FSBO- How To Decide When To Accept An Offer

[Nathan Claire]

“Ring, Ring!” Your phone goes off about a hour after you post your home for sale on Zillow. It took you a while to do this, but you’re finally ready to sell. You’ve decided not to go with an agent, who needs those guys anyways? Charging their ridiculous fees and not exactly promising a sale. You pickup the phone and answer. It’s a buyer interested in the property. Wow, that was fast! You answer a few questions and then come to the dreaded price talk. You have the property listed at 75k and the seller tells you 51 thousand! The audacity! You try and argue your case about how much your home is worth based on the past sales in the area but he wont come up from his price point. He promises a fast closing with no costs to pay. Sounds nice. But 51k? Ouch! You tell him you’ll let him know. After hanging up, you contemplate if you should accept. You really need cash in your pocket for that move to Cancun but you’re almost SURE that you can get more for the property.

When it comes to accepting an offer on your property, this can be a daunting task. Listing your house by yourself takes courage enough, but now having the phone ring with a potential paycheck on the other end, and wondering if you should stay firm on your price and wait it out? It all depends on your situation, as well as how precise and fair your asking price is in relation to the market. If you just smacked a price on your house because you thought that "that sounds about right," you may be in for a rude awakening when you realize you priced your home far too high, or an investor calls begging you to take their money at above asking price! Pricing your home at market value is important, and the urgency and timeline for which you wish to sell your property is just as. Maybe you have college loans to pay and you absolutely NEED 50k for the property to cover the fees, or maybe you don't really need the money at all and you're fine with 40k and a fast closing. Everyone's situation is different. When it comes to accepting an offer, consider all the factors. Is the offer fair? How will I feel if I sell my home for this price? Am I factoring in the added costs it would cost for a realtor to list my home? Once everything is into consideration, it's much easier to decide if that buyer's offer is right for you. Don't just go on emotions alone, make sure you're getting what the market is willing to give you. And remember, you're the one in charge and your property may mean a lot more to someone else than to you, so don't bank on them not willing to pay you a little extra. FSBO's are a great way to sell your home without having to pay agent fees and deal with lengthy contracts, just remember to have a bottom line price in mind and visualize how you want your home sale to go.