. Believe me when I tell you people do not come to your open house with a case full of cash wanting to buy your house - it just does not happen that way. So lets take a look at what may hold up a deal, once everyone has shaken hands on it...

DID THE BUYER SAY ‘CONTINGENCY'?

As a For Sale By Owner seller, you are obviously looking for as smooth and simple transaction as possible. Perhaps, in the back of your mind, you are fantasizing that you will have a buyer show up with a brief case full of cash and offer you your full asking price and hope you can be out in a week - two tops.

Hopefully, you know that is just a fantasy. If it is any comfort, every REALTOR and home seller share it with you. Now lets take a reality pill.

When an offer does come in for an acceptable price, there is so much more that has to be considered. Nearly every purchase has at least three contingencies, if not more. Let's look at the most common contingencies to a purchase first.

Since most purchases involve some sort of financing, the lender will always require an appraisal. So, the first and almost automatic contingency is that the property has to appraise at the accepted asking price.

In today's market, it is almost unheard of to offer more than the appraised value. In a hot sellers market, it was not uncommon for very popular neighborhoods to demand a premium which anxious buyers coughed up with no problem.

In other cases, a particular home may have had some very unique features that were near impossible to put a dollar value on, so if the buyer wanted a particular unique home, hen hey would pay in cash the amount above the appraised value, to satisfy he sellers demands.

In today's ‘buyers' market it is virtually unheard of for Hendersonville Real Estate to sell for more that the appraised value. So, with this contingency in place, the seller must determine what they will do if the appraisal does not come in high enough to support the agreed upon purchase price. Will you lower the price? Will you take your home off the market and stay put until the market reaches your price (which it will do, eventually)? Or, do you believe the buyer will be obligated and willing to give you more money than what your home is worth?

The next issue you will have to address is what may be an entire series of professional inspections. Undoubtedly, the buyer will have a professional 3rd party inspector check out the overall condition of the home. It seems like even the very best maintained homes will generate the identity of some sort of maintenance issue - somewhere on he property for sale. It may be electrical, it may b plumbing, it may even be something as simple as a door know that turns the wrong way, but rest assured, there will be something.

So, how will you handle this situation? The contingency is for the protection of the buyer - it allows hem the opportunity to back out of the negotiation if the report does not meet their approval. So, to satisfy the buyer, are you willing to make additional repairs? What happens if the buyer wants to renegotiate the price?

Then there are the other inspections? Do you have a pool? The buyer will want it inspected. Do you have a septic system? Again, the buyer will want it inspected. What will you do if the buyer wants a professional inspection of the roof and HVAC system and they want you to pay for it?

Working with a professional REALTOR® you may be advised to have these matters looked at early on. Yes, you may end up paying for inspections that the buyer typically pays for, but having a clean bill of health early on in the negotiating process may make the difference in an offer and no offer or it may make the difference in a full price offer and a low-ball offer.

Low-ball offers are common in FSBO listings since the buyer knows that the seller is going to save thousands, so they want a piece of that too. There goes the extra "profit"!

The other contingency that is automatic when there is a lender involved has to do with termites and other pests. It is something that will have to be done, so as a REALTOR® I always advise my listing clients to have it performed when a home is first offered for sale so there is no question about the condition. This way, if there are any repairs that need to be completed, they can be done before the buyer ever steps foot on your property, which will enhance the value and not allow there to be a reason to renegotiate of cancel the purchase agreement.

There are of course any number of issues that a buyer may present that will become part of the deal. Without a REALTOR® to help you, as the FSBO seller, you will be on your own to weigh the consequences of these contingencies and negotiate them on your own with the buyer.

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