# Selling Your Property Privately



## SlowandSteady60 (Feb 19, 2012)

Hey All,
I have a condo I want to sell and like most people, I don't want to pay a Realtor to sell it for me. Does anyone have a step by step procedure on how you go about doing this in a proper and legal manner. I know there are companies that will come in and help you sell without a Realtor but I figure someone on here must ahve done it already and if you could share your knowledge, it would be much appreciated. I'll sit back and wait to hear from you.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Technically, there is not much to it. You need to acquire a contract from somewhere (a lawyer, a realtor or somewhere) that is legal in your area. For example a California contract that you find on the Internet may not be legal in Canada, nor could a Vancouver one be fully legal in Ontario. There are generic ones available at stores. Make copies, you may have multiple deals fall through, and you need two copies at least for an offer. 

Then you need to advertise. There are lots of places/ways to do this that can be free or paid. Pictures are fairly important. 

You can also decide if you want to do an open house. 

If someone likes the place, they fill out a contract with an offer. You negotiate until you agree or they walk away. 

Once you get an offer, a deposit, and their conditions are removed, hand it over to a lawyer. 

You can do the remainder yourself, but its probably best to spend the $1000 or so on the lawyer. Banks probably won't release the money to you anyway, and they'll make sure the rest is done properly.


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## rikk (May 28, 2012)

I have ... have property appraised for selling price, show and tell, negotiate the agreement to purchase content (forms available at local Staples, wherever) with potential buyer ... e.g. I was taking certain light fixtures with me not to be included in sale, other terms, buyer signs form (I did not), take the form to lawyer, lawyer reviews, we discuss, I said ok ... and that was basically that for me ... lawyers take over from there.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

It is not hard to sell a house but it does take some work. One method I have used successfully is the 5 day method of selling a house, sell any property in 5 days. There is a book called the 5 day method, do a search and get the details.

Another method I have used is to advertise the house and hold an open house Saturday afternoon, or Sunday if you prefer. Do this every week, dropping the price $5000 each week. When I did this I got nothing for 4 weeks then hit the magic number and got 4 full price offers in one day.

In those cases I was selling 2 rental houses in a small town in a down market (2008). I believe I got reasonable prices. I don't think an agent could have gotten any more especially if you add the commission. But I did get rid of 2 properties fast without all the agents' bullshit.

Don't expect too much. Unless you are lucky you are only going to get what the market will bear, agent or no agent. Too often I see for sale by owner properties that are overpriced, by sellers who treat buyers like enemies, and who won't make any concessions. These houses tend to stay on the market for a long time until the sellers give up and list the house or drop the price. But by that time the property has a bad name, everyone thinks there must be something the matter with it or why hasn't it sold?


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## dougboswell (Oct 25, 2010)

The previous answers have given good advice.

One NB thing is to have it priced correctly. It might be worthwhile to have your own appraisal done on it before you sell it. If a buyer requires a mortgage the lender will require an appraisal as it is a private sale. If the appraisal comes in low and the buyer does not have enough funds to make up the difference the deal will die.

The most important considerations are exposure and advertising. Most buyers today look on the internet first when they start to look at houses. If it is not advertised they won't find yours. Having done it myself I strongly suggest that you find a realtor that will list it on mls.ca or realtor.ca. There are now many realtors who for a flat fee will list it for you and then you do all the work. The other point is if a potential is using a realtor. The buyer will not in all probably pay their realtor. You may have to offer 2.5% to a selling realtor to get the traffic in and through. Saving half the commission is better than no sale at all. This was from my personal experience last year.


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