Fast
Relief For FSBO Headaches: 8 For Sale By Owner Guides: Between
Contract & Closing
8
straightforward, easy to use guidebooks containing expert advice & answers
for each step of the “for sale by owner” process from getting your house ready through
closing. The book, Between Contract & Closing, guides the For Sale By Owner seller through
inspection, escrow and closing.
When For Sale By Owner (FSBO)
sellers, Sharon and Steve Kay ran into inspection issues three days after they
thought they had sold their Wheeling, Illinois house, they turned to Martha and
Bob Bradford at http://www.fsbocomplete.com for
help.
“Our buyer’s
building inspector reported that our roof was a problem,” said Sharon. “The buyers wanted us to replace it
or they were walking away from the deal.” That’s when the Kay’s logged onto the
For Sale By Owner Complete website and downloaded the Between Contract &
Closing book.
“It was like
having our own agent to guide us and tell us exactly what our options were and
how to keep the deal together.” The Kay’s explained to their buyer that since
the roof did not leak, it was in “working condition” which satisfied the terms
of the contract. However, they offered to give the buyer an allowance because
of the age of the roof. That was enough to keep the deal together and everyone
satisfied.
“The Kay’s
ran into a very common situation,” says Martha Bradford, a top real estate
agent, who along with her attorney husband, Bob, are the authors of the
best-selling For Sale By Owner reference books, the FSBOComplete series. “They
thought they had a solid deal until the buyer’s inspection report came back.”
By contract,
a buyer usually has a period of time after the acceptance of the contract (generally
3-5 working days) to have a professional home inspection, at the buyer’s
expense. When the report came back with a couple of problems that needed to be
addressed, the Kay’s, who were For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sellers, had no idea of
how to keep the deal together without it costing them a great deal of money.
“Some
problems the buyer is unhappy about may need to be corrected in order to
satisfy the terms of the contract and keep the deal. These include any major
component that is not in operating condition as well as anything that is a
threat to health or safety,” Bob added. “Other issues can usually be
accommodated by further negotiation.”
These
additional negotiations may include:
1. A
reduction in price;
2. Sellers
agreeing pay the entire cost of repair, replacement, or a part of it;
3. Sellers
refusing to pay for any repair or replacement; and/or
4. Some
combination of the above, i.e., the seller will pay for this repair, but not for
that one.
The kind of
expert information and help previously offered only by realtors to their
clients is now available instantly, when For Sale By Owner sellers need it. The
series includes for sale by owner books on Getting Your House Ready, Pricing It
Right, Finding Team Members, Marketing In A Buyers’ Market, What You Need To
Know Before Your First Offer, Contract ABC’S, Negotiating Like A Pro, and
Between Contract & Closing.
“Our goal is
to put For Sale By Owner sellers on equal footing with realtors, to make the
information and help available instantly and inexpensively,” said Martha.
Martha and Bob have also come up with
two free and easy ways for homeowners to find out if selling their own houses,
condo’s, or townhouses is for them. It’s their For Sale By Owner Evaluation and
their Get Started Guide. Visitors to their website, http://www.fsbocomplete.com , can take
the evaluation and download the guide for free.
“We have created the perfect ways for
the homeowner who is thinking about becoming a For Sale By Owner seller to find
out if it’s for her (or him),” says Martha. The FSBO
Evaluation has sixteen For Sale By Owner questions for sellers to ask
themselves. Each question focuses on a different aspect of selling by owner.
The more positive responses one has, the more likely a seller is to succeed as
a For Sale By Owner seller.
The Get
Started Guide, which is included with
the FSBO Complete book, (also available in bookstores), is laid out in
chronological, Step-By-Step order. It follows the Bradford’s proven 8 Steps To
Success System and is designed to be both an introduction to home sales and a
place where the seller can record the dates, documents, and substance of the
negotiations.
The
Bradford’s blog is at: http://www.fsbobolinks.typepad.com/
The FSBO
Complete series of For Sale By Owner books is published by
Complete Books
Publishing, Inc., of
Chicago
More information for the For Sale By Owner seller
More blogs about fsbobolinks.
