Sale House by Owner

For Sale by Owner: Sell Your Own Home and Save Thousands

1. Make your house selling plan
2. List pre-sale maintenance. – Decide if more time and money should be invested:

Area / Work Details / Time / $Cost

3. Determine the earliest date you can complete the sale.
4. Locate all legal documents
5. Your property particulars statement:

• Property description and restrictions
  
• Improvements
  
• Assessment of speculative value
  
• External and internal features
  
• List distances to essential services and amenities
  
• List home ownership expenses
  
• Conduct a neighbourhood analysis
  
• Assess your competition
  

6. Agreement of purchase and sale – get it, study, print some copies
7. Choose a lawyer
8. Set your asking price

• Visit similar homes for sale in your area. Drive around your neighbourhood and jot down all addresses and phone numbers shown on the “for sale” signs of homes similar to yours. Contact each responsible person to obtain the following:
  
  
  
  • Selling price,
    
  • Dimensions of the lot,
    
  • Building size and type,
    
  • General condition,
    
  • Special features, and
    
  • The approximate length of time the property has been on the market.
    
  
  
• Set the information in the journal. After personal inspection of each home, make your comparison
  
• The next strep is to contact three separate real estate offices in your area and ask about estimation price for comparable homes either recently sold, currently on the market, or both. Agents should be able to tell you the average length of time it takes to sell your property under a multiple listing service.
  
• The tree estimated selling prices plus your research should provide a market range.
  
• Consult professional appraisers. Contact at least two, determine their fee for providing a written appraisal report, and choose one. The cost to obtain the detailed report is under $300. An appraisal report impresses potential purchases because it gives them some assurance that the value is there.
  
• Now you have 4 estimated prices. Determine your price according to the closest grouping of figures, then allow a slight amount for negotiating.
  

9. Advertising program:

• Word of mouth
  
• Prepare an advertising hand out: letter size document with a good photograph of the front of your property and short (about 75 words) description. Make copies for friends, neighbours, co-workers and potential buyers.
  
• Consider using your “hand out” as a flyer. – Place the flyers underneath the windshield wiper of all the vehicles parked in a lot where a target group is congregating.
  
• Place the flyers in factories, shopping malls, Laundromat, and other places supply bulletin boards.
  
• Purchase a “Private for sale: sign and place it on your front lawn so that is visible from both direction.
  
• Spend wisely on paid advertising. (local classifieds for example)
  

10. Open House:

• Purchase as many open house signs as necessary to direct the main flow of traffic to your residence.
  
• Create a pleasing atmosphere, with soft, low music, air fresheners, coffee brewing in the kitchen.
  
• Provide you visitors ”hand out” info
  
• Have a quest register handy for each person to enter their name, address, and phone number, so if someone becomes more interested as the tour progress, you will be able to call them later and to ask what they think of your home and if they are interested in seeing it again at a private showing.
  

11. Negotiating

• Point out the provision in your agreement for getting buyer’s lawyer’s signed approval before it becomes binding.(section 7 of the agreement of purchase). Point out this protection given to the purchaser, because it takes a tremendous amount of pressure off their minds.
  
• Decide who will conduct the negotiating. Having more than one person representing the vendor is cumbersome. As well, it works to your advantage, especially with contentious issues: write the issue into the agreement and pointing out that is subject to your partner’s approval.
  
• Negotiating price
  
• Negotiating the deposit (try getting 3-5% of the purchase price)
  
• Negotiating the financing condition
  
• Negotiating fixtures and chattels. List the fixtures to be excluded from the deal and chattels to be included.
  
• Negotiating the closing day
  

12. Close the sale

• Removal of the purchaser’s conditions. The first condition gives the purchaser’s lawyer a right to object and cancel the sale agreement. This is only achieved by the lawyer forwarding a letter directly to you within 7 days of the acceptance date. This condition is worded so that if you don’t receive a reply from the purchaser’s lawyer in the tome prescribed, the condition automatically is waived, and you can assume everything is satisfactory.
  
• The Waiver Form is a written document used for removing conditions in the agreement of purchase and sale. It’s used to waive the financing condition.
  

Resources:
For sale by owner : sell your own home and save thousands /by Walsh, Edward M. (Edward Michael), 1941-Self-Counsel Press,1994.