Open Houses Most real estate agents will hold at least one open house, but you’ll need to prepare your house and advertise for your open house on your own ($100). Other costs There are a lot of other possible costs involved, including (but not limited to) the following: staging your house to impress buyers, independently assessing the buyer’s financing, your own financing of the deal, house warranties, the closing attorney, and negotiating a deal with the buyer. COMPARING FSBO TO USING AN AGENT Choosing whether to sell your house FSBO or through a real estate agent depends on your situation and how motivated you are to take on this process by yourself. There are plenty of options and resources available to you that can help with selling your house, but as seen in the previous section, costs can become quite hefty, even without paying for an agent. When you use a real estate agent, most of those fees are covered in their commission rate. Even though 6% seems like a lot, when you break down the costs individually, it isn’t that much, and it can be counted upon to expedite the selling process. All in all, selling FSBO is likely to net you a lot less money saved than you might expect, in return for a lot more work, time, and stress. UNEXPECTED COSTS
If you start planning ahead of time, you may find ways to reduce some of the costs involved, either by handling the tasks yourself or getting competitive bids. There will always be some sort of unanticipated expense involved—that’s just the way of the world— but there are plenty of costs than can be predicted and prepared for. Before the sale, here are some expenses you should expect:
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