Monday, April 1, 2019

5 Safety Steps for Showing Your Home FSBO

Thanks to Peter Foster on Unsplash for photo



This short version is anybody can.

As a For Sale By Owner, you have less flexibility to narrow the search down to just Realtors accessing your home.  It is very common for people driving by to stop and knock on your door, interested in your house.  It can happen during your morning shower, meal times or even right before bed.  You do have a few options to keep this from happening:

  • Don’t answer your door.
  • Put a requirement that all buyers must be accompanied by agents to view the home.
  • Let anybody in at any time.


Except for the last option, you are going to be limiting your exposure.  Because there is no 1 good location to find legitimate homes for sale by owners, buyers have limited access to this information.  Agents are sending them listings that are found in our MLS.  Some buyers will either drive a neighborhood they are interested in and come across your home or they may be searching the internet on their own and come across it that way.  Your home will still not be seen on the over 50 different websites it would be if you were listed with me.

So….be very cautious about who you let in.  Here are some of the worse case words of warning and some safety practices.

  • Never leave out any valuables, guns, money or prescriptions that someone might see in an initial pass through and want to come back and take at a later time.

  • Make sure your doors and windows are locked at all times.  After a showing, double check your windows because it has been known that people will unlock a window to be able to enter at a later time.

  • It is always a great idea to be able to catch people on video as they enter your home just so you can have a face recognition in the future if it should ever be needed.

  • Before you let them in your home, feel free to ask to see their driver’s license.  If you can snap a quick picture of it with their car in the background, that would be a very good deterrent for the bad guys.  If they have nothing to hide then they shouldn’t have a problem with this step.

  • Never, never, never, never let someone in your home if you are there alone.  Always have someone there with you as a precaution.

It absolutely sucks that we have to talk about these negative aspects of what may happen inside our own homes.  But it is a reality.  I would rather arm you with some basic things to think about than to see you on the 10 o’clock news.

Happy showings!


Monday, March 25, 2019

But they're pre-approved!






It is such an exciting feeling when you receive an offer from a buyer and they tell you they are already pre-approved.  This is a friendly note to not hang your hat up on those words.

When the market is hopping and multiple people are looking at your home, it is a seller’s desire to take the highest offer with the least amount of contingencies.  So a great offer comes in and they present you with a pre-approval.  What does that really mean?

A pre-approval is a letter of intent, so to speak, from a lender that simply states based off of the initial conversation and the information the buyer has provided to the lender, this is the amount they should be pre-approved for.

Once the buyer starts working with the lender more, they will have to provide hard documentation to validate the information initially given.  The lender will then confirm income, monthly debts, credit scores, money in the bank, down payment availability, etc.  This is an initial underwriting process that will then produce a pre-qualification.  This is the type of letter that you want to look for!
Some lenders are actually starting the pre-qualification process before the buyer finds a house and has it contingent on the house information.  This is being done to give that buyer a leg up on their competition because the housing market is so tight at some price points.  The informed seller knows that benefit of this type of buyer because it drastically minimizes the risk of a deal falling through because of loan issues.

So before you get super excited when that offer comes in, make sure that you are asking lots of questions about where the buyer stands in the lending situation.  This is what I do for my clients.



Monday, March 18, 2019

5 Things To Keep In Mind as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO)


Selling a home on your own takes a lot of commitment, dedication and patience.  If you don't have all 3 of these and more, it might be time to re-think this possibility.  You will be taking on a job that Realtors get special education to start and continue in this job.  But I understand it is a very hot market for sellers right now and it might just be that easy.  

However, before you jump in with both feet, take a minute to think about these 5 things....

If you change your mind or would like help with any of these items, no strings attached....I'm just a phone call / text away!