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Home for sale by owner

Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:43 pm
Posted by rocksteady
Member since Sep 2013
2361 posts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:43 pm
My siblings and I just put a deceased parents house up for sale by owner as we think finding a buyer won’t be difficult, but don’t know much past that. Anyone shed some light on this process as far as steps/paperwork/advice? Or are we biting off more than we wish to
Posted by dillpickleLSU
Philadelphia, PA
Member since Oct 2005
26433 posts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:48 pm to
Print contract off internet.

Have buyer make offer. Fill out contract, send to buyer for signature.

Buyer takes contract to bank for mortgage. Bank takes over from there until time to find a title company for closing.

I might be missing a step or 2 but the bank will tell you what to do.
Posted by Epaminondas
The Boot
Member since Jul 2020
5788 posts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:53 pm to
Once you find a buyer, you'll need a purchase agreement. If a realtor was involved, they would do this. I would recommend you talk to the attorney who handled the succession. He can get you the basic purchase agreement you need.

Once you've got a signed purchase agreement, the buyer/ his lender will get an attorney to handle the closing, etc. At that point, realtors are usually just getting in the way and trying to look like they're doing something useful.
Posted by Witty_Username
Member since Jul 2021
677 posts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 8:01 pm to
Not sure what state you're in, but I would find the state's Real Estate Commission website, and they'll most likely have a disclosure form on there to fill out.

Here's the link to Louisiana's website for example.

Fill one of those out because chances are you'll be dealing with a buyer that has an agent, and that will be the first thing they get you to fill out.

I've sold 2 homes by owner and both times, the buyer's agent charged 3%. Not sure if there's any wiggle room there, but we were satisfied with the take home pay after factoring in the percentage.

Otherwise it's pretty straight forward. Settle on a price, they'll get it inspected and ask for repairs, y'all will either repair the fixes or offer cash in lieu of repair (fyi, if they have an FHA loan, some things will be required to be fixed before the sale).

One thing to ask the buyer's agent is if the buyers are pre-approved and not pre-qualified. Pre-qualified is a less rigorous process to get a piece of paper from the bank, but pre-approval means that they have probably submitted documents like w-2s, pay stubs, etc, so pre-approval is what you want. We got burned on this on the first home sale. Buyer was pre-qualified, but the bank didn't really look at all the debt that the buyer had. After the offer from them was accepted, the loan fell through because the due diligence process hadn't been fully completed by the bank.

Good luck!
Posted by whiskey over ice
Member since Sep 2020
3692 posts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 8:14 pm to
quote:

Once you've got a signed purchase agreement, the buyer/ his lender will get an attorney to handle the closing, etc. At that point, realtors are usually just getting in the way and trying to look like they're doing something useful.


Uhhh, who’s going to post pictures of the closing on Facebook?
Posted by Im4datigers
Northern Virginia
Member since Oct 2003
4649 posts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 8:16 pm to
What state are you in or is the property in?
Posted by Sterling Archer
Member since Aug 2012
8249 posts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 10:32 pm to
I'm sorry for your loss!

Also, these are questions you maybe ask before putting it up for sale
Posted by SulphursFinest
Lafayette
Member since Jan 2015
11363 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 5:06 am to
A buyer may come to you with an agent and the agent will likely charge a fee. Just be aware of that.
Posted by meansonny
ATL
Member since Sep 2012
26045 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 6:09 am to
quote:


A buyer may come to you with an agent and the agent will likely charge a fee. Just be aware of that

You can counter by adding that fee to the purchase price.

When an agent comes to you, they already like the home.
Posted by texn
Pronouns: Y'All/Y'All's
Member since Nov 2019
4059 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 9:30 am to
OP: "We can sell the house ourselves...we don't need no stinking realtor"

Goes to Internet message board because doesn't know squat
Posted by MonroeTigerstripes
Member since Jul 2016
564 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 10:08 am to
We did this last summer. You can go online and pay a fee to have the home listed on MLS. I think we paid ~$250-300. The company we paid sent us all paperwork we needed for the sale. If your home isn’t on MLS, it’ll be hard to find unless buyers know to click the “other” tab on websites like realtor.com. We also offered a 2% commission to the buyers realtor.
Posted by Palomitz
Miami
Member since Oct 2009
2666 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 10:13 am to
quote:

OP: "We can sell the house ourselves...we don't need no stinking realtor"

Goes to Internet message board because doesn't know squat


You sound like a total idiot. So you would prefer to give a 6% fee to a realtor? or you would rather have that $25-35K extra in your pocket?
Posted by FLObserver
Jacksonville
Member since Nov 2005
15848 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 10:18 am to
quote:

OP: "We can sell the house ourselves...we don't need no stinking realtor"

Goes to Internet message board because doesn't know squat


Found the realtor in the thread.
Posted by Roy Curado
Member since Jul 2021
1446 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 10:45 am to
What realtor is charging 6%? Most FSBO homes welcome realtors at 1.5%-2%. I would suggest doing that to make the process a lot easier and be firm on your concessions.
Posted by Palomitz
Miami
Member since Oct 2009
2666 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 11:02 am to
quote:

Most FSBO homes welcome realtors at 1.5%-2%


That's unheard of, at least here in S. FL. Welcome to 2023.

The realty agency will collect the commission fee, then distribute 50% to the realtor per sale. 1-2% commission here realtors would starve at an approx. $2K commission.
This post was edited on 5/16/23 at 11:06 am
Posted by deathvalleytiger10
Member since Sep 2009
9072 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 11:10 am to
I have sold homes by owner before.

1) If you know of any issues with the home, disclose it in the purchase agreement. (Ex. With a previous inspection, it had been recommended that new wiring to be completed.) If you disclose issues before hand and have it in the purchase agreement that you will not change the price for these items you will be in a stronger position.
2) Get a decent size deposit, like $2000-$5,000 that stipulates if the purchaser backs out of the agreement, they lose the deposit. I learned this lesson after having people sign a purchase agreement yet they were not credit worthy and the deal fell through 30 days later. Huge waste of time. Last house we sold had a $5,000 deposit and we disclosed some issues with the house that we would not decrease the price for. The potential buyer got an inspection in which he noted the exact items we had disclosed. The buyer backed out and we kept the $5,000. Mind you, they had a buyer's agent who told them not to sign the purchase agreement unless they were ok with the stipulations.
3) Buyer's agents are welcome, but their commission should be paid by the buyer. They are working for the buyer, not you. The agents will call and ask if it is ok if they bring a customer by. Sure, but tell them upfront that their commission comes from the buyer, not you. Some will not bring their client, but many will if the client is really interested in the house.

Do this at first and if you haven't sold in a few months, you can always change tactics. I have used this exact scenario several times and it worked well.
Posted by BayouBengal23
BR
Member since Mar 2019
632 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 11:23 am to
I’ll buy it if it’s outdated in a decent area and handle all the paperwork.

What’s your email?
Posted by kywildcatfanone
Wildcat Country!
Member since Oct 2012
136272 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 12:23 pm to
If your buyer has a realtor, offer then 2 or 2.5% to do all the paperwork. That's what we did last time, and made it all super easy.

We only posted on zillow, so it was free.
This post was edited on 5/16/23 at 12:25 pm
Posted by blueboxer1119
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2013
9573 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 12:38 pm to
quote:

I've sold 2 homes by owner and both times, the buyer's agent charged 3%.


You may as well list with a discount broker for 3.5% total.

You'd get full service listing and on MLS.

Would definitely be worth the extra .5%.
Posted by Witty_Username
Member since Jul 2021
677 posts
Posted on 5/16/23 at 12:55 pm to
quote:

You may as well list with a discount broker for 3.5% total.

You'd get full service listing and on MLS.

Would definitely be worth the extra .5%.


It may be in OP's best interest to do this. For us, we sold both homes in hot markets and factored in the price what we knew we'd pay a buyer's agent.
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