Questions about For Sale by Owner

[jnieman]

Hi:
Thinking of selling our home For Sale by Owner. Moving to another area of the Villages. Those of you have have done this can you tell me who you used to process the paperwork, was it a lawyer's office? Can you please tell me the approximate cost? Also could use any tips on making the sale easier. We have bought and sold 9 homes with realtors and they always sell really quickly so I thought I'd try it myself. Not interested in hearing from realtors with comments about why I need a realtor.

[justjim]

There are a couple of Title Companies that will do the paperwork for you that I can recommend in TV. Advantage Title on 466 and Tri County Title on 441. Sorry out of Tv at the moment but you can easily find their phone numbers.

Your cost for them to handle the closing---approximately $350-$400. Of course, you will still have routine "Seller'" cost for State Stamps, etc. Good luck. We have sold two homes in TV ourselves.

[jnieman]

There are a couple of Title Companies that will do the paperwork for you that I can recommend in TV. Advantage Title on 466 and Tri County Title on 441. Sorry out of Tv at the moment but you can easily find their phone numbers.

Your cost for them to handle the closing---approximately $350-$400. Of course, you will still have routine "Seller'" cost for State Stamps, etc. Good luck. We have sold two homes in TV ourselves.

Thanks for the tips. Approx what cost would the State Stamps be for $240,000 house?

[Villager Joyce]

Hi:
Thinking of selling our home For Sale by Owner. Moving to another area of the Villages. Those of you have have done this can you tell me who you used to process the paperwork, was it a lawyer's office? Can you please tell me the approximate cost? Also could use any tips on making the sale easier. We have bought and sold 9 homes with realtors and they always sell really quickly so I thought I'd try it myself. Not interested in hearing from realtors with comments about why I need a realtor.

I am NOT a realtor. I do, however, appreciate all the foot work necessary to buy and sell that realtors do. Most realtors have connections with closing agents, etc. Do you plan to use an "as is" contract to sell? Do you have contract forms to use? Utilities will need to be read an transferred. Cable disconnected. Without a realtor, you will have to think about and do all of this. That being said, we worked when we sold our last house. We both are retired now so we have more time. I think It will come down to whether you are interested in doing the work or paying someone else to do it.

[Villager Joyce]

Thanks for the tips. Approx what cost would the State Stamps be for $240,000 house?

I think it is $7 a thousand.

[jnieman]

I am NOT a realtor. I do, however, appreciate all the foot work necessary to buy and sell that realtors do. Most realtors have connections with closing agents, etc. Do you plan to use an "as is" contract to sell? Do you have contract forms to use? Utilities will need to be read an transferred. Cable disconnected. Without a realtor, you will have to think about and do all of this. That being said, we worked when we sold our last house. We both are retired now so we have more time. I think It will come down to whether you are interested in doing the work or paying someone else to do it.

I'm not working and have plenty of free time on my hands. I was a Sr. Administrative Assistant for 35 years and am perfectly capable of handling paperwork. I am aware that utilities will need to be transferred. The contracts and such I will investigate what needs to be done.

[Villager Joyce]

Have fun. I just want to play more than work and think��. When we worked, neither of us had the Wherewithall at the End of the day to deal with it.

[Laurie2]

When we bought our house, it was through the MLS.

Jan Ennes, of Realty Executives, was our realtor. Jan is knowledgeable, professional, and tuned in to her clients. We closed at Freedom Title in Lady Lake. The closing agent was Katina, who was very good about answering all my questions about Florida closings, owners title insurance, etc. (Yes. We have it.)

You might want to give Katina a call about what would be involved with closing a FSBO. And if you decide not to FSBO and want to use the MLS, I highly recommend Jan Ennes.

I see you are located in Hadley. A great location......Now, I am going to say something that might get me pounced upon. It is my opinion. My feeling. Just a hunch. So here goes......I think when a home is located so close to new construction, a seller might be better off with the MLS or a FSBO, just in case a TV agent might be inclined to spin potential buyers over to the new. I am NOT saying all TV agents do that. All I really know is what an agent said to me in an Open House once. I filed it in my memory because it made me think about what I would do if I ever wanted to sell.

In fairness though, I must say that I feel certain that there are more TV agents for whom a sale is a sale so they work hard on their pre-owned listings, as well as selling new.

I encourage your FSBO-ness. I bet it will work just fine. Good luck!

Laurie2 (who has just said way too much because she is sitting, bored, in the parking lot of Home Depot waiting for Mr. Laurie2)

[old_lizard]

Hi, I am selling my house myself even tho I am a licensed RE agent here in FL. I am still with a Agency, and am technically working, I am too ill to work.

You can definitely sell your house on your own. First, if you use standard Florida real estate forms, specifically the Purchase Agreement - ( linked here to a free source I found online - http://titlesourceusa.com/images/Forms/FAR-BAR%20Forms/Contract%20for%20Sale%20and%20Purchase.pdf ) the need for a lawyer is negated on a standard sale. If there are short sale or repo issues, I personally would see a lawyer. Also, lawyers are usually cheaper than paying the standard commission ($1500-$2000 vs. 5%). The forms are designed to handle all the same details a lawyer would.

However, even simpler is to visit any Title Insurance office and tell them you are selling your house on your own and they will hand you their FSBO package which has everything needed (forms and instructions). You just fill it out when you accept an offer and take it back to them, and almost all of the Title folks have a specific person to handle FSBO's and know how to help. You pay them in closing costs anyway, and it saves you the hassle and worry if you did it right. (This is what I am going to do, and I know how to do all the forms. But, if I in any way used my agency to send forms, etc, I would owe my broker his normal cut of seller's commission!)

Just to help friends, I have a board on my Pinintrest account about why seller's don't need to pay commissions and can do it them-self with just a little effort for the $$ saved. Here is the board - https://www.pinterest.com/steve_peach/sell-your-house-without-a-real-estate-agent/ I also have created my own website, which you can easily build and publish on the net for about $12 for 6 months. I used GoDaddy.com. This is my site to sell my house - Home (http://www.510alcazar.com) - it is on all my ads; newspaper, yard signs, etc.

Everyone around you will tell you: "your house hasn't sold? Joe on the corner sold the same day he put it on the market". While that does happen here in TV, it is not common. Mine has been on over 60 days and I am holding more Open Houses and tweaking the price lower by increments.

Good luck - summer is a tough time to sell - Fall will see the snowbirds coming back, and it always surges...:D:thumbup:

[theorem painter]

I'm not working and have plenty of free time on my hands. I was a Sr. Administrative Assistant for 35 years and am perfectly capable of handling paperwork. I am aware that utilities will need to be transferred. The contracts and such I will investigate what needs to be done.

When we bought our home in The Villages it was a FSBO. Tri County handled everything. They provided the seller with the contract for us to fill out and the seller disclosure forms. We used an attorney but basically she did nothing other than to approve the contract. Good luck!

[oot]

I have sold two homes by owner and used a title company for the paperwork. It was very easy to do.

Just do your homework - compare recent sales in the area with your home and set your price. Don't overprice it and make sure the house is clean!

Talk to a title agency before you start. They will help you.

[jnieman]

Thanks so much to everyone for such great advice. This will all probably happen later this year so I have plenty of time to prepare. I spoke with two title companies and am confident that this will work out for me. Thanks to all of you who PM'd me with your personal experiences (not one negative so far).

[Blessed2BNTV]

We too bought and purchased 2 homes fsbo. Tri County handled both sales.

Very easy. I would contact whomever you want to use to get all the costs.

Have you found a home inspector you could offer the buyer? We used Brian Harwood (352) 638.6288. Very pleased with his services.

[jnieman]

We too bought and purchased 2 homes fsbo. Tri County handled both sales.

Very easy. I would contact whomever you want to use to get all the costs.

Have you found a home inspector you could offer the buyer? We used Brian Harwood (352) 638.6288. Very pleased with his services.

Thanks so much. I put Brian's number in my phone!

[graciegirl]

When we sold our home here three years ago we used McLin Burnsed, the closing company of The Villages. Done flawlessly, it cost $700.

[graciegirl]

I would have to think that Mclin Burnsed have done more closings than any other like firm in the U.S. Think about it. The prep for closing was sent to New Jersay and Ohio and the closer was wonderful. She sent us forms and answered all questions by phone or email. Can't say enough about how expertly it was handled. It was our..........ninth(?) closing and the smoothest of all.

[tomwed]

I have a Million Dollar Umbrella Policy. I don't like to brag, but it really is a nice umbrella.