FSBO Open Houses - What If You Get An Offer?

You've decided to sell your home yourself and decide to have an open house to show off the property. Potential buyers come and you get an offer. What now?

Qualifying Buyers

Your home is looking sharp and you've got the word out telling people about the open house. Now you need to be prepared to take action if a qualified buyer attends, likes your home and wants to buy it.

Most qualified buyers will have a strong lender letter. If one of them wants to buy, you can move on to the next step. There may be people who come to your open house who would like to buy but don't yet have a lender letter. Let me suggest a mutually helpful alliance for dealing with that situation.

Call several lenders before you schedule your open house. Tell them you're planning an open house and you'd like to have a lender on hand to help buyers (even if they don't want to buy your home) figure out what they can afford. Tell them you'd also like them to help you evaluate any lender letter you're offered by a potential buyer. Choose the lender you feel most comfortable with and work out a mutually acceptable date for your open house.

You can introduce all attendees at your open house to the lender. This often proves to be helpful to you, some of the buyers who attend and can be a source of additional loans for the lender. Everybody wins.

Be Prepared for Action

You need to know how you want to handle a contract should someone want to make an offer. Do you have an attorney who will draw it? Are you going to suggest using a contract form? If so, have one on hand. Do you have a specific settlement company you'd like to use? Do your homework and think these things through in advance. Buyers may have ideas and connections of their own. You should consider any reasonable suggestion a potential buyer makes, but be prepared with your own approach if the buyer isn't sure how to proceed. The point is to plan your course of action in advance.

In Closing

FSBO sellers often worry whether anyone will attend their open houses. They are then happily surprised when people arrive. Such happiness can turn to embarrassment when an offer is made and the FSBO seller isn't sure how to handle it. If you think positively and prepare, this need not happen to you.

Posted by MARY CADWELL on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About MARY CADWELL
MARY CADWELL is affliated with R. R. SMITH, which is located in Bossier City, LA. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

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Local Information for Bossier City, LA

Latitude: 32.517651 -- Longitude: -93.691397

ZIP Codes for Bossier City, Louisiana	71111 71112 71113 71171 71172
Area Code for Bossier City, Louisiana	318
Time zone for Bossier City, Louisiana	CST

Other Area Cities: Bossier City, LA Shreveport, LA

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The area of Bossier City dates back to the 1830s when it was the Elysian Groves Plantation of James and Mary Cane. Steamboat loads of cotton, corn, and sweet potatoes were shipped to markets in the south and east, from the plantation port known to many as "Cane's Landing." During the American Civil War, several companies of local Confederate soldiers left Cane's Landing aboard steamboats for the distant battlefields. During the war, the riverfront was protected from Union invasion by the artillery embankments of Battery's Price, Walker and Ewell. The Confederate Fort Smith stood near what is now Bossier High School and protected the area from an eastern invasion. Many, many early settlers passed through the region on their way to the wild west. By 1850, over 200 wagons a week were passing through Bossier City. Some of these settlers stayed, attracted by the fertile soil and lush river valley. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Louisiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Bossier City	Louisiana	United States
Population	56,461	4,468,976	281,421,906
Median age	32.1	34	35.3
Median age for Male	30.2	32.6	34
Median age for Female	33.9	35.3	36.5
Households	21,197	1,656,053	105,480,101
Household population	54,766	4,333,011	273,643,273
Average household size	2.58	2.62	2.59
Families	14,894	1,156,438	71,787,347
Average family size	3.09	3.16	3.14
Housing units	23,026	1,847,181	115,904,641
Occupied units	21,197	1,656,053	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,829	191,128	10,424,540

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FSBO Open Houses - What If You Get An Offer?

Local Information for Bossier City, LA

Latitude: 32.517651 -- Longitude: -93.691397

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