You do not have to help the buyer with closing costs. That may be a point of negotiation, but it's certainly not a given. We sold FSBO and our buyer paid part of OUR closing costs. It really depends upon the market. If someone shoots you an offer and asks for closing costs, you can counter with the higher amount. Just remember that the people will need to be able to get an appraisal which will justify that price.

All title companies will have blanks of offer sheets. Read the offer sheets you completed when you bought the house. Review your previous closing papers. Know the laws in your state regarding disclosure. You should be able to find that online. At least you can in my state. You can also find the state real estate laws online, so look. Are you in a home owners association and will need a resale certificate?

Closing documents come from a title company, not Office Max. Do you have a connection with someone at a title company? We don't use attorney services in my state. They do review title documents, but they work for the title companies. What is custom in your area?

The mortgage broker isn't really your issue as a seller. The mortgage connection will be the buyer's responsiblity.

You can find books on selling at most book stores, but you still need to know the laws of your state.

Gloria

Hey, I may be wrong, but aren't you in Portland, Oregon? If so there's a place I think called the Portland Housing Authority where you can take a series of classes for just $50 and they walk you through everything.

I was going to take them but we found a house before I could go ... I wanted to learn what was different about Oregon RE practices vs California, where I'd been before.

If you aren't in Portland, your city or community colleges may offer similar classes.

This is a pretty good site to learn about selling your home: RealestateABC.com

I'm all for some sellers trying FSBO. However, it sounds like Roxyl lacks the knowledge, skills, and experience to handle a complicated transaction like a home sale. It's easy to think "Hey, if I sell my home for $300,000 I just saved $18,000!" Sadly, this is rarely a case. Yes, you don't have to pay the commission, but who's to say a professional wouldn't have gotten you $310,000 or $315,000 for your home? If so, your savings is much less.

Successfully marketing a home takes a lot of work. First you have to do a thorough analysis of the market. Follow that with an unbiased review of your home. Homeowners rarely can look at at their own home and see all the strengths, weaknesses, and flaws that a professional can. You need an objective eye to see what the potential buyers are going to see.

Next, after you fix all the things the objective review recommends, you need to prepare marketing materials. This includes photography, flyers, postcards, etc. They should look professional with clear, sharp, well-lit photos that show the best parts of the home. Plus, do you know how many photos are enough? Too few and you may not have shown enough to catch a buyer's attention; too many and you've taken away any curiosity. The buyer will think they've seen enough so unless it's what they think they're looking for they won't bother coming to look at the house. Part of the skill set a good Realtor possesses is understanding their buyers and how a particular home can fulfill the buyer's wishes. That's a valuable tool you lose selling on your own.

Once you've set up your marketing materials you wait for the calls. They could come at anytime, whether convenient for you or not. Unfortunately, not all these calls will be from prospective purchasers. You'll get calls from real estate firms, salespeople, and other businesses trying to sell your home. If you get a call from a prospect, do you really know who they are? Are they looking to buy or are they merely casing your home? Are they scam artists? Are they window shoppers? Will they qualify for a mortgage? These are all questions a quality realtor takes care of for you.

You now have to show the house. How much do you guide the prospects? Do you give a tour? Do you let the prospect walk through the house? How much information do I give when they ask questions? What do I do with the kids, the dog, cat, etc. when showing the house? How do I get feedback if they don't make an offer?

Say someone's interested and wants to tender an offer. Have you ever sold before? Selling is a difficult skill. Negotiating with a stranger isn't easy and is likely to be very stressful. Lacking sales and negotiating skills, how do you know you'll get the most you can? A trained salesperson possesses the skill necessary to negotiate. They can pick up on the subtleties (body language, facial expressions, vocal tones, key words, etc.) that give clues if there's more the buyer's willing to pay. If you're not experienced in selling or negotiating, it's unlikely you'll maximize dollars.

You've now agreed to a deal. Do you take a deposit on binder? What are the customs or laws regulating this? What do you do with the money? How much should you take? Do you have to give it back? What's the next step? Who does the contract? When do we do it? What contingencies do I agree to? Etc., etc.

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from selling on their own. It's tempting to try and save the commission. It's just that there's a lot more work than snapping a couple of pictures, filling out an online questionnaire, and putting a sign on the front lawn. Though I haven't verified the statistics, I've read several times where FSBO sellers are unsuccessful and end up listing with a realtor. Now, in addition to the commission, you've lost all the money paid marketing your home FSBO, plus the time the realtor could have had while you tried doing it on your own.

That said, last month I sold my home without a realtor. My marketing materials were as professional looking as any realtor. I'm good at photography, know a lot about lighting, angles, etc. I have Photoshop and spent time enhancing the photos to their max potential. I have desktop publishing skills and am good at creating interesting marketing materials. I printed the flyers on slick stock that looked professional. This is the fifth home I've sold in my life, but the first without a realtor. I gained knowledge and experience with each sale. I would never do it for my first sale. I've been in sales for 30 years (not real estate), so I have the skills necessary for negotiating and closing transactions. Most important, I didn't look at selling on my own as a way to make more money. I looked at it as a way to make my home more attractive. The 5% commission a realtor would charge to sell my home would have been over $35,000. I sold my home for a little more than I would have netted if I used a realtor and sold at full asking. Reducing the price $30,000 made my house even more attractive. Having the ability to market your home yourself, lowering your price and netting the same is the major benefit FSBO.

Anyone that still wants to do FSBO should heed the advice others here have given. Though I haven't checked out any of the sites, the more research and knowledge you acquire, the more likely you'll be successful selling your home. Even sellers that want to use a realtor should learn as much as they can about selling a home. This way you can be sure your realtor's doing everything they should to earn the large commission you'll be paying.

Good luck,

Kevin

Way to go Kevin! I firmly believe people can do a good job FSBOing. *However*, to be successful, they must approach it the way you did. I too have found that most people vastly underestimate the commitment involved.

IMO, a realtor is there to find buyers, not the legal paperwork.

The realor isn't worth a lot of money for the legal stuff because the realtor, at least in my experience, doesn't actually do a lot of the legal paperwork. In my cases, the realtor(s) just filled in the standard TREC (Texas) home buying contract based on verbal feedback from all parties and once all signatures were on there, this was handed to a title company that took care of the rest (coordination with bank, deed, recordings, closing).

If I was planning on FSBO (only in a strong sellers market), I would:

* Search the net for a standard home buying contract. Only if that comes from a reputable source (like TREC in TX; which was used by all the realtors that I ever dealt with) and if it is written in clear language would I use it w/o an attorney. Otherwise I'd look up a real estate attorney in your state to get a good contract.

* search for a title company and ask them what the info is they need to proceed after a contract has been signed.

* market the house (this is where a good realtor is valuable)

* after negotiating the sale and the contract is signed, contact the title company again and let them handle the rest.

I have to agree with what most of what jrldh said.

It's important to get a good real estate lawyer.. and it will cost you a few hundred, not a percent of your house sale.

Roxyl, a question... did the mortgage person say they could suggest a real estate agent?

Not sure about your state/province but in Ontario, Canada, if there is a mortgage payout involved, a lawyer must be retained for the sale. I have closed homes for people that didnt have mortgages but I would still 100% recommend getting a lawyer for around $500 to close the deal. They may end up saving you thousands in later hassles anyway. It's a matter of the lawyer knowing what and how to protect your interests as a seller.

I'm with Kevin. We sold our last two homes on our own and did very well. But that's because we were experienced at buying and selling, husband was born negotiator and salesman and LOVES this stuff, I had 20 years working with a law firm, etc. And still, it was stressful and there was much we didn't know and needed help with. The real danger comes from the things you don't know you don't know--the things you don't even think to question. This is, after all, an important legal transaction.

In both cases, the minute we had an offer, we began working with a real est. atty. We are currently working with a flat fee atty who specialize in FSBOs. He's helped with negotiations, drafted amendments, will attend closing--very helpful. $600 for everything.

I think plenty of folks can do this on their own--but that doesn't mean everyone can. If I were the OP, who seems so stressed, I would seriously consider working with a good real est. agent.

Actually, I forgot but most transactions in my area are now electronic requiring an authorized party (lawyer, conveyancer, title firm) to electronically prepare the deed/transfer and sign said document. I am sure most other areas are moving to this model. You can always hire a conveyancer to prepare this document for you or see if you can get the purchaser's representation to do it for you. (again if no mortgage payout is involved).

I used to do closings for many years and over the years I have seen the process change from the lawyer and his secretary doing most of the work to prepare the papers for closing, get the payoffs, taxes, etc. to the mortgage companies doing most everything - and sending the closing package to the attorney's office or the title company the day before. Wow, that is so nice too because I used to use a typewriter.

You should be able to get the forms you need either at a local stationary store, or some FSBO websites will provide you one appropriate to your state. If you sign on with a flat fee MLS service, many of those companies can provide the form. And you would be surprised what you can find online.

You just need to know the checklist - I've seen my friends and neighbors sell their own houses, and I have finally come to the conclusion that it doesn't take a rocket scientist - but you should have a good real estate attorney or title agent to check over the paperwork and do the closing. Negotiating the sale is an art.

Good luck to you.

Around here in California, nobody ever just hires a real estate attorney instead of a realtor. The practice must vary region by region. $600 for the entire transaction sounds really cheap. Attorneys would charge that much for an hour. Are you sure that you are really hiring an attorney, not paralegal?

$700 canadian (all inclusive) is normal for sale. This is with actual lawyer not paralegal. Includes registration fees for mortgage discharge, documents preparation, attending, etc. A purchase however is much more expensive as it involves search costs, title insurance, blah blah. A good real estate attorney will also prepare agreement of purchase and sale for very little to no cash if they handle your sale and subsequent purchase.

Not sure but I think title companies charge even less than this.

Here in Madison, about 20% of all transactions are FSBO (or flat fee MLS listing svcs) and the r.e. pros have adapted accordingly. Our atty's practice consists solely of helping FSBOs through the process. He charges $600/yr to do everything and anything that comes up relating to sale or purchase. (He is def. an atty and not a paralegal; he simply doesn't charge an hourly rate.) There are a number of attys with similar practices in Madison. There was an article about Madison FSBO and our atty in the NY Times a while back.

So, OP, if you have access to someone like this atty, it might make life easier for you. He will hold your hand through the whole ordeal. But you'd still have to do the selling, showing, negotiating, etc.

Thanks everyone! I think I may have found a good attorney in the area. Minet, you are correct we're just across the border from Portland (in WA).
Keep the advice rolling. This is very interesting wading into this stuff for the first time!