Sold our designer home in The Villages 4 years ago "by owner" in 8 days for full price and all cash. We thought, what the heck do we have to lose. Let’s go for it. Here's a few things we did:
* Piggybacked off of The Villages open homes. Had our signs ready to go. Anyone stopping for a nearby “The Villages open home” would see our house.
* Placed open home signs that were large and easily readable at cross streets and intersections. Drive by and look at your signs. Can you read them while driving?
* House was decluttered and staged.
* Made signs for each room to highlight the main points and some things folks might not notice. This is great if talking to other visitors. Used plexiglass sign holders (much more professional looking).
* Highlighted special features of house with small signs.
* Curb appeal - neatly trimmed and mulch refreshed. Pressure washed driveway and curbing around house.
* Painted outside of house prior to showing.
* Black mold on roof? Ace Hardware has a spray that connects to hose to wash away the black streaks.
* Cleaned and touched up paint inside of house. Caulked any cracks. Cleaned shower.
* Changed all light bulbs to LED daylight so house was bright and well lit. Opened drapes and blinds and let all the light in.
* Took pictures with my iPhone. Open drapes and let in a lot of light when you take photos.
* Outside photos came out almost panoramic. Use your best photos. Did not need video.
* Posted on TOTV, Zillow, and other free FSBO websites.
* Made professional looking handout just like a realtor.
* Had a handout showing how we arrived at purchase price ready to discuss with serious buyer. Showed original purchase price and all improvements and payoff of bond. Total transparency is key when it comes to talking dollars. Don’t be afraid to talk dollars.
* Know the market and home values. Study recent comparable sales in the area. Make a schedule showing comparable sales for potential buyers. Don’t sell your home short (undervalue) or think too highly of your house (overvalue).
* Our sale handout was a duplicate of the TV flyer listing all the home and homesite features.
* Bond was paid so we made a big deal about it. Some will say bond does not matter, but $20,000 or $30,000 additional owed down the road is a big deal. That’s an extra monthly/annual payment.
* Contacted Peninsula Title (The Villages title company) regarding handling escrow funds and closing. I believe the fee was about $400 paid from closing funds. Peninsula Title is busy with The Villages sales, so you may want to check other local title companies.
* Downloaded FSBO contract (per Florida state statute) and made minor adjustments for our particular sale. I was able to compare several FSBO contracts (Florida) until I felt comfortable with the legal jargon and the handling of contingencies (if all cash deal, no contingency except possibly home inspection.
* A disclosure summary is required by Florida Statutes 720.401 to be provided to prospective buyer. This can be found online and downloaded.
* If selling furniture with house, attach a separate schedule of items included (reference schedule in contract).
* If you are uncomfortable with the contract or disclosures required, hire an attorney for the legal paperwork. Most attorneys will have a standard fee schedule.
* We did not use an attorney. We did not post listing on MLS. We did not give away any commission or use any agent. We wanted to sell to buyer, no realtor involved.
* Our first open house was basically for “nosey neighbors” and “looky-loos.” That’s good! That’s exactly what you want. Buyer was friend of neighbor who came to our first open house. Your "nosey neighbors" will help market your house and spread the word to friends that may be interested (friends who may still be up north). Our neighbors probably thought we overpriced the house, but the end result increased the value of their homes.
* Escrow deposit should be at least 5% of purchase price. Too little lets the potential buyer off cheaply if they decide to walk away.
* Try FSBO for 30 days. For a $500,000 sale, you would save $30,000 (6.0%) in realtor commission. You can always list with realtor if FSBO doesn’t work out. If you would kick the sale price up to $530,000 for realtor sale, make that a selling point.
* One last point. If there was ever the perfect place to sell a house by owner, The Villages is that place. People are looking for homes every day and they are visiting open homes every day. The Villages has open homes every day in all different villages, and they have pages of ads with directions to the open homes. MLS is doing the same thing. Allow TV and MLS to drive potential buyers to your door.

Bad Advise
 

This is not true, buyers can have an agent.

I used Homelister, and it worked out amazing. The biggest thing that is also the most important thing is to have amazing pictures and great write up.
They can list it on the mls who’s is very important because it will then filter into numerous other priority sites such as realtor.com, etc.

Right now the market is not as aggressive as it was even just a year ago. You do have to work a little harder. I agree with the need of all those very pertinent details as well as amazing photography. Aerial views are great if you on or near water or a golf course. Use homelister.com. Well worth it.

That was my exact experience last year when I was looking for a home. FSBO were so overpriced it was a waste of time to look at them.

Can anyone state that they actually paid an agent to represent them as a buyer of a house, and paid the agent a commission over and above the 5 or 6 percent broker's commission stated in the listing agreement at the closing? How much commission did you pay? In my experience, the broker commission is listed on the seller's side of the settlement statement and is paid by the seller. Is there any real estate company who offers to represent the buyer and agrees to collect no money from the listing broker commission at closing? As I understand Florida law, a licensed agent cannot represent both the buyer and the seller during the selling phase, but they can serve as a "transaction" agent during the closing phase.

Just wondering why you don't use Zillow? It was my "go to" place when looking for a house in the area.

I have used a buyer's agent a few times. We both signed a contract stating he/she was my buyer's agent. Their commissions were paid out of the proceeds of the sale. A couple of times I have told a commercial real estate broker I would pay him a finders fee or commission if he found a property I ended up buying but nothing ever came of it.

I held a New Mexico Real Estate broker license from 1976 until 2020 and used it only a few times, mostly on my own deals. In the last two years I sold commercial properties in Maryland and New Mexico but did not ask for nor receive a commission as I was no longer licensed. I negotiated what I thought were reasonable commissions in the listing contracts.

You put it in a nutshell, retiredguy123! TV realtors are the only ones that are allowed to sell newly built homes!

FSBO is Amateur Hour.

Why would anyone making an investment the size of a home purchase, deal with an amateur?

Blind leading the blind.

I won't even mention the statistics that comparatively show how ridiculous it is, to sell a home FSBO..

But as usual, The Villages are different than the real world. It's inhabited by the smartest, savviest, most sophisticated people in the USA ... at least in their own minds.

Can we please stop with the name-calling? It is not ridiculous to sell a home FSBO. If you have a nice home that is truly move-in ready and priced correctly, a buyer will snap it up. If either party is worried about the closing, you can hire a real estate attorney to complete that task. He/She will make certain the transfer of the home is seamless and worry free. You can easily have the home inspected before purchasing. The price of each is comparable to the closing costs of a home bought through MLS. I have no issues buying a home FSBO. I do not need a realtor holding my hand telling me what I should and shouldn't buy. In the real world, savvy people find what is best for them. Maybe you should wander out and meet some of them.

Years and experience have shown us you are 100% correct. Won't go into all the boring details but many places like this area: will say any price to get you to sign on the line, then they begin the routine, "we need to knock it down a "little" get more interest, let's take 2K off and if no response we'll try 5K. Then they begin to give you little "tips", let's (they always say "us" but they mean YOU) . You pay for the new paint they suggest, or the new carpet or tile, or the new landscaping (curb appeal is important) but remember "let's spruce it up a little means YOU pay for it.
I do agree that homes for sale SELL if they are "at the right price", you know the right price when it sells ! 3 designers in our neighborhood that WOULD have easily sold for $440K at the height of the pandemic, and sold quickly, have now been for sale for 4 months, all priced $390K to $410K. 4 months, all are listed with villages realty, none have even had an offer, even a "low ball" offer ? Different market it looks like !

Absolutely TRUE. Time after time it proves to be true. Not saying it has never happened, but I have NEVER, not once, seen a home that "went stale" (a unit that constantly cut the inflated initial price) sell for what it would have sold for has it been listed at "fair market value" in the beginning. Prospective buyers are VERY shy of homes they have tracked for months and noted a long string of price cuts. On the other hand, some agents think that "price cut" is a very enticing measure. I disagree !

I believe frequent open houses ( a pain I know ), once the snowbird season arrives could pay off. Little things can mean a lot to some looking. Little paint chips on wall edges, clean door hardware, neat clean UNDER sink and bath vanity areas, no old stains from drips that were fixed, but signs still there. Door into home from the garage... clean ? On both sides including the garage side ? Or black marks, stains, etc. Fix them. Sliding door slide easily ? Windows go up and down easily ? Fans NOT squeaking ? All outlets working properly ? Drawers and cabinets clean and as uncrowded as possible (for those living in the home) ? It really does give a better impression if "some" food items, clothing items, shoes, books, towels, sheets, furniture.... can be removed. IF possible for you store as much as possible at another location. If you have articles you absolutely know do not want at your new home, sell or donate them now, before you hold open houses. Keep kitchen and bath drawers "believable", but when a kitchen drawer is pulled out, have 4-6 towels in it, not over flowing. May all sound silly, but people do remember how "spacious" the closets were, even though the same dimensions of those packed wall to wall with clothes, and some additional baskets of articles on the floors too.

Just recently I have noticed some on line pictures say: Virtually staged. You are right, I've gone to see a house in person and the fool color and even the type of material is different on line and in person.

IMHO, I think you might find the more difficult the market the BETTER chance you have if you sell it yourself. You'll not have to go through the agent pestering you to keep lowering the price ever couple weeks because they (the agent) does not have to worry about the proceeds, and what the owner is left with to live on or buy another home. Agent still gets their share and moves on, never gives what you have left. We have always hired a competent real estate attorney interested in OUR well being. Definitely more interested in protecting us, than the "generic" attorney any agent has at the closing. And, it costs far far less than paying an agent 3-6% of the sale. Others prefer to turn it all over to someone else.

Good tips all ! Remember things like lot on golf course, swimming pool, hot tub, etc. are HUGE negatives to some potential buyers, and attractive positives to others, so you want the site you are on to allow people to search on those and other fields.

I sold my first home by myself in 2006 with no issues at the price a realtor would have listed it for. It helped that it was in a popular neighborhood. I would imagine with the internet it would be much easier now. I remember an agent came to my door and told me that I wouldn't be able to sell it that way.

But it doesn't work for everyone. My Dad's neighbor who also lives in TV tried to do a FSBO recently and gave up after 2 months. Signed on with an agent and didn't take long to sell after that.