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Ten things that decide whether a for-sale-by-owner sells
Selling it yourself is a real option and plenty of people do it well. What separates the sales that close from the ones that sit is a short list of jobs nobody warns you about. Here are the ten, and which of them are still ahead of you.
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The walk-through, in full
Ten questions about running your own sale — pricing, photographs, showings, safety and paperwork. You get the ones you have not done yet, in the order they matter.
Photography day
- Have you looked at what comparable homes nearby actually SOLD for?
Pull what comparable homes nearby actually sold for in the last ninety days — not what they are listed at. The free toolbox does this, and it is the single thing most likely to decide whether you sell in three weeks or three months. Sold prices are public record. What other sellers are ASKING is a wish; what buyers paid is evidence. - Will the photographs be taken by somebody who does it for a living?
Book a photographer. Buyers meet your house on a screen first, and phone photographs in poor light are the reason a house gets scrolled past. It is the cheapest marketing money you will spend. - Do you have one page of your own that tells the whole story?
Put up one listing page you control, with every photograph, the floor plan and the disclosure. The toolbox builds it free, and it is what you point every sign, post and text message at.
Walk-through
- Is the Tennessee property-condition disclosure filled in already?
Fill in the Tennessee property-condition disclosure now rather than when an offer arrives. Filling it in early also tells you what a buyer is going to ask about, while there is still time to fix it. Required for most residential sales in Tennessee. Doing it late is how a deal loses a fortnight. - Who is reading the contract before you sign it?
Line up a closing attorney or title company now, and have them read any offer before you sign it. This is the one job on this list where doing it yourself is a genuinely bad idea. A closing attorney or title company reviewing an offer costs very little against what it protects. - Do you know what it costs a seller to close in Tennessee?
Add up what closing actually costs a seller here — title work, transfer taxes, any payoff and prorated taxes — before you accept a number. Selling it yourself saves a commission; it does not make the rest of the closing free.
Curb appeal
- Is there a yard sign, and can what it points at be changed after it is printed?
Get a sign up with a QR code you can re-point later. Drive-by interest is real and it arrives at the worst possible moment — when you are not home to answer the phone. A printed URL or phone number is fixed for the life of the sign. A QR code you control is not.
Showings
- Will you ask for a lender letter or proof of funds before showing?
Ask every buyer for a lender pre-approval letter or proof of funds before you let them in. It is normal, nobody serious is offended by it, and it removes most of the time-wasting in one step. - Will somebody else be in the house during showings?
Never show the house alone. Have somebody with you, tell a neighbour when a showing is booked, and put away anything you would not want photographed. Not a formality. Showing your own home to strangers is the part of FSBO people underestimate. - Can you answer a call and open the door on a weekday afternoon?
Work out who answers the phone at two on a Tuesday. Buyers look when they are free, not when you are, and the showing that does not happen is the offer you never hear about.