Holy bananas. We just stuck the For Sale sign in front of our house (the one in this post was photoshopped in case you couldn’t tell). Big day. So it’s official. Our house is really on the market.
We’re still in the process of doing a ton of things to woo potential buyers both inside and out (stay tuned for those details as we go) and we’re actually trying the for-sale-by-owner route… at least for a little while. Being such big DIYers it seemed odd not to give it a go (especially since my mom and dad have sold nearly every house they’ve ever owned themselves). Although we’re definitely not opposed to turning to a realtor if we don’t get much of a response in the coming weeks.
We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime we’ll be crouched down in front of the window staring at the little flier box to see if anyone stops to take our info sheet. We’re sure a lot of neighbors will grab one (after all, we do that whenever anyone else puts their house up, just to see what they’re asking and to compare our home to theirs) but we’re hoping some actual house-hunters will take notice too. Cross your fingers (and eyes) for us. Off to clean something within an inch of its life…
Lorilyn says
I am totally onboard with the betting pool. Winner gets to have you guys come and decorate their house :) My guess is by this time next week, you will have 2 offers.
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! Keep those predictions coming!
xo,
s
Emily says
We did the FSBO thing until we ran out of time before relocating out of state. I always burned cinnamon candles, played jazz and I even wrote a “note” to the “buyer” in the form of a cute scrapbook page about what we love/d about the house (it was also our first house, a DIY that we were sad to part with). The Realtor said it was a dream to show, and it sold in 5 weeks in this bad market. :) I hope FSBO works for you, and if you aren’t in a hurry to move (like we were) it surely will! :)
Brooke says
I understand why you would not want to post your asking price on your website, but you know that information like what you bought the house for and what it eventually sells for (because I am sure it will sell!) is all publicly available, right? Given that, it seems like an odd thing not to talk about with family and friends.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Brooke,
Yup we know it’s available to people who want to dig for it (including our close family, friends, or readers alike). We just prefer not to chat about it here on the blog since we wouldn’t talk about it at dinner (number talk like that just feels uncomfortable). Hope that explains it!
xo,
s
Anna says
Good luck, you two! I’m looking forward to going through a new renovation with you, albeight chairside (but I’ll be there in spirit as I’m sure many of your readers will). I can’t wait to what new inspirations you bring our way! But, my husband said he can. Don’t take it personally though; he’s just tired of me saying “honey, can we do this?!”.
YoungHouseLove says
For everyone interested in our blurred out flier. Check it out here (click it to enlarge it): https://www.younghouselove.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Brick-Ranch-FSBO.jpg
xo,
s
Brigid says
I wish I lived in Richmond – I’d snatch your house up in a second!
I do have a question though…how does the process work for selling a house along with some (or a bulk) of the furniture if the buyer is interested? I assume you have a price for the house itself and then would you negotiate with the buyers about price of specific items or specific rooms, etc? Is that vaguely how it works?
Paige says
WOW…Congrats and good luck with the sale of your first home! I’m sure people are going to love it!
Celia says
Hiya! Having never owned a home, I’m curious about what selling a home by owner really means. Do you pay to have it posted somewhere, like the local newspaper? Are you posting it online, putting flyers or info out somewhere? I’m just curious about the behind-the-scenes aspect of trying to sell a house yourself instead of going the realtor route. If you’ve already answered this question, sorry! Feel free to direct me to the answer :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Celia,
You just have to market the heck out of it yourself (in the newspaper, on craigslist, on forsalebyowner.com, etc). You can even pay to get it on MLS and do showings and open houses yourself. For privacy’s sake (since we don’t want the world to know our address) we’re just releasing that info to people who get pre-approved for a loan (so we know they’re the serious buyers). Then if we can get a buyer we write up a simple contract and hire an attorney to do all of the closing stuff for us (which is still a lot cheaper than a realtor – a few hundred bucks in stead of over 15K). We’ll let everyone know if it works for us!
xo,
s
Vanessa says
Hey guys,
Good luck on selling your beautiful home. My only thing w/only allowing pre-approved buyers in your home is that you may be missing out on other potential buyers, although I do get you don’t want tons of people just crashing your pad. My husband and I were driving through neighborhoods looking to RENT a home when we saw “our” home for sale. We hadn’t started a pre-approval process but we liked what we saw in the flier, peaked over the fence, loved the yard, called the real estate agent and saw the house the next day. Long story short, fell in love, put in offer the next week and bought it!!! I know not everyone finds their house like that but here’s to hoping your sale goes just as smoothly :)
john says
most likely your buyer will be using a buyer’s agent.
you will have to figure out if you are going to work with people with an agent…not doing so may hurt the odds of a quick sell.
also the 3% commission comes off the sales price and what goes in your pocket…..so unless you specifically write up a contract stating the purchaser will pay the 3% commission out of their own pocket, you will be on the line for that portion.
in a typical real estate transaction the listing and buying agent both get 3%…..
i see hundreds of real estate contracts a year, and have never seen a buyer agree to pay the commission out of their pocket.
you may be able to negotiate a lower percentage, but agents aren’t typicall too big on this….
hopefully you get a person who has not agreed to work with an agent, and it is non-issue…
otherwise be prepared to pay the typical commission or negotiate a lower one…
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes of course there’s that too if the buyer has an agent. Although we have been contacted by a few non-agented people (as someone mentioned in the comments a while back, many sellers are willing to sell the house for a small percentage less if the person doesn’t have an agent that the seller would have to pay). Here’s hoping that happens- and if 3% is better than 6%!
xo,
s
Amy M says
A great way to self-market your house is through Craigslist; we actually found our new home just by browsing through some of the listings. Be sure to take lots of well-lit photos, since people always love to see pictures, and they’re more likely to come for a second look if they have an idea of what your house is like.
Good luck you two!
Nicole says
Something worth mentioning for all would-be FSBO folks out there (and forgive me if this has been pointed out before): not all areas allow FSBO homes in the MLS database. The information doesn’t seem to be readily available, but when my husband and I tried that route last year we were shot down (we live in the Albemarle region of NC). Just putting it out there for your readers. Good luck, you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Good to know Nicole! We’ll have to check that out.
xo,
s
amyks says
We sold our house by owner this past April…we live in Boston, in a very competitive neighborhood and market. We didn’t even get to do an actual listing, as we have a ton of realtors in the neighborhood and they all knew our house was coming up for sale soon. We actually sold it to the first couple who saw it(for a price we thought was totally realistic). They had a realtor, and we paid her 2.5% commission. It was a quick sale, and everybody was happy in the end. Your house could probably sell itself, so I am guessing that you will sell it quick. Good Luck.
PS. My mom is a realtor in the Midwest and she told us that we should totally try and do the FSBO. She was right.
Sheryl says
Congratulations!
I live in KC and put my house on the market last year. I had a contract the first day it was on the market and was moving out 30 days later! Very unexpected but it was great! Im sure you will have quick success as well! Then it’s happy home shopping time!
Sheryl
Peggy says
I’ve been watching your blog for a while but haven’t posted. I have to tell you it has been such an encouragement to me. I get so tired of the “makeovers” that are basically just gutting and starting over. It’s very nice to see someone with a reasonable budget doing the best with what they have. I’m miss practical and have never liked the idea of buying cut flowers that will “just die” but was so inspired by your inexpensive monthly flower arrangements that I have been decorating with flowers, too, and it’s so fun! My family and friends think aliens have invaded my body and my husband loves “this new streak of creativity”. Your projects are so helpful, too, and it’s so encouraging to see people make mistakes and solve them and it’s all okay : )
Jules says
Sign looks good guys! I’m so excited to see your next place!
Laura says
Very nice! Just wondering, when you do find/buy your next home, do you think that you will show pictures of the exterior of the house or just the interior? If it were me, I bet it would be nice to have a little bit more privacy/security and only show the inside!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Laura,
Good question! We’re not sure really. We’re chronic over-sharers so we might not be able to resist sharing the front of our casa, and we guard our actual address with our life (which is a bit closer to our hearts than revealing the front of our house). Time will tell I guess…
xo,
s
Funnelcloud Rachel says
Good luck, guys!
I have a confession – I was so sad when you first announced you were putting your house on the market that I actually lost sleep over it! And yes, I realize, it’s not my house and I don’t even know you guys – but I think the fact that your own love for your house and your charisma come across so well through your blog that complete strangers feel personally attached – well, that’s a great blog!
Keep up the good work – I am looking forward to the blogging changes you are implementing for year 3 – I think more on-the-fly posting, and more posts about your house/your projects/your life are the most interesting things to read!
Katherine says
Eek! So exciting! I recently sold my house in August and I remember the first day the sign went up. I was nervous, yet super pumped!
I hope you sell quickly! Luckily, I got a contract on my house within a week of it being on the market, but keeping it immaculately clean for that whole week (with two big, crazy dogs) was very tiresome!
Best of luck! :)
Pam says
I’m betting your house will go QUICK!! Awesome flier!
Lorna says
We’ve sold and bought houses For Sale By Owner, and been fortunate to have dealt with some delightful and straightforward people. In fact it has been easier to hammer out details directly with the owners/buyers than to have a third party in the middle confusing things.
For perspective buyers who brought their own realtor, we stated (politely) up front that in order to cover their realtor’s 3% commission, we would need to add that 3% to the asking price, or include it in the fees the buyers would pay at closing. If they could negotiate a lower commission with their realtor, it would be to their benefit. We also had the appraisal readily available, so they knew we were being realistic and fair.
A lawyer is required (or at least a VERY good idea) for closing whether you sell yourself or through a realtor, and you pay pretty much the same amount either way – it isn’t included in the realtor’s commission. Same with a survey and various inspections, if they are required.
Two final points. First,if you can put at least 20% down, you avoid paying PMI, which is mortgage insurance that you pay for and your mortgage company benefits from (but you don’t). Second, in our opinion it’s worth paying a one time fee for Title Insurance for yourselves – the mortgage company will require that you pay for Title Insurance for them, and again, you’re not covered by that and will have to pay extra to get your own.
That said, I’m sure you’ll have a blast selling your house, we always have!
C and J says
Best of luck selling your house. We can’t wait to see what new projects you are going to tackle. This spring we are hoping to “recreate” your sunroom from this house (although ours isn’t nearly as nice). We will make sure to post about it.
Kathy says
This is exciting. Sure the market is less than ideal for sellers, but dude. Your house rocks. I’m sure you won’t have an issue. You have given me hope that someday, if I pimp my house out, I can sell it myself. Way to go!
Liliana says
John & Sherry, best of luck with the selling of your house! and kudos FSBOing it! with a good lawyer and knowledgeable buyers, I don’t think you should need to use a Realtor.
~ L.
Kate says
Good luck!! Question: when you find a new “Casa Petersik”, will you change the tag line of YHL to “Two young people falling in love with their second house”? Or come up with something new?
YoungHouseLove says
Probably something new! We’ll have to see what we’re feeling at the moment…
xo,
s
Sarah says
Good Luck!
Sara says
Congratulations! I am excited to hear about your luck with FSBO. What an exciting time!
Annalea says
You guys should have no problem whatsoever selling your place. The blog is a tremendous advertising venue, and you’ll have plenty of contact from that.
I can’t wait to see where you guys end up, and what you get to live in next . . . :o)
julia says
I’m interested to see how the For Saleits By Owner thing goes. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, professional, full-service realtors often “boycott” houses that are listed “FSBO” or through discount companies like Redfin. My friends live in Piedmont, CA and listed their house through Redfin. They learned from a number of prospective buyers that their agent had told them lies about the house to convince them not to see it or not to put in an offer. The full service realtors made up all kinds of stories such as saying the house was a shortsale/foreclosure, saying it had a lot of structural problems, or saying it was already under contract with another buyer. My poor friends eventually had to hire a full-service broker. On a typical Bay Area house that sells for over $1 million, that means they had to pay the realtor over $50,000. Its crazy the way these realtors make so much money and don’t do all that much work. Most people don’t make $50k in a full year of working! Hopefully, for your sake, the industry is less corrupt in Virginia.
Averill (Odi et Amo) says
Best of luck! So excited for you guys.
Stephanie says
Show us the flier! I love looking at those things!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Stephanie,
We linked to it a while back in these comments! Hope it helps.
xo,
s
Emalee says
We laminated a house flier and attached it by zip-tie to our box of fliers. Neighbors could just look at the laminated version and save the take-home fliers for folks who were really interested. It saved us tons of color ink and time!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh, very smart indeed!
xo,
s
Tamara Styles says
I am in shock. Why are you guys selling it?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Tamara Styles,
Check out this post for the details: https://www.younghouselove.com/2010/09/blogiversary-iii-on-the-move/
It was basically what was best for our family, our business, and our home-improvement-loving hearts. But we’ll definitely miss this house fiercely! It’s our first love.
xo,
s
Kayla Black says
Wait! what! you are selling your home!!! are you going to continue the blog… wow.. just ruined my day..
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, the blog is over forever. Just kidding! Of course we’ll continue- and we’ll have a whole new house to document once we move (while all the stuff that’s already on the blog will remain on the blog). Fun, fun, fun.
xo,
s
Pamela says
Oh, well, it never crossed my mind that the asking price would be something you didn’t discuss with your close friends and family given that it is the ultimate sale price is a matter of public record. Sorry to have pried.
YoungHouseLove says
No worries! We just figure at a dinner with family and friends you might brag that you got a table on sale or even redid the bathroom for $1300 but you probably wouldn’t talk about how much you paid for your house. John and I don’t know how much our parents paid for their houses, etc. So even though it’s ultimately public record if someone wants to dig around, it’s just not something we prefer to chat about here. Hope it makes sense!
xo,
s
Jenn says
I can’t wait to see where you guys end up. Can we be neighbors? I found your blog when a neighbor saw the midcentury castoff dresser that I made over and you had done the same thing for Clara’s room just about the same time! Well, my house is on the market now too (since June, blech) and Bon Air is on our short list, so I hope you consider staying south of the James. Seriously, can we be neighbors?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re definitely considering the idea of staying in Bon Air, we love love love it here! Who knows where we’ll end up!
xo,
s
Kevin M says
We sold our place last summer and despite marketing it on Zillow and Craigslist, the guy that ended up buying it simply drove by and saw the signs. We also had one at a nearby 4-way stop (busy intersection) pointing our way that got us a lot of traffic. It is definitely something you can do yourself and save a good chunk of money (although we did agree to pay the buyer’s agent). We had a contract within a month, I wouldn’t be surprised if yours went quicker.
Kelsey G. says
Hey guys, as another curious neighbor I want to see your flyer too! Would you mind posting it for us all to see?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kelsey,
We posted it already in the comments a ways back, but to save you from scrolling, here’s the link again: https://www.younghouselove.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Brick-Ranch-FSBO.jpg
xo,
s
Kim Porter says
You will have no problem selling FSBO. We sold our house in December FSBO, it sold in a month. As long as you have people around you who can answer questions if they come up, you will be just fine. Good luck, this is an exciting time for you!
KCatGU says
This is kind of a finance idea, but as a young couple I was thinking about it and you guys. Especially in light of protecting your address and what not. You might want to considered a “living revocable trust” after my parents set one up I always thought it might be good for my hubby and I to establish one before we bought a home (ok more like after we sell the condo, but before we buy a second home). If your not familiar with it, it is some sort of legal entity that you would create that then owns your home. The idea is that you (Sherry and John) would be executors of the trust and if your should past then the trust gets a new executor in essence allowing the probate step to be eliminated. I think. Then I got to thinking that your trust could have an obscure name. Not like the “Living Trust for John Smith” to add a layer of protection if people where to go searching for your address through public records. (We are also very careful how our information is available to the public, because of some of my families profession as well)
Anywhoo, Food for Thought
Devon says
Someone may have already mentioned this (I saw a reference to Zillow, which I also recommend), but you can use postlets.com to make a really nice-looking Craigslist ad instead of a boring black and white one with the standard four pictures. From one FSBO-er (last spring) to another, best of luck!
Bon Air Fan says
Who better to sell your home than the people who live there. We sold our home in 1999 and moved to Bon Air and plan to stay forever. Hope you will stay in the area too!
Come on over to Brookwood Estates off Huguenot Road.
Keighley@BellaLife says
I laughed out loud at your “in the meantime we’ll be crouched down in front of the window staring at the little flier box to see if anyone stops to take our info sheet” comment. I not only picture you two doing this BUT would totally do the same thing.
Good luck! I am so excited eekkkkkk.
~ky
jenny says
the whole house has your unique thumbprint. will you leave a little time capsule or something behind??
YoungHouseLove says
Absolutely! We love that idea- and of course we’ll post about it so we’ll always remember what we left behind!
xo,
s
Design Girl (Cori Busch) says
Congrats! Can’t wait to see what you do with the new place. Will you show us a handful of your final house choices…might be a fun way to gain support for a house before you buy and blog :)
Ange says
Never fear you will sell this house in no time! Especially with that flyer. How it helps to have a background in such practical things as advertising! Good Luck, I am just excited now to see where your new adventure takes you and which project you tackle first…
Emily says
We sold ours ourselves; not a big deal, and we saved thousands (not to mention that dealing with the buyer directly saved a lot of time and miscommunication that sometimes comes with realtors involved). Good luck to you guys!
Heidi@recklessbliss says
Hey Youngsters,
The idea of selling your own home really intrigues me. I was just curious if you could share what responsibilities come along with that under taking and what kind of research you did/doing to prepare yourselves.
Thanks!
Heidi@RecklessBliss
xoxo
YoungHouseLove says
We googled around and talked to other people who have sold their own homes (my parents and a few friends). We’re just starting out so we’re by no means experts, but if it works out we’ll definitely share every step that we followed along the way to get ‘er done!
xo,
s
Harinee says
Wow, Best of luck! I’m sure it’ll be a breeze to sell this house.
I saw the flyer, and I’m not familiar with some of the terms, not being from the States.. what does convey mean with regard to appliances? Does it mean you’ll leave them behind?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Harinee,
Yup, convey means that we’ll leave them for the next buyer (included with house). We’re definitely planning to leave a good amount of things behind (all chandeliers, light fixtures, curtains, blinds, and some furniture) since it’s often easier than moving it and it’s a nice incentive to a buyer.
xo,
s
Jo says
Hi..
I’ve been reading your blog for a while but haven’t posted a comment before.. but I’m a bit confused.
You say your house is up for sale but the price is a secret and you don’t respond to e mail.. because you get so many… and it’s not on the MLS ?? because you’re doing a FSBO. So how exactly does an interested party .. ME !! get the info they need to buy it.??
Someone posted that the listing wasn’t hard to find but since I don’t know the actual address, or what web sites you’ve posted it on.. I am finding it VERY hard to find.
Could you give me a hint as to where I’m supposed to be looking.
Thank you
Jo Boulter-Dumoulin
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jo,
Of course we respond to emails about buying our house! And we’d love to hear from you! We just can’t promise to respond to all emails about everything (from paint colors to baby and dog questions, etc) so that is why we say please forgive us if we don’t respond on our email page! But as we mentioned in the announcement post, we welcome email inquiries and we share the asking price and a lot of info about the home when an interested party emails us! Feel free to fire away!
xo,
s