Crabby Office Lady

Whether you're selling your home with an agent's help or tackling the job yourself, being educated about what you're getting into (or rather, out of) can save you some stress (and hopefully some money, too).

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Welcome to part two of my home buying/selling/remodeling series, where I offer ideas and suggestions that may or may not give you an idea of how to sell your home on your own as well as when it's time to employ the talents of a good agent.

 Note   I got loads of information for this column from the MSN Real Estate: Selling your home Web site.

First, let's take a look at a basic selling roadmap:

One of the first orders of business is to figure out if you want to sell your house on your own or hire a real estate agent. There are pluses and minuses to both, and it all depends on how much time you have on your hands for marketing, preparing your home, and fielding buyers' inquiries.

Selling your home on your own

Maybe you've alreadydiscovered that you want to sell your home FSBO (that means "For sale by owner" and it's pronounced "fizzbo"). This can be a great way to go if you're in a house and neighborhood that is really desirable and where houses sell quickly. I mean, why pay all that commission when you don't have to? Of course, selling your house by yourself has its drawbacks (a few of which I'll illustrate in the next section), but if you're prepared and have the time to devote to it, selling your house FSBO can be a great way to save money.

First, we've got some templates to help you with your advertising:

• For sale by owner flyer
• House for sale flyer with photo, map, and floor layout
• House flyer with tear-off tabs

Of course, advertising your house is not all you have to do. You need to prepare your hom e for the market, set a realistic price, learn how to evaluate an offer, and negotiate.

Using an agent to sell your home

Sure, selling your house the FSBO way can be a great way to save money. But it sure has its drawbacks (and I know from whence I speak). Are you prepared to

• ...take the risk of letting complete strangers into your house? When you use an agent, he assumes that liability and will rarely bring in an unqualified buyer.
• ...personally guide those same strangers through your house while they insult your taste, your paint job, and your furniture?
• ...answer some of the strangest questions you'll ever hear ("What forest did the wood in your floors come from?")?
• ...deal with the mountain of paperwork from buyers' agents, people who know a heck of a lot more about the business than you do? Agents are well versed on the legalities of these types of transactions, and they are real pros at keeping sellers out of trouble.

If the answer to these is a resounding "no," then it's time to consider hiring an experienced professional: a real estate agent. While I can't really offer advice on how to choose the person who will be representing your house, I can suggest that you shop around and spend some time talking to a lot of idfferent agents from different companies.

Of course, you will pay a certain percentage of your selling price to your listing agent, but most people find it well worth the expense, considering the alternative (see scary list above).

Moving day

It's time to get out of Dodge. Hopefully, you haven't waited until the very last minute to plan for this day. Keep track of what you have, what you're willing to move, and then throw a yard sale!

• Home contents inventory list
• Home contents inventory database
• Home move plan
• Garage sale flyer

And, oh yes, whether you've sold your house on your own or had help from an agent, keep track of the money that's coming to you with our Gain on home sale calculator template. In fact, this is one handy tool you may want to update continually as the expenses start rolling in (escrow, title, paint jobs, cabinet knobs, etc.) and you reconsider your asking price.

Tip of the week winner

J.M. of Connecticut recently wrote to me about a trick he uses to organize his taxable donations:

"I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use each year. I have a section for incomes like bank interest etc., and another for deductions like miscellaneous donations to various charities throughout the year. I enter a donation amount whenever I incur it, so that at year's end, I have most of these donations all together. This is especially helpful for cash donations to, for example, a co-worker for a charity walk or such. I have used this spreadsheet for maybe 6-7 years now."

Thanks, J.M.; very timely. And, as a matter of fact, we have a Charitable contributions Access database template that takes care of this for people who really like to give, give, give. Your prize should have reached you by now, J.M., and I know you're the envy of all who sucker money out of you every year for every walk-a-thon, hop-a-thon, and bake sale for the school's marching band field trip.

For the rest of you interested in acquiring some Crabby merchandise: Send me your tips!

"A man's homeland is wherever he prospers." — Aristophanes

About the author

Annik Stahl, the Crabby Office Lady columnist, takes all of your complaints, compliments, and knee-jerk reactions to heart. Therefore, she graciously asks that you let her know whether this column was useful to you — or not — by entering your feedback using the Was this information helpful? tool below. And remember: If you don't vote, you can't complain.

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