Customer Reviews

The for Sale by Owner Kit

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was expecting a "kit" based on the title. It turned out to be a 210 page paper-back book. The main reason I bought the "kit" was to get sample contracts, but none were included. He does a decent job of describing the basic process, and good ideas on marketing. Overall, I'd look for a better source if you're planning to FSBO your home.

I would recomend anyone who is a first time home seller (like me) to read this book. It is a very good overview of the selling process and full of honest insight from someone who has obviously been involved with real estate sales for a long time. Other books I read had a "get rich quick" feel to them that I found distastefull. This book was honest and objective. My only complaint is that the section covering the purchase agreement could have been a bit more detailed; specifically, concerning closing costs.

This is a very well written and thorough book. Everything is hear to tell you how to sell your house - from marketing to closing. I used this book and signed up for the "internet only" option on BuyOwner. That's all I needed. I got between 1 and 5 inquires per week and sold the house within the month. I ended up saving over $14,000. Anyone who uses a realtor these days is just throwing their money out the window.

Selling by owner can seem intimidating. And many real estate professionals would have us think that it shouldn't be attempted. But with the kind of step-by-step advice provided in this book, you'll wonder why more people don't sell by owner. You'll save thousands. This is one of only two Top Rated Books on the DirectByOwner.com web site! If you're thinking fsbo, do yourself a favor and buy this book!

This book is fantastic! I fully intended to sell my home without an agent but didn't know how until I read this book.

Irwin's book does an excellent job of explaining how to take full advantage of many things including the internet. In addition to being jam packed with helpful hints, the book is very easy to read and understand. I would highly recommend this book to anyone considering selling their own home.

This book really is a kit. It has a coupon for a free online listing and a sign you can use in your yard. I'm selling my own home for the second time and this is a great primer and reminder of how to do it. It tells everything you need. I learned about it from a Robert Bruss column in my newspaper where he gave it a 10 out of 10 and called it the best of the "for sale by owner" books. He's right.

I really didn't have a clue as to what was involved until I read this book. I gives me a real life explanation of what I have to do to get the job done.

It also shows me why I should get a professional to write and fill out the documents, something that other books only skim over. I'm darn glad I read this book first!

I've sold a couple of my own homes and have read at least half a dozen books about selling your own home, which may explain why I am so critical of this book. While reading the first chapter, I looked at the title again to be certain this was a book for people who want to sell their own homes and not "101 Reasons Why You Need an Agent to Sell Your Home." By the end of the second chapter I was convinced that the author's real purpose is to discourage FISBOs. While occasionally saying essentially, "You can do it!" he uses back-handed compliments and qualified endorsements to make the point that you really need a real estate agent.

His FISBO Sellers Self Test asks "Are you willing to give up every evening and weekend for the next several months?" "Are you willing to let strangers into your home?" "Can you be ready to show your home day or night on a moment's notice?" In reality, you will not have to give up every evening and weekend. Far from it. You will need to do the same fixing up before hand and make the same reasonable accommodations to buyers if you sell through an agent. Selling by owner, you, not a real estate agent, set the date and time for showings, and you do not need to set those showings for your dinner time or 2:00 AM. No buyers are likely to come in the middle of the night and very few will come after dark when they can see less of your home's exterior. As for the "strangers," is an agent going to bring only buyers who are not strangers to you?

"How to Sell Your Own Home, The Homeowner's Guide to Selling Property by Owner" is much more informative and useful. The author runs Picket Fences, a publication and website for FISBOs. His agenda is clearly to convince you that you can sell your own home and to tell you how, not to convince you that you really should hire an agent.

I bought the 4th edition of this book, and this is the 5th Edition. I took advantage of the free Owners.com listing and am now regretting it 18 months later. I signed up with the Owners.com listing service this book recommended. Do not put your email address or phone number in your listing because your listing never goes away. I don't know if owners.com sold my info, or someone else copied it from the website - but the way it looks - I think it is identical to the Owners.com info and my belief is that they are the ones letting my listing be copied. But I've got a google alert for my email address - and every month, some new FSBO website is advertising my ancient listing (sold a year ago) with my personal information as a new FSBO. The companies listing it have no contact info to ask them to stop doing it. I've put in a complaint to the FTC. But I get phone calls from realtors to this day trying to convert my FSBO to a realtor listing. Here are the websites serializing my listing without my permission: http://www.fsbohouselisting.com/ http://www.changemystreet.com/ there are several others - but I didn't save the website. So be careful.

This book talks you through the process and has some useful information, but spends more time on soft stuff and has very little of the info I needed, such as how to negotiate and points open for negotiation, how to write up the contracts, all the steps between the offer and closing, etc.. But, if you want a pep talk that you can do it, this is the book for you.

If you want a book that's actually useful, try the FSBO Handbook by Piper Nichole. It included stuff I never would have thought to ask about, but definitely needed to know. Written to be useful, not conversational. At each stage of the process, the FSBO Handbook gave me the info I needed.