After a discouraging time trying to sell my house on my own with very little response, my brother recommended ForSale-ByOwner.com to me! My traffic immediately picked up, and the prospects were serious ones.

I had 1300 hits on my house, and sold it in 60 days to a precious couple moving from London. They informed me that they only considered for sale by owner homes because they valued the face-to-face contact and the trust level they could establish.  What a great experience and what alot of money in my pocket!

Thanks Pat!

Tammy and Matthew Moore

Dear Patrick:

I finally got around to sharing our belated success story for selling our home in Hoover, Alabama in 2001. Last Fall, we placed your standard sign in our yard on Thursday 9/6 and received our first offer on 9/11. The sale closed on 9/26. Twenty days from the listing to the closing! Unbelievable!

For those who are considering selling their house without an agent, I would encourage them not to be intimidated by the agents that mail letters or call discouraging you of the ability to be successful without their service. We received multiple calls and letters of this nature.

By using ForSale-ByOwner.com we had the option to refer interested buyers to the website before showing the house. It reduced the number of unproductive showings to buyers.  Plus, it was at our discretion when we scheduled appointments.  For our family, that was very important because of our work schedules and having two toddles running around. We were able to ensure the house was clean and orderly and in the best showing condition.

Our purchaser was told by a family member who lived in our neighborhood that our home was for sell; the purchaser viewed our home on the website and liked what they saw and called to make an appointment. It can save both the buyer and the seller time!

By saving the commission we paid for our move out of state to Atlanta and then some...

The sample sales contract was a great help and gave us and the buyer comfort. Knowing the contract had been reviewed by a reputable closing attorney in the Birmingham was positive for both parties.

Thanks for all the tools your provided in order to make our home sale a quick transaction!

Sincerely,

Patrick,
We closed on our home on Monday, December 10. We listed it on the web site on October 3rd and had an acceptable offer and contract by November 12.  We were very pleased with the results. We knew we lived in a house and a neighborhood that didn't need an agent to sell our home.  Since we had some time before we could get in to our new house, we decided to try it before listing with a realtor in January.

I chose the site because the signs were attractive and easy to read and the site was very easy to maneuver. For those looking for specific school systems and neighborhoods, this site was better than those that combine all "over the mountain" areas.

The first few days we were on the site, I started showing the house and fielding phone calls daily. The advantage over just our own sign in the yard was that I was able to ask people if they had already seen the interior on line and ask if it was what they were looking for.

We did put "Agents Welcome" on our sign and had four agents show our home, one more than once. We were willing to pay 3%. However, I would recommend perhaps not saying "agents welcome" and dealing with them only if they call. The ones who showed our home only did so because their customers saw it on the way to other houses and requested it. This would have happened anyway without our sign and perhaps wouldn't have led buyers without agents to immediately knock 3% off their offers.

I would estimate that we saved between five and nine thousand dollars over using a realtor. The process of dealing directly with our buyer was much more preferable than having one or more middle men.

I think our home sold quickly because it was reasonably priced (not just what we hoped for or thought we deserved.) I priced it based on what I would be willing to pay if I was shopping all Hoover neighborhoods. It was also in very good condition and mostly neutrally decorated. We cleared out excess furniture, boxes and kid's toys to make it appear as large as possible and showed only by appointment so it was always clean.

Patrick - We went for about two months with some activity but no offers. Then we listed the house with ForSale-ByOwner.com. Within three weeks we had a contract within $1,000 of our asking price. The next week we had another offer, so we had a backup contract in case the first one fell through.

Both prospective purchasers found us on the internet and reviewed the pictures prior to making an appointment. This really helped weed out the "tire kickers". We closed last week with the first contract!

Thank you for your valuable service. If we sell again, we'll certainly call again for your help.

Patrick:

Our home was under contract within two weeks of appearing on ForSale-ByOwner.com. The purchaser found our home on the website.

Would you believe that our neighbors on the street behind us listed their home with a realtor with one of the major realty companies in town, had eight showings in the same time period and still have no contract more than two months later while we are now enjoying our new home?

We saved a hefty commission. You can do it too with Patrick's help!

Dear Pat,

Just wanted to let you know that our house closed on June 30. Thanks so much for the wonderful web site you have created. We sold our house in 3 weeks and I especially appreciate the attention you gave me in listing my home.

It's funny that many homes that were listed by agents which went on the market the same time that ours did are still for sale. Thanks!!!

Dear Pat,

We’d like to send our sincere appreciation for the great service you provided during the purchase of our new home and sale of our current home. As you know, the home we are purchasing was listed on your site. Upon seeing it online, we knew it was exactly what we wanted. We had a contract on it three days later.

We then called you and were so pleased that you could also help us get our home on the market - right away! The photos you took were not only beautiful, but gave an accurate representation of what we were selling. We can’t believe you got them all posted the morning after they were taken. The person who is buying our home called the morning the photos went up. We had a contract with him four days later. The other prospects to whom we showed our home were also qualified, interested parties – they had all viewed the entire house online before calling.

Your service is an invaluable time saver for both the buyer and seller. Neither party wastes time looking at or showing property blindly. In a month’s time, we have just under 650 hits on your site. That means we’ve shown the home 650 times – painlessly! We are still getting calls and have started a list of people who would like to be called back if our deal happens to fall through.

We are also thrilled that we were able to save thousands of dollars on both the sale AND purchase of these homes. We’ve had a great experience and tell all our friends about your service.

Thanks again for everything!

Pat,

Thanks so much for your web site ForSale-ByOwner.com.  We had more serious prospects in the first two weeks than we had in a year with two real estate companies. Showing the house ourselves allowed us to get face to face feedback from the prospects. We weren't left wondering how they felt about our house. The book you provided How to Sell Your Own Home helped us in every step from showing to closing. Thanks again for selling our house!

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