Thursday, September 11, 2008

My FSBO Testimonial (Part 4) - Finalizing the Contract

It took about 2 weeks to get the written contract signed. This was longer than I expected. Indeed, after going through the intense negotiation, both sides were slacking off a bit. The contract went back and fro at slow speed. Then it took another 2 weeks to get the home inspection done and the final waiver signed.

I did not put up the "Sold" sign until the end of the 4 weeks. Potential buyers and agents kept calling. I would tell them upfront that an offer had been made and I was waiting for it to be finalized. Meanwhile, they could still take a look at my house. If in any case the offer went soul, I would contact them. During this period, I had another 3 to 4 showings, in which at least one party wanted to make me an offer.

I realized later that I was using a wrong approach. The first offer was not officially firmed until the contract and the subsequent waiver were signed. What I should have said was that there was an offer in process. Other offers were still welcome. If I had done it correctly, I might have received more offers.

At the end, I sold my house for $540,000, which was 97% of my asking price. I estimated that I might be able to get another $10,000 if I sold it through MLS. But then I would have to pay at least $22,000 on commission. So I reckoned that I and the buyer more-or-less split the commission I saved, and each side saved about $11,000. In a typical FSBO sale like this one, both the seller and the buyer win.

Part 3

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