Why should I do a FSBO Open House?

It helps if you have already bought / sold a house or two before doing your own FSBO Open House because:

1. There's a good chance you'll go through an intense mental / emotional shift as you prep your home.

2. It's more work than you'd ever imagine.

3. It's skilled labor, a lot like learning auto mechanics or carpentry.

That said, an Open House is almost a requirement, even in a hot market.

Why?

CC-SA Cathy Malmrose

Why should you give up your time, energy, and all that just to let people walk through your home?

1. Because it brings in buyers, especially the qualified buyers.

2. Because the process of prepping your home for an Open House gets you closer to "fully staged", makes your home more sell-able.

3. Because it creates buzz (we had a near multiple offer situation at our last Open House)

4. Because of the cookies!

Here's the trick --> get a view tubes of cookie dough, turn on the oven and throw in a tray 10 min before the Open House starts. The house will smell amazing and it is a shockingly effective way to sell a home.

More on how to prep for an Open House in another post, but for now know the answer to:

Should I do an Open House?

is a resounding YES!

Example of the pre-Open House prep, CC-SA Cathy Malmrose

Should I do an Open House on a Sunday? (for a FSBO)

Whether or not you do an Open House on a Sunday totally depends on location! 

For our CA home, you absolutely have to have a Sunday showing. It's the hot, happening day.

For our UT home, no way. Sunday's are all Realtor's day off.

I was thinking that we might get some great buyers who want to see action / Open Houses but are going on their own since no Realtors are available.

During the 2 - 5 pm Open House we did get one, 1, potential buyer, and the only reason they weren't with their Realtor is "because he doesn't work on Sundays."

One other consideration - Sunday buyers are typically more serious (independent variable from location). Many get started on searching on Saturday and the less serious stop on Saturday. The dedicated must-move-now people or the extreme professionals who often work on Saturdays are often most likely to show up on Sunday. These factors vary widely depending on external variables such as weather, events in town, all sorts of other variables.

But now, with only 10 min left in a 3 hour Open House and only 1 visitor... I'm not doing this again on a Sunday. Live & learn.

What did I learn today?

1. Having an Open House on a Sunday in UT makes as much sense as letting your cat sit in the fridge.

2. I'd rather be home cooking food from that fridge.

3. I'd rather be petting my cat.

4. Or actually... maybe I should be home supervising the kids who put the cat in the fridge in the first place.

Do I accept the first offer for an FSBO?

Less than an hour after we finished the Open House I got a call from the Realtor who stopped by with her clients at 11 am. 

Realtor: "...I'm writing up an offer now..." 

Me: "Ok." 

Realtor: "Should have it by tomorrow." 

Me: "Ok, thanks." 

Most Realtors are very tight on time. There wasn't anything beneficial I could say at that point so I kept my replies tight. 

CC SA Cathy Malmrose

Do I accept the first offer? In this case, probably yes. My guess is that right now the realtor is trying to convince the buyer to bid as high as possible to get the sale closed. The realtor has been working with the particular client for years, yes, years and I'm sure wants to keep this short. 

So, here's our rule: For an offer that's in the 1% - 3% range (Asking is $195k, offer of $189k) is where we'll do real negotiation. For any lowball offer lower than $189k, we'll send it back, but only slightly lower than asking price to show them that we're serious about asking price. 

Assuming the offer is $189 or above, we can negotiate on the details. Example: What extras are they asking for? Do they want anything upgraded or repaired before movein? When are they wanting to close? (If it's a few weeks out then that costs us in downtime.) 

It's likely we'll get close to our asking price. So far I've gotten a lot of great feedback on the home being well-priced, but the proof will come when I get to put that SOLD sign in the front yard. 

As soon as I get the sale closed and recorded, then this is what I'm going to do for three days straight: 

CC SA Cathy Malmrose