New York

If you intend to sell your home, putting your home up for sale privately may be an option. The second choice is to rely on a real estate agency that allows you to obtain a professional service to promote your property, but which usually involves paying commissions. There are some precise steps to proceed with the sale of the home. Let’s see together how to sell a house privately. How to sell a house privately When you decide to sell your house privately, you need to consider what type of buyer will be interested in purchasing the property. The potential buyer will look for certain features in the property he is visiting to satisfy his needs. The preparation of the house involves some steps such as: cleaning of all parts of the house; small renovations, such as painting some ruined walls; repairing damaged pipes or misplaced electrical wires; garden care. One of the best-known techniques is to make use of home staging. Some professionals take care of presenting the home in the best way to increase the chances of sale. A real estate agent has the necessary experience to advise on which small interventions to carry out to improve the desirability of the property. Selling a house without an agency in New York The main and only advantage of selling a house without an agency is saving on sales commissions. The percentage you tend to save is 2-3% on the selling price of the home. It is important to take into consideration the fact that selling is an expensive operation in terms of energy and time. At every stage, it is good to pay attention to details and have patience to complete the sale of your home. Set the selling price of the house without an agent Setting the selling price of your home is not easy. It is not recommended to focus on a subjective value or to list it for the price it was paid for. Once the house is put up for sale, the property will compete with other properties nearby. An overpriced property is unlikely to be sold, and potential buyers will be more interested in other homes. To choose the selling price of your property without the real estate agency, you can rely on online evaluators and the prices charged by other houses for sale. The valuation of the property is not a simple process and requires the evaluation of some elements such as: the market in the area such as properties for sale and the price of the sale; the condition of the property ; the floor of the property with or without a lift; the location of the property and its proximity to public services; the characteristics that give a plus. To carry out a complete valuation of the property, it is advisable to rely on a real estate agent who can provide a valuation according to market prices and who knows the relevant regulations to follow. Promote your property Once the house has been prepared for sale and the selling price has been established, it will be necessary to proceed with the promotion of your property. As a homeowner, you need to be aware of the pros and cons of your home and all those aspects that make it enjoyable. To promote the property, it will be necessary to carry out a professional photo shoot and write a professional advertisement to attract potential buyers who are actually interested in the property. The advice is to proceed with publication on the main real estate portals where it is possible to find the majority of people who are trying to buy a home. A real estate agency takes care of creating a professional photo shoot and a real estate advert with maximum visibility on online portals to speed up sales times and find the right buyers. Appointment management Once the advert is published on the main portals, you will begin to receive many phone calls, emails, and text messages. Not being used to managing visits, the problem will be seeing potential buyers and not knowing the right ways to interact with them; the risk will be to make them turn away. Some tips for managing visits are: select interlocutors who are actually interested ; do not already discuss the price on the phone or via email; request that they come to visit the home ; Be careful of potential scammers . A real estate agency takes care of managing all requests and eliminates all potential requests that would not represent a potential sale . The real estate agent handling the sale has handled dozens if not hundreds of viewing requests and has the ability to deal with potential buyers. Selling a house requires a large commitment of time, and if you decide to sell a house as a private individual, the risk is that of being caught unprepared. The documents for selling your house privately There are many documents needed to sell a house. Checking the documentation allows you to have a guarantee that the property is suitable for sale. If there are building violations, it will be necessary to submit an amnesty. The advice is to check all the documentation to avoid running into surprises that could interrupt the sale. Some of these documents are the APE, the certificate of occupancy, the property title, and the certificate of habitability. A person who is not an expert in the sector should check all the documentation without actually knowing what to look for and what the deficiencies could be. Relying on a real estate agency avoids the risk of not having all the documentation in order. The real estate agents will verify that all the documentation (including cadastral data) is adequate to conduct the sale and will request to remedy any irregularities. Closing the deal Once an agreement has been reached, it will be necessary to draw up a contract. Since no real estate agency mediates between the parties, it will be necessary to make a purchase proposal and create a preliminary sales contract. A preliminary contract is an intermediate contract with which the parties undertake to sell their property and the other to purchase it at a predefined price and deadline. At the end of the purchase and sale

“FSBO” is the abbreviation of the English phrase “For Sale By Owner“, which translated into Spanish means “Para la venta por el dueño“. For the sake of familiarity, in this post, we will use the abbreviation in English, FSBO. Another way to broaden your search is to visit FSBOs, that is homes that are being sold directly by their owners. It’s impossible to know how many sellers venture out as FSBO, but most estimates place it at around 5% of all homes for sale in the United States. Under normal conditions, those are houses your Realtor can’t show you. There are urban legends where Agents ask the buyer to sign a representation agreement and then negotiate privately with the seller the commission payment. If you want your Agent to include FSBO properties in your home search, you should talk about it from the beginning. In very few cases, FSBOs can save you money because the seller has undervalued the house or is willing to share the commission savings with you. But you can never count on that. Generally, sellers make an effort to advertise and show their homes with the intention of not sharing any of their profits. In fact, most FSBO sellers are behind on their mortgage and other debts and are trying to save every penny and avoid the stigma of Short Sale or Foreclosure. A good listing agent would tell them – simply – that they need to go to their lender and do a Short Sale. So, trying to work things out in an FSBO sale becomes a problematic situation for both parties. In our experience, we see that the vast majority of those offers are canceled because the seller did not investigate their closing costs and cannot close due to lack of funds. Your Agent’s Role in Purchasing an FSBO. Typically, most agents don’t look at FSBOs because most FSBOs are priced incorrectly, which includes a boatload of ethical issues that arise when dealing with a seller who has little idea what the temperature of the market is, the process of selling real estate and everything that is involved legally. Therefore, you should decide beforehand if you want your Agent to show you FSBO. One option is to search for yourself using the resources indicated below. In any case, if you see an FSBO ad that looks interesting, the smart thing to do is to talk to your Agent before visiting the house. That allows the Agent to deal with the important issue of how and how much they will get paid. Your Agent will call the FSBO seller and ask if they will “cooperate” regarding the commission. Don’t be surprised if the answer is no. Your Agent will then return to you and review the commission to see if you will pay it. You should agree on the rate in advance. How to Find FSBO Homes? Because real estate brokers do not represent FSBO sellers, they do not have access to the MLS database (unless they have made a special effort to find and pay a broker for the discreet task of listing the home). That means you’ll find most FSBOs on independent websites (like the ones below) or advertised through more traditional means (local newspapers or yard signs). www.ForSaleByOwner.com www.byowner.com www.craigslist.org Manage the Different Personalities and Skill Levels of FSBO Sellers An FSBO seller does not have an agent to educate them on the reality of the real estate market and act as a buffer in negotiating with buyers. That means the success of buying a home from an FSBO—from setting a price to closing the deal—depends largely on the seller’s personality and their knowledge and skills of the real estate business. At best, you can find an impartial FSBO seller, a lawyer, or a retired real estate professional who sees no reason to ask for additional help for a family process. In the worst-case scenario, you may find a seller who considers himself a know-it-all or totally toxic, who overprices the house, who refuses to discuss commissions, and cancels the sale the moment you mention the concerns. Inspections or repairs. Sometimes, the most experienced salesperson enters these negotiations based on his emotions. Can I Buy a House for Sale by Owner (FSBO) Without an Agent? If you don’t yet have or want an agent, you can buy an FSBO yourself, but be prepared for a steep learning curve. Unless you are already friends, a sneaky salesperson might try to take advantage of you. And any deal can get mired in disagreements. There is a reasonable possibility that you are friends or acquaintances; for example, the seller tells you of his intention to sell the house before listing it. In any case, you are going to need a standard written sales contract to protect both of you. Do I Still Need to Hire a Real Estate Attorney or Agent? If saving money is a key concern, you should consider hiring a Real Estate Agent for certain parts of the transaction. A few hours of advice can save you a lot of headaches and expenses later. One option is to hire a Real Estate Agent to serve as your coach. Ask them to give you a Standard Purchase Agreement form, which protects you and the seller simultaneously. The Agent can also explain how to complete the form and review your work. And whatever you do, never move forward without the services of a Real Estate Agent who will help guide you to closing. If no agent is involved in an FSBO, the Seller’s Disclosure about the Property is still required. In any case, you should bring in a professional property inspector to evaluate the physical condition of the Property. Ready to explore FSBO properties and make an informed choice? Reach out to us for expert guidance on your FSBO homebuying journey in New York. Let’s find your dream home together!