Ideas on Selling a Home ---> FOR SALE BY OWNER?

I am currently living in my aunt and uncle's home until our condo is finished. My aunt and uncle also have an apartment in columbus where my uncle travels for work. So for the past year 90% of the time they are in columbus.
He just got things changed and is going to be working 100% out of the office there so they will be selling their cleveland home.

Since my fiance and i are here now, they asked if we could sell the home. He said if not, they would hire a realtor.

I just dont know about it and wanted to see if anyone had ideas on the whole "For Sale By Owner" thing.


So far, my friends have told me to wait until Spring/Summer to put it on the market, fresh coat of paint, put in good lighting/right light bulbs, and get rid of excess furniture/clutter/junk.

Does someone have to sit around all day, or can it be "by appointment only?" I just think that would limit it because dont people randonly stop in? Or is that mostly on weekends only that people drive around and look for "FOr Sale" signs?



Any thoughts/suggestions much appreciated!

I think you can just have a sign there with flyers and a number to contact you.. then you can talk to people over the phone about their questions. And then put up a sign that says "OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 8 - 1" or something like that. Then the people that are interested will either call if that day doesn't work out and try to schedule another appointment, or come Sunday.

[quoted0298d5888="BD2006BD"]I think you can just have a sign there with flyers and a number to contact you.. then you can talk to people over the phone about their questions. And then put up a sign that says "OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 8 - 1" or something like that. Then the people that are interested will either call if that day doesn't work out and try to schedule another appointment, or come Sunday.[/quoted0298d5888]


Makes sense! Thanks!

ya, i think you got the realtors job mixed up. people dont randomly stop in unless its an open house. else the realtor brings clients in on a scheduled basis.

a good realtor is the only way to sell a house.

on the other hand, if you want to get about 10% less for it, and be negotiated to death by investors (or others) who want to find a steal on a home, try and sell it yourself

you wont get nearly the exposure, youll deal with loads of paperwork yourself (not even counting all the closing hassles) and the national average for a FSBO selling price is something like $20,000 less than if you listed with a realtor

when a potential buyer sees that a home is for sale by owner, they automatically know you are saving $5,000 (or whatever) on commission, and will immediately assume they can talk you down that much in price

unless your market is hot and you can sell your house in a week, go with someone who knows what theyre doing, trust me

i am not a realtor, btw