Sell your own home!

How do you feel about negotiating the sale of your home directly with a buyer? Are you confident in your negotiating abilities?

Although some for sale by owner (FSBO) home sellers feel comfortable with the idea, many find it unsettling. What if the buyers come in with a lowball offer? What if the buyers want you to handle the contractual paperwork?

When selling your home by owner you don't have a real estate agent to cushion the relationship between you and the potential home buyer. On the other hand, you are infinitely familiar with your home – the product. After all, presumably, you know your home inside and out better than anyone else. Be careful you don’t overwhelm the potential home buyer with useless information that they don’t care about. It can definitely put a potential home buyer off and push them away from even considering your home. All of which is to say, you really don't have to sell the house - you just have to sell yourself.

How do you sell yourself to a home buyer?

As the seller, it's important to see things from the buyer's perspective. And as far as the buyer is concerned, you are automatically suspect. The buyer suspects that you will do anything and everything to sell that home including lying and cheating. The buyer sees you as the adversary. Therefore, the most important thing is to establish trust. Get that buyer to see you as a responsible person with whom it's safe to do business.

The way to win trust is to be trustworthy. It sounds simple, but it's easy to make a mistake. Here are four rules to help establish trust.

DON'T EXAGGERATE

Don't say the house is always cool in summer and warm in winter. On some extremely hot and cold days, everyone knows the home's temperature will be extreme.
Don't say you never get bugs in the summer, or that the neighborhood is always quiet, or that there are no cracks anywhere in the home. If you make statements that on the surface are unrealistic, buyers will tend to think you're pushing too hard to sell... and maybe that's because you're covering something up.

DON'T INSULT THE BUYER

Keep things strictly on a business level. If the buyer says that your choice of color makes them nauseated, don't argue. Simply nod and say that everyone's taste is different.
Remember, as soon as you contradict the buyer, argue, or indicate what they are saying is wrong; it can be taken as an insult. And an insulted buyer simply won't want to deal with you.

DON'T HIDE DEFECTS

Defects have a way of coming out in the open. And if the buyers suspect that you're trying to conceal them, they'll never trust you on anything again.

DON'T LIE ABOUT THE PROPERTY OR THE DEAL.

You tell the buyer you have clear title and you'll be able to close within two weeks, even though you know there's a claim against your title that will take at least a month to settle. When you can't close as specified on time, the buyer will learn of your lie. And you'll have lost his or her trust, and perhaps the deal.

BE CALM AND CONFIDENT

It's easy because you know you haven't exaggerated, gotten personal, hidden or lied about anything.

FSBO TIP

A buyer who trusts you will want to deal with you. He or she will be willing to go the extra mile when something goes wrong (as something always does). That buyer will believe you in negotiations. And as a result your deal will be better, easier and less frustrating.

SELL YOUR OWN HOME – FREE FSBO Real Estate Products and Tips!