Selling home on my own - first time

[Chuck K]

I moved out several months ago and renovated the place completely, I had some neighbors and co-workers actually show interest and ask when I'm putting it on market. One said he'd like to buy it for his mother. The house is empty and I live few blocks away. I'm thinking about testing the market on my own at first, the home has some attractive features and is located in a desirable neighborhood. I have a friend who's a RE agent and offered to help and is the one encouraged me to try to sell it on my own, ran a CMA for me, etc. I can handle most of the marketing and listing on various sites (I'll probably not list on MLS initially) but not sure about the legal and other paperwork that'll be involved, how do I screen for serious buyers, what are the main pitfalls, and if I get an offer from a private party, how do you arrange closing, should I hire a RE lawyer, what do they usually charge? Any advice or suggestions or direction for information will be much appreciated.

[Jon Holdman]

Do realize that even if you want to FSBO it you absolutely must get it onto the MLS. That's the number one source by far for someone looking to buy a house. And you need to be prepared to pay the commission for the buyer's agent. Almost all retail buyers will have a buyers agent showing them houses. If you refuse to pay the commission to these agents, guess what. Your house won't get shown. So, between the fee to a flat fee broker to get it onto the MLS and the buyer's agent fee, you'll end up paying 3.5-4% instead of 6%. Now, don't get me going about whether these fees are reasonable. But they are just a fact of life when selling property.