| - SHOWING YOUR HOME
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- Bake a pie. Honest, it works. Good smells get the emotional response that you want! Be friendly, even if the buyer is reserved. You want to seem like a reasonable person to deal with (even if you 're not.) Show them through without "over" detailing the home unless they seem interested. I've seen FSBO buyers stay in a home for 2 hours going over every detail with a seller in a home that they weren't in the least bit interested in!
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- Don't get overly excited by the prospects enthusiasm until you get a written offer! One of the most common questions I get asked is, "why do people keep coming through telling us they love it and then never call us back?" An interested buyer will have a written offer to you usually within 24 hours. In one house I listed the seller gave me a list of 213 "buyers" that he had through his home who seemed interested in the 4 years he tried it on his own!
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- The Most Common Mistake
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- Here's a little advice. Don't make the most common mistake! Every year I deal with this problem at least 6 or 7 times. A huge percentage FSBO's are building a house. Frequently, I get a call where the seller is in trouble and needs the house sold quick.
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- Usually the new house is ready or nearly ready. The first part of the problem is that the new house has cost 15% more than the buyer had anticipated. The buyer figures this is OK as long as his current house sells for what he hopes. He tries FSBO for another month or so until his new house is almost ready and the builder starts to get antsy. Finally, he calls the Realtor.
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- So now here comes the Realtor to save the day. Boy, they didn't figure on having to hire a Realtor, so this is really going to stretch them. Things are getting a little tense on the old home front now! Then, I look at the house and find it to be over-priced. As always, I'm up front with them and let them know what the real price should be. They go ballistic, foam at the mouth a little, call their dog bad names, then list the home.
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- Being financially devastated kind of takes the fun out of the building thing. This seller will call me at 15 minute intervals until the house is sold. It is not a pretty sight!
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- Don't do this. I've seen it break up more cnuplds than I could count. When you plan a move, make your plans based on a cost to build of 15% more than your wildest dreams and figure the net from your home as the worst case scenario, including Realtor fees.
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