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 Janise Williams on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About Janise Williams
Janise Williams is affliated with Common Ground Realtors, which is located in Philadelphia, PA. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

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Local Information for Philadelphia, PA

Latitude: 39.998012 -- Longitude: -75.144793

ZIP Codes for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	19019 19059 19092 19093 19099 19101 19102 19103 19104 19105 19106 19107 19108 19109 19110 19111 19112 19113 19114 19115 19116 19118 19119 19120 19121 19122 19123 19124 19125 19126 19127 19128 19129 19130 19131 19132 19133 19134 19135 19136 19137 19138 19139 19140 19141 19142 19143 19144 19145 19146 19147 19148 19149 19150 19151 19152 19153 19154 19155 19160 19161 19162 19170 19171 19172 19173 19175 19176 19177 19178 19179 19181 19182 19183 19184 19185 19187 19188 19191 19192 19193 19194 19195 19196 19197 19244 19255
Area Code for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	215
Time zone for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	EST

Other Area Cities: Camden, NJ Villanova, PA Philadelphia, PA Blue Bell, PA Chester, PA Darby, PA Folcroft, PA Glenolden, PA Lansdowne, PA Cheltenham, PA Haverford, PA Newtown Square, PA Narberth, PA Drexel Hill, PA Ridley Park, PA Springfield, PA Swarthmore, PA Upper Darby, PA Yeadon, PA Prospect Park, PA Conshohocken, PA Haddonfield, NJ Moorestown, NJ Pennsauken, NJ Woodbury Heights, NJ

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The city of Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the fifth most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Philadelphia County. It is colloquially referred to as The City of Brotherly Love (from Greek: F??ad??fe?a, /fi.la.'d?l.f?j.a/, "brotherly love" from philos "love" and adelphos "brother"). In 2005 the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city proper to be 1.4 million. Philadelphia is a major commercial, educational, and cultural center for the nation. The Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in the U.S. as of the 2006 estimate with a population of 5.8 million (fourth largest according to official 2000 census). In the 18th century, the city was the first capital and most populous city of the United States. At that time, it eclipsed Boston and New York City in political and social importance, with Benjamin Franklin taking a large role in Philadelphia's rise. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Pennsylvania 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	United States
Population	1,517,550	12,281,054	281,421,906
Median age	34.2	38	35.3
Median age for Male	32.1	36.5	34
Median age for Female	36	39.4	36.5
Households	590,071	4,777,003	105,480,101
Household population	1,462,819	11,847,753	273,643,273
Average household size	2.48	2.48	2.59
Families	352,331	3,208,388	71,787,347
Average family size	3.22	3.04	3.14
Housing units	661,958	5,249,750	115,904,641
Occupied units	590,071	4,777,003	105,480,101
Vacant units	71,887	472,747	10,424,540

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FSBO Open Houses - What If You Get An Offer?

Local Information for Philadelphia, PA

Latitude: 39.998012 -- Longitude: -75.144793

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