I'm not a real estate agent, but here it is. When I tried to sell my home I found that advertising was next to impossible. Buyers pickup the free home magazine which has the companies selling the house or they go online to find a nice house. I believe you're kind of out there on your own when you try to sell your house.

Some people don't feel comfortable buying from someone who doesn't do this for a living.

The real estate people know how to wrap the deal up. You will be in charge of all that.

It may take a lot longer.

The pros are:
You can find out what people like or dislike about your house.

Cheaper.
www.forsalebyowner.com I think was a website to help you, but you may want to do a search for one in your city.

I hope this helps.

Devildog

Hi Ciws,

Like that Devildog there, I'm not a real estate pro either. But I have a friend who tried, through realtors, to sell his house for over a year. He sold it quickly thereafter on his own.

I don't know the exact details (one has to be careful about asking such personal info of their friends!), but I believe he had a web page for it on the Internet.

Which makes me wonder....why is that "multiple listing" fee so high? In a webified world, can't someone just do an internet search and find (at least SOME) houses?

Of course, it does boil down to finding just ONE buyer who likes your home enough to go for it. Whether this is done through an agent or not.

If you go FSBO, or even if you don't, I also believe it's a good idea to have a real estate attorney go over paperwork. Lots of people, including some realtors, don't understand contracts (or title papers) very well. A few hundred dollars of a lawyer's time could save lots of time, money and trouble down the road.

I also believe that at least one of the realtors my friend had set the price of the house unrealistically high to begin with. I guess it helped him get the listing, but then he kept on having to lower the price. So coming up with a good price at the outset is probably a VERY good idea.

Best of luck however you decide to go!

-k2 in CO

I actually hold a real estate license in Michigan, but am definately not opposed to selling your home on your own.

I also am a mortgage Banker, and have a few tid bits of advice as far as the mortgage end goes.

You will need to find a title company on your own to do the closing. They all charge different fees so shop around for those as well.

Also, make sure you get a mortgage pre-approval from the purchaser. There is nothing worse than getting to the day of the closing and the person buying the house can't secure any financing.

Just a few suggestions. If you have any more questions e-mail me at ehagstrom@lowrateonline.com.

"You will need to find a title company on your own to do the closing. They all charge different fees so shop around for those as well."

Why does the seller have to find a title company? Everytime I purchased house I've gotten the title company and paid the fees. That is not the sellers responsibility.