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Should you be present for showings?
If you’d rather not be present for every showing, consider using a lockbox with a code to let buyers’ agents enter the house. This is standard industry practice among agents. To ensure you’re working with someone legitimate, use Oklahoma’s real estate licensee public registry or sites like arello.com to check their real estate license number.
With unrepresented buyers, plan to be on the property for the showing. During a viewing, we recommend you:
- Point out a few highlights of the house.
- Let buyers look without hovering.
- Be prepared to answer questions.
- Avoid the temptation to tell all and instead, let the house and listing do the talking.
- Refrain from showing the home alone, for safety reasons.
Smith says, “It’s not wise to let just anybody in your house alone, especially people who you don’t know and who have not been through any kind of preapproval process.”
8. Evaluate offers and negotiate a deal
You’ve got your first offer — congratulations! Before signing anything, Smith says it’s important to have a firm idea of what you want out of the deal.
“During negotiations, [FSBO sellers] can feel pressure from the buyer to pay some of their closing costs or give in to buyer incentives, and just like that, they end up with less in their pocket. So I would say, stay strong and know what you want.”
Here are key considerations when considering an offer on your Oklahoma home:
- Vet potential buyers by requiring a mortgage pre-approval letter or proof of funds.
- Require everything in writing.
- Consider what contingencies you’ll accept.
- Counteroffer and negotiate.
- Look for a good real estate attorney. (See the next step!)
9. Close the sale — with professional help
Time to button up that deal.
Smith recommends that every FSBO seller in Oklahoma hire an attorney to minimize risk and settle the legal documents.
“I would definitely suggest getting legal advice on everything that you’re doing, because when you sell, it’s a legally binding contract, and there’s so much that goes into it,” she says.
Real estate attorney fees can vary depending on location and how much help you want or need. In Oklahoma, real estate attorneys charge $302 per hour on average, well worth it for professional guidance in closing one of life’s largest legal transactions.
I tell for-sale-by-owners, if you have a buyer come to your house, and they don’t have a Realtor, that’s a big red flag. It doesn’t cost anything for a buyer to have representation. If they’re not using a Realtor, that’s a very experienced buyer who’s going to come kicking in the kneecaps with a low price offer. — Brett Boone
FSBO mistakes to avoid in Oklahoma
On your FSBO journey, watch out for these major pitfalls:
- Missing out on the MLS
- Over- or under-pricing
- Letting your house sit on the market too long
- Not being open to the idea of paying the buyer’s agent commission
- Not vetting buyers properly before showings
Boone notes the importance of vetting buyers, saying that “tire-kickers” and low-ballers can be a huge waste of time and momentum in the selling process.
“I tell for-sale-by-owners, if you have a buyer come to your house, and they don’t have a Realtor, that’s a big red flag. It doesn’t cost anything for a buyer to have representation. If they’re not using a Realtor, that’s a very experienced buyer who’s going to come kicking in the kneecaps with a low price offer.”
Alternatives to selling by owner in Oklahoma
If you decide you don’t want the hassle or pressure of FSBO, you’ve got other solid options.
Enlist the help of a top-rated real estate agent
Ultimately, the services and price gains you can get with an experienced real estate agent may put more money in your pocket than FSBO. A proven agent is also better equipped to help you achieve your selling and moving timelines.
Boone shares the story of one client in Oklahoma City who began their selling process as a FSBO. “They were getting people wanting to owner-finance, people wanting to rent their home, but they didn’t have any real offers on the property.”
He came in and gave them a full market analysis of their home, offered them tips on how they could improve the showing of their home, introduced professional photography, and upped their marketing strategy. In no time, they had an offer for $10,000 over asking, and Boone was able to coordinate closing on their new home on the same day.
Smith shares a similar experience in Tulsa. “I had a FSBO where I walked alongside them for a little while, and they did not have any success. They just didn’t have the resources to be able to pull in the local market and really feel confident that they could get a certain price.
“They seemed a little bit in the dark with regards to pricing. Long story short, we listed the property and [I brought in] marketing skills so that we could get it done. We sold in two days and made them more money after they paid the commission. So they were really excited.”
Interested in such expertise? HomeLight’s Agent Match platform can connect you to top-performing agents in your Oklahoma market. Our free tool analyzes over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to determine which agent is best for you based on your needs. It takes only two minutes to receive your matches.
Request a cash offer to buy your Oklahoma home
If you’d like to skip the sale prep altogether and avoid paying agent commissions, you can opt to sell your home “as-is” to an all-cash buyer instead.
For a low-stress experience, consider requesting a cash offer from HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform. Tell us a few details about your home, and in as few as 24 hours, we’ll send a no-obligation all-cash offer your way. If you decide to accept the offer, you can close in as little as 7 days.
Without leaving the Simple Sale platform, you can compare your cash offer to an estimation of what your home would sell for on the open market, so you can make an informed decision.
Ready to sell your Oklahoma home?
Unless you already have a buyer lined up, selling a house by owner in Oklahoma requires a significant investment of time and effort.
You’ll need to pull your own comps, capture excellent pictures, create a listing, market the house online, field inquiries, host showings, negotiate, and close the deal. And that’s after preparing the house itself. You also have to consider that FSBO listings tend to sell for less than agent-assisted sales.
In contrast, an experienced agent who knows the area can make recommendations for targeted upgrades to help you maximize your sale price and get a premium offer. This can help offset or, in some cases, more than make up for the cost of commission while saving you time and headaches.
If you choose to go FSBO, you should have a good idea now of what to expect from the process. Otherwise, partner with a competent agent. Our internal transaction data at HomeLight shows that the top 5% of real estate agents sell homes for as much as 10% more than average. Connect with some of the best agents in Oklahoma today.
Writers Hayley Abernathy and Madeline Sheen contributed to this story.
Header Image Source: (Frances Gunn / Unsplash)
