How to Sell a House by Owner in Florida

How to sell a house by owner in Florida

Disclaimer: This blog post is intended for educational purposes only. HomeLight recommends that you look into the real estate regulations for your area and consult a trusted advisor.

By opting for a FSBO sale, you’re putting yourself in competition with homes that have the advantage of a real estate agent’s extensive marketing resources.That means you’ll be responsible for pricing and preparing the home for sale, which are key components in maximizing your home sale.

These steps aim to give your home a better chance of resembling a professional listing and attracting the attention of potential buyers.

Step 1: Address needed repairs and maintenance

FSBO sellers in Florida may want to consider getting a home inspection prior to listing their home for sale. Addressing any issues upfront helps buyers have peace of mind when making an offer. However, be aware that if you get a pre-listing inspection, you will be required to share relevant findings with buyers and how you did or did not address them.

Step 2: Fill out your disclosure forms

While sellers are not obligated to fill out a property disclosure form, they are required by law to disclose any known defects with the property. The Florida Seller’s Property Disclosure form is helpful to ensure the seller doesn’t miss any disclosures.

A good time to fill out your disclosure forms is prior to listing your home, so that you know it’s taken care of. According to the document, “In Florida a seller of residential property is obligated to disclose to a buyer all facts known to a seller that materially and adversely affect the value of the Property being sold which are not readily observable by a buyer.”

The form will walk you through documenting what you know about which features your home has, such as a trash compactor, the number of ceiling fans, and the brand of your oven and dishwasher. You’ll also be prompted to fill out information about the environment in which your Florida property is located, access roads, zoning, roof-related items, and more. You may consider engaging the expertise of a real estate attorney to assist in this step in the process to reduce potential legal risk.

Step 3: Declutter, clean, stage, and add curb appeal

Research shows that deep cleaning and decluttering your home prior to listing will pay off in huge rewards. In fact, a HomeLight survey of top agents reports that decluttering can add $8,000 to the resale value of a home on average. Well worth a weekend’s work! (Or the cost of a professional, if you so choose.)

You may also want to consider strategically staging your home, so that buyers can envision how each space could be used. According to HomeLight’s recent survey, 67% of agents agree that professional staging has helped ensure a successful home sale, and 31% of those agents consider it “essential.”

Finally, don’t forget about the outdoors. Great curb appeal will help get buyers in the door.

Without the independent advice of a real estate agent, FSBO sellers can invite over friends and family for an honest opinion of how the house looks: Will it pass muster with buyers or do some spaces in the house need a bit more attention?

Step 4: Price your home competitively

When selling a house by owner, you need to take care to set the right asking price for your home. Price too high and your property is likely to be on the market longer than necessary; price too low and you could significantly undersell your home.

“We had a condo where everyone was telling the homeowners that they could sell for $375,000,” shares Scott McAllister, a top Florida agent with 27 years of experience. After more research, McCallister advised the seller to list for more. “We ended up closing for $410,000. That’s money they would’ve left on the table had they listened to their friends and neighbors.”

Valuing real estate is an especially tricky task in Florida, as the state has many unique variables that influence property value. For example, waterfront homes may garner a price increase of up to 250% when compared to similar inland homes. And a booming rental market means that tourist locations and vacation-like amenities need to be priced right to attract investors.

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As a starting point, look at several online estimators for your home’s value. HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator aggregates publicly available data such as tax records and assessments, your home’s last sale price, and recent sales records for other properties in the same neighborhood of your Florida home.

Gather your comps

Comps are recently sold homes comparable to yours in characteristics such as size, age, condition, and major features. The most reliable comps are going to be those within as close of a radius as possible to the location where you’re selling a property. Since you won’t be able to access MLS (multiple listing service) data without a real estate license, you’ll need to look at major home search sites to collect your data.

Conduct your own comps analysis

Compare your home’s features against the nearby comps you collected. Hopefully, the houses you studied give an indication of an appropriate price range for your home. From there, you can make dollar adjustments based on characteristics that add value (a backyard pool, boat slip, a screened-in porch) versus detract from it (a busy street, deferred maintenance, less square footage).

Get a pre-listing appraisal

A DIY comps analysis is risky if you don’t have a ton of experience making sense of property data. Alternatively, you could pay for a pre-listing appraisal. An appraiser will combine desk research with an onsite visit of your home to provide a professional and independent opinion of value.

Appraisals usually cost around $350 on average, and getting one doesn’t mean that a buyer’s lender won’t require a separate and independent appraisal before closing. But it can reduce some of the stress of pricing your home for sale since appraisers are licensed and trained for this work.

Step 5: Arrange for professional photography

For $110-$300 per shoot, FSBO sellers should consider the copious benefits of getting professional photos to include in their listing. A professional photographer will take steps to shoot each room from the best angle; ensure optimal interior and natural lighting; and edit for the ideal brightness and exposure.

A high quality camera with a wide angle lens is also essential to showcasing entire rooms rather than half or three-quarters of what’s there. For these reasons and more, professionally photographed homes can sell up to 50% faster than houses marketed without high-quality photos.

In addition to professional photography, consider these add-ons to enhance your FSBO listing:

• Drone photography. Getting an aerial view of the property can help buyers see the location and layout. Homes with drone photos tend to sell 68% faster, so using this method will help your FSBO listing compete.
• Video walkthrough. A professionally edited video walkthrough will help attract out-of-town buyers who might not be able to come for an in-person showing.
• Floor plan imaging. Having a 2D or 3D floor plan image allows buyers to see spatial relationships regarding how the home is connected.

Research shows that 51% of buyers find their homes via the internet. That means your home’s visual online presence is important. Even the best cell phone pictures can’t compete with professional images.

Step 6: Market your home to buyers

When it comes to marketing your home, you’ll do yourself a favor by posting across multiple platforms for visibility. Data indicates that 47% of FSBO sellers use online outlets, 20% set up yard signs, and 28% work to generate word of mouth through friends and neighbors.

Listing on the multiple listing service (MLS) will get your property more visibility. As a FSBO seller, you can opt to have your property listed on the MLS for a flat fee, or you can employ a listing service that will charge a percentage of the sales price for services that include MLS access.

However, keep in mind that when posting on the MLS, a buyer’s broker commission will be required and the commission rate will need to be provided upfront upon entering into the MLS (an average of 2%-3%).

Step 7: Field and negotiate offers

Hopefully your marketing efforts lead to one or more offers on your Florida property. But not every offer is a good offer. As a FSBO seller, you’ll be responsible for negotiating a contract you’re satisfied with. Price is a major factor, as are other details of the agreement, such as whether you’ll cover any of the buyer’s closing costs, when you’ll agree to move out, and which contingencies will be included in the contract.

Let’s review some of the top points of negotiation you may encounter:

Contingencies

Buyers may ask for the offer to be contingent on other factors, such as the sale of their existing home or their ability to obtain financing. They are also likely to include a home inspection contingency, which is a stipulation in the purchase agreement that says the buyer can inspect the home, top to bottom, and then decide whether to move forward with the purchase.

Finally, FSBO sellers should be aware of the home appraisal contingency, which buyers often add as a protection if the appraised value comes in lower than the purchase price. A contingency-free contract is rare, but in a seller’s market, buyers are more likely to waive one or more to strengthen their offer.

Closing costs

Both buyer and seller will have costs to cover at settlement. However some of these costs — such as title fees, escrow fees, and transfer taxes — can be negotiated in many instances.

A buyer may request that you pay a portion of their closing costs, but in a seller’s market, it’s more likely for sellers to either pay nothing or even ask that the buyer cover a portion of their costs as a condition of the sale.

Repairs

Following the inspection, a buyer may ask you to make necessary repairs or for monetary compensation based on an estimation of what the repair is likely to cost.

You can either accommodate the request or do nothing, but the buyer can choose not to continue on with the purchase if the results of the inspection weren’t satisfactory (unless they waived the home inspection contingency).

Closing date

Closing dates can be subject to negotiation as well. Buyers may need longer to secure financing, or sellers may ask for additional time to move out after closing. On the flip side, one party may ask for a quicker closing date for the ability to move faster if needed.

Earnest money

The earnest money deposit is typically a small amount of money that goes into an escrow account to show that the buyer is serious. The amount is negotiable, and it always goes toward the purchase price.

When buyers add contingencies to the contract, they are able to back out of the deal and get their earnest money back in certain circumstances, such as if anything unsatisfactory turns up on the inspection report. You’ll need to have a third party account set aside to hold this earnest money until closing (such as a title company).

Remember that even if you come to terms with your buyer verbally at first, you’ll want to put the offer in writing using a residential real estate purchase contract, like this one that is specific to Florida. A purchase contract is a legally binding document that protects the interests of both the seller and the buyer by specifically outlining expectations prior to closing.

McAllister advises unrepresented sellers to examine purchase contracts with a fine-toothed comb. He once saw a FSBO seller who inadvertently agreed to pay for nine years of road assessments because they failed to un-check one tiny box on their purchase contract.

To reduce the risk of errors for your sale, hire a real estate attorney to review the contract for you; the attorney can also advise you on necessary steps in preparation for closing. A real estate attorney usually charges between $150 to $350 per hour.

Step 8: Complete steps to closing

After you go under contract with the buyer and finalize the details of the purchase agreement, escrow opens. Florida is what’s known as a “Title Company State,” which means closing will be facilitated and funds distributed through a title company.

In Florida, the seller usually chooses the title company that will handle the closing (though some buyers, particularly out of state investors, may request a specific company). Before the deal is final, you can likely expect the following next steps to occur:

• Complete the home inspection, usually within five days to a week of signing the purchase agreement.
• Negotiate inspection items (if applicable).
• Complete home appraisal by a third-party independent appraiser (necessary if your buyer is using a mortgage).
• Negotiate appraisal results (if applicable).
• Buyer completes final walkthrough to ensure the home is in “broom clean” condition, which means swept, vacuumed and free of debris and excess stuff.
• The buyer will also ensure that no damage has been done to the property since their last visit.

Step 9: Close the sale

Florida is a “wet close” state, meaning that the funds are released from escrow once all of the documents have been finalized –– or while the ink is still wet, so to speak.

In Florida, buyer and seller do not necessarily need to meet to sign closing documents at the same time, but they can if they want to.

Be aware that closing as a FSBO seller does not mean that you avoid all closing fees. Common seller closing fees include transfer taxes, prorated property taxes (Florida residents pay in arrears), and settlement fees. This can amount to around 1%-3% of the sale price.

If a buyer uses an agent, a seller may also be asked to pay all or part of the buyer’s agent commission.

Your selling expenses will be deducted from the sale proceeds at closing, and what remains will be your payout.

Next steps are likely to include:

• Attorneys review documents for errors.
• Clear title; resolve any title issues necessary to close.
• Transfer ownership of your home to the buyer at settlement.
• Funds are disbursed to the seller and other parties involved.
• Review your settlement statement for a complete list of fees and credits of the sale.

Challenges Florida FSBO sellers face

Some tenacious sellers may not bat an eyelash at the steps outlined above, but many FSBO sellers find the actual execution a lot more challenging.

“I don’t think people realize how much work is involved behind the scenes,” McAllister says. “Agents make it look easy because we have the experience, we have the systems in place, and we have the relationships with different vendors.”

The possibility of underselling the home is one major concern. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) found in its latest dataset that “FSBO homes sold at a median of $310,000 last year, significantly lower than the median of agent assisted homes at $405,000.”

NAR also highlights which steps in the process FSBO sellers found to be the hardest:

• Setting an accurate price (16%)
• Understanding and performing paperwork (13%)
• Selling within the planned length of time (10%)
• Preparing the home for sale (6%)

Alternatives to selling a house by owner in Florida

There’s more than one way to sell a house. In addition to FSBO, below we list out a few of the methods available to Florida sellers.

Option 1: Request a cash offer for your home at any time

Another option for selling a house without a real estate agent is to work with an investor or house buying company purchasing homes for cash in your area.

Saving on commissions is often top of mind for FSBO sellers, and selling your house for cash is another option where you can do that. A cash transaction can usually be turned over in as little as a week to two weeks, as it allows you to skip the mortgage process and the appraisal, which are typically the two most time-consuming steps.

If this option interests you, consider requesting a cash offer through HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform. Sellers using Simple Sale receive an all-cash offer within 24 hours and can close in as little as 10 days, with the flexibility of selecting a move-out date.

That said, it’s important to know that investors typically pay under market value for the homes they purchase, and sometimes significantly so. Simple Sale shows you a side-by-side comparison of your cash offer amount against an estimation of what you could list for on the open market to help you make an informed decision.

Option 2: Hire a top Florida real estate agent

Research shows that agents statistically help homes sell for quite a bit more, helping to offset or even exceed the amount paid in commission fees. And they do it while wrapping your entire listing and selling process in professionalism.

Work with a top-rated agent, and the results are likely to be even better. Internal transaction data at HomeLight finds that the top 5% of real estate agents sell homes for as much as 10% more.

A real estate agent helps you fetch the highest sale price by putting together a beautiful listing, advising you on targeted upgrades, and negotiating the best price — and that’s just scratching the surface of their expertise.

If you’d like to explore the option of working with a top agent further, HomeLight would be happy to make an introduction. Whatever direction you choose, we hope that selling your Florida home goes smoothly!

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