January 24, 2006
For Sale By Owner: Quick Guide
Selling a house by yourself can be frightening, but with these tips you can be prepared to avoid some of the common legal pitfalls you might encounter.
Before showing your home, you should have the following information ready. Many states require that you disclose certain information about your home to potential buyers. Preparing this information in advance can save you a lot of headaches later. Prepare a fact sheet with the homes age and any problems that you may know about. These problems are called material facts, and include issues like a leaky roof, problems with the ownership or title and termite damage. If you or a neighbor has overstepped the property line, disclose it. If your house was built before 1978 you are required by Federal law to disclose information about any tests that you have done for lead paint. You must also inform potential buyers that lead paint might possibly be in the home due to its age. Even if you haven’t tested for lead paint, you’ll have to provide your buyer with a pamphlet from the EPA.
You will need to include information about the general area, such as earthquake faults, flood zones and nearby airports. These are common disclosures required by almost every state.
Before you begin showing your home, have contract forms prepared. Losing a sale because you’re frantically trying to draw up a contract is frustrating and unnecessary. Purchase forms from a local real estate agent or an office supply store, and if you are at all uncomfortable, have a real estate attorney review them.
Being prepared to provide your potential buyer with the information required by law will help your buyer make an informed decision, and ultimately protects both parties to the sale.
(This information for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.
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7 Comments on For Sale By Owner: Quick Guide »
January 25, 2006
Craig Blackmon @ 9:09 am:
You provide some helpful but VERY GENERAL tips. Laws differ from state to state, and any seller should be familiar with the laws that apply to that particular sale. Also, I would strongly discourage anyone from relying on the form contracts that can be purchased at a drug store. I have horror stories of people being burned by such form contracts because they did not satisfy the specific legal requirements. As a general principle, I encourage every FSBO seller to consult an attorney to make sure the deal goes as smoothly as possible, all legal requirements are satisfied, and the seller's interests are protected if the deal goes sideways. Attorneys (such as myself) generally offer affordable fees to FSBO sellers for this very service (for me, a $750 flat fee). If you're hoping to make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars off the sale, paying for an attorney is a pretty small investment to help insure that the deal goes smoothly.
January 30, 2006
For Sale by Owner Center @ 12:09 pm:
An important part of successfully selling your home "for sale by owner" is to properly market it to as many people as possible. According to the National Association of REALTORS over 71% of homebuyers are using the internet to find real estate listings. So for a homeowner it's imperative that they advertise their home online. So FSBO sites will provide you a listing but no photos, others provides photos but their listings are no-where to be found on the internet. You have to post your home in the obvious places such as craigslist and other free services online. A FSBO specific service is http://www.forsalebyownercenter.com, which provides a free FSBO listing and important statistics as to how often your property is seen. Lastly, your real estate listing will be featured on the home page to guarantee maximum exposure early in your home selling process.
January 31, 2006
Randy James @ 11:10 pm:
A web presence for anybody trying to sell their home is essential. However, they must also have the ability to market their home off-line. This is in excess of signs in front of the house and includes open houses, newspaper and classified advertising as well as local promotion to sell the home.
-Randy
www.4mysales.com
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