Should I sell For Sale by Owner...
...If you have the time, the knowledge, and the skills you may wish to try. If you do, set a time limit. Compute how much time you can devote to the gamble - seldom more than 3 weeks. Then follow the rules. A lot of what you need to know is on this web site. I have prepared an 8 page manual to help.

IF YOU WANT TO SELL BY OWNER, here are a few suggestions:

INFORMATION SHEET
Be sure that the information sheet that you create is complete and precise. It should list all inclusions and exclusions. If you have special Financing information, that should be included. Be thorough as you describe the property and be accurate with the details you provide. Any information that you provide should be confirmed with the proper authorities. You can be sued easily if you provide incorrect information. Describe the home and the area. Describe the property and the benefits of owning your special offering.

ESTABLISH AN ASKING PRICE
Reseach recent sale prices. Research competing prices. Carefully compare your location, your size and your amenities. Be aware that the buyer is calling a For Sale By Owner because they want to save money. For the money that they save, they may be prepared to do without the sevices of the professional Realtor. They will likely be unwilling to pay market value as established within the market. That fair market value includes the services of the professional. Those services include, but are not limited to: Writing the Offer to Purchase; Guiding them through the Inspection Process, the Lead Paint requirements; the Financing Process and the many requirements of the Lending Insititution that they select. The For Sale By Owner transaction is missing some basics that the buyer may wish to be included in their purchase. If the buyer runs into trouble at the lending end, the Realtor is available to assist, such as low appraisal, unclear underwriting guidelines. and statistics to prove marketability and market standards for the property in question. After the seller is gone to another area, the buyer has little recourse if something goes wrong. When the home has been purchased through a broker, the buyer has the privilege of having a Home Warranty policy that covers the mechanicals and the appliances that are part of the sale. The buyer can call the broker if something goes wrong. If an error was made that shouldn't have been made, the broker has Errors & Omissions insurance as an added protection. Few buyers are willing to pay for the services that they will not receive. They usually have the added cost of getting an attorney to write their offer and follow the closing process for them.

TARGET YOUR MARKET
Identify the prospective purchaser. Determine the income level of your future buyer. Project the present housing situation that your buyer probably has. Estimate the amount of cash your buyer will probably have. Be prepared with information regarding the financing that will best suit your sale. Most buyers need a great deal of assistance with their financing choices and lender choices. Project what your typical buyer's marital status and family situation is. What age to you assume your buyer will be? What will the buyer's interests and hobbies be. All of these items will help you determine your buyer's housing requirements.

TAILOR A MARKETING PLAN TO REACH THE CUSTOMER THAT YOU HAVE PROFILED
Research the proper medium. Since you do not have the benefit of the multiple listing system which serves about 90% of the people who purchase homes, you will have to design your marketing to compensate for the absence of this important resource. Newspaper ads are priced very high. You will not have the benefit of the contract prices that the real estate company works with, so be sure that your ads are written with care and that they are as effective as possible. Bold caps works well. White space sets your ad above the rest. These things cost extra but you will have to use your imagination to catch the buyer's eye. Your amenities should be discussed. Most buyers who search specifically for FSBO ads are bargain hunters. Try to make your ads sound like you do not have a bargain product. You may want to try a mass mailing. Perhaps you could send property information sheets to your neighborhood and to some of the high end apartments in your neighborhood. You might advertuse in special interest journals. Since most serious buyers call a REALTOR® to do their house hunting for them, it will be important that you get your ad where the serious buyer will see it. Ad headlines are important. You will probably want to do Open Houses. Be prepared for the fact that most people who call on your ads and come to your open houses are not serious, they are just looking, OR they cannot afford the home that they are calling on. The real estate agent has compiled databases of buyers, filed by their price ranges and their needs. Most sales are "cross-over" sales. Since you have but one home to sell, you will have to depend on the buyer for your home coming through your door at the open house or finding you ad. Statistics tell us that only about 3% - 4% of buyers actually buy the home that they called on.

EXPOSE TO THE MARKET
The property owner can place their advertising, put up a professional looking For Sale sign, network with their spheres of influence and hold Open Houses.

The professional agent can convert calls on other homes to your home. At the same time they are converting non-buyers for your home to buyers on homes that fit their needs. Their network includes other professionals who are working with other serious buyers. The professional is able to convert sign calls from one property to the other. Nearly all sign calls must be converted to a lesser priced property. A great majority of ad calls must also be converted. Since you have one home to sell, while the broker has many, it is extremely important that your follow up be diligent and effective. Buyers traditionally call on homes that catch their eye but are priced beyond their budget. The effective agent is able to counsel that buyer and convert them to properties that work for them. The target marketing procedure are finely tuned from experience, trial and error. Mailing lists are usually established on data bases. It is another statistic that a buyer looks for a home for about 3-6 months, on average. It would be prudent for the FSBO to ask the callers how long they have been looking. "Long Lookers" may just be shoppers. "Short time Lookers" may just be trying to see what is out there at what price. Our databases keep track of calls that we have received in the past and match customers/clients to new listings as they appear on the MLS system. The database that I use also includes about 200 individual agents who traditionally do business is this area for direct mailing of your information sheet. Our sphere of influence includes the active brokers who are resonsible for about 90% of the property sales. These agents have databases, too. The longest that I ever worked with a buyer to find what they wanted was 5 years. When the right property was finally listed, they bought it on the third day that it was on the market. If your property doesn't sell right away you should make decisions regarding the price without bias toward what you need; but rather with concentration on what the market will bear.

We have multiple WEBsites that can be accessed through national search engines and by URLs that are advertised widely. We advertise on the radio, on cable TV, and internationally within many mediums.

SHOW THE HOME
Most important to your success is that you are available when the phone rings. If the buyer gets an answer machine they may not leave a message. Try to be home during the regular work day hours. Your phone will also ring at early hours and late hours. Buyers have little sense of timing when they are curious about property. The REALTY EXECUTIVE 800 Information line is an excellent tool for odd hour calls and even for daytime calls. That line gives the buyer the complete description of the home and allows them to access our office, leave voice mail message, or request an instant FAXback of the information provided by the office. This line is available throughout the USA.

Do not make an appointment for someone to "come right over." You should always take the caller's name and phone number. Then call back to confirm that they have given you a real number. Be sure to keep a log of every call and every appointment. Have that log in an obscure place. In the event of trouble, there would be a list of the people who made calls to you.

Your privacy will be invaded at all hours. Whether you are working with an agent or not, you will have your privacy compromised. That cannot be avoided. The agent will field most calls and only schedule appointments that appear to be serious and where the buyer appears to be qualified. That will eliminate many unnecessary intrusions. Do not be embarrassed to ask pointed and comprehensive questions. The agent has a little more latitude and the buying public is accustomed to answering our questions. You will have to ask for the same information. Prepare a buyer information form to help you remember to ask all of the questions. A brief form should be used for initial calls. Be prepared with a complete qualification form for the interested buyer. The last thing in the world you want to do is to take your home off the market for someone who likes your home but has no means to purchase it. Require a pre-approval letter, or at minimum, a pre-qualification letter from a lending institution before you accept an offer. The agent should be trained to do the "pre-qual" themselves. Even then, mistakes are sometimes made.

Silence on your part is important when you are showing your home. The most frequent mistake the the owner makes is to talk too much. Give a brief overview of the room, then step aside and allow the buyer to take in the room. Be sure to point out the good points AND any negative that the buyer should be aware of. Your Real Estate Condition report will verify that you have told the buyer about everything. Remember, that form is required to give you full protection under the rights given by state law.

Distribute you property information sheet AFTER you have shown the home. Otherwise your buyer will have a tendency to look at the sheet and not at your home. Have your condition report and your Lead Paint addendum, if applicable, all stapled together. Be certain that you disclose absolutely ANY negative that you know of. The rule is: If in Doubt, Declare!" Be careful to observe all Fair Housing responsibilities, too.

After the showing, follow up is important. Ask for the buyer's reaction. Be careful not to let an anxious feelings that you may have get into the conversation. If the buyer perceives that you are anxious, they will also perceive that you will come down on your price. NEVER tell the buyer that you will come down. The agent is prohibited by law from representing any number other than the asking price. Their contract provides that they are to secure the highest and best possible price. That law helps a lot when the buyer continues to press about "How much will you/they take?" We are expected to be "pushy." If you are "pushy" they may think that you are also desperate. Try very hard to pull the buyer's objections from them at the first meeting and at subsequent conversations. Unless you know the objections, you will not be able to counter those objections. Don't argue or be insulted. You should just provide enough information to the buyer that you will answer their objection. Our society subscribes to an absolute called TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVE. A person "owns" the space that they are within. If you were in a restaurant, sitting alone at a table for six; no one would sit down at that table without asking permission. That table is not your table, but, at that moment, it is your space. When you are in your home, it is your space. The buyer feels like an intruder if he/she opens cupboards, opens closets, and touches woodwork, doors and appliances. It is not proper to touch other people's things. In your absence, the buyer is more able to "make believe" that the home is theirs by mentally placing their furniture where yours stands. The buyer will also be reluctant to tell you about the things that they don't like, too. They will fear insulting you. Practice your dialogue for the time that you ask them to buy. Most buyers will not make the final buying decision unless someone specifically asks them to buy. DON'T FORGET TO POP THE QUESTION! Practice your closing techniques to help the buyer make decisions and to help move that buyer toward the offer process.

FINANCIALLY QUALIFY THE BUYER
Talk to lenders regarding their programs. Read everything you can get your hands on regarding the financial world of home mortgages. The more you know, the more you will be able to help the buyer. Be conversant in points, rates, amortization, features and requirements. Be prepared with the names and numbers of competent loan officers, Now and then there is a buyer who knows exactly what they must do to get the home of their choice. Once in a while you even find a CASH buyer. But, most of the time the buyer needs a lot of hand holding. If you can do that for them, you will have a better chance of helping them get to your closing. Be prepared to discuss the cash needed to close, the income requirements for the payment, the debt limit to fit within the qualification ratios, and ask about past and present credit. Be extra careful with buyers who have had or still have student loans, child support or irregular payment patterns on installment loans. If they have a new job or are self-employed be sure that they get a letter from a lender that they qualify. Requirements get quite stringent for these buyers. Be sure to get all of your questions answered. You could be waiting for the poor buyer to get financing while the good buyer walks away to another home. Be prepared to discuss Conventional loans, Adjustable Rate Mortgages, Flex-Fix mortgages that get the buyer in for lower initial payments, Step Loans, Balloon Loans, FNMA guidelines, and also the government loans such as FHA, FVA and SVA. For homes needing work, the FHA 203K plan is a life saver. The more you know about financing, the more chance you will have of helping your buyer to buy your home. Most loans work with a ratio of 28%/36%. FVA works with 41%. FHA uses 29%/41%. SVA has special regs. Wheda has their own regs, too. There are as many loan programs as their are stars in the sky, we sometimes think. You needn't know them all, but you should no the basics of most kinds.

PURCHASE AGREEMENT
Elements to watch for:
EARNEST MONEY. Get enough earnest money to make the buyer think twice before they walk away from a contract. Try for $2,000. If the buyer insists on less, be sure that it is for reasons other than that they may want to get out of the contract without too much loss.

PRICE. Don't allow your personal feelings to get in the way if the offer comes in lower than you think it should. The buyer is trying to save as much as possible, the same as you are. Don't forget to stay focused as the negotiations proceed. Don't hold out for "What you Need" versus "The Fair Market Value." Even if you happen to get more than the market evaluation suggests, the lender's appraiser will probably not back up the offer price. Unless you want to experience "Fall Through" stay focused on the reality of the market.

FINANCING. Make sure the numbers on the offer work. Be sure that the loan program written into the contract exists. If it doesn't, the buyer could walk easily based upon unavailable programs and terms that are not attainable. Be certain that the buyer has the required amount of their own money. Lenders, except for a couple of unique programs, require that the buyer has at least 5% of their own money.

PERSONAL PROPERTY. Be sure that inclusions and exclusions are exact. Understand that personal property is of no monetary value on an appraisal. Don't include personal property of high value (such as a boat) in the purchase price. The appraisal will subtract the amount of expensive personal property. Also, don't try to mask seller concessions with such items as "decorating allowance." Lenders are quite savvy to attempts to get money back into the hands of the buyer.

CLOSING DATE. Closing dates should typically be about 4 - 6 weeks after the accepted offer. If the buyer is asking for more time, be sure that the reason is legitimate and not because they need time to gather money for their closing costs and downpayment. If a buyer needs extra time to gather funds or enhance qualification, you might consider putting "bump clause" in the contract. Be sure that you coordinate the closing date on your home with the closing date you have agreed to on the home that you are purchasing. You don't want to "end up in a tent" because the dates didn't work together.

POSSESSION DATE. Try to allow yourself at least a couple of days after the closing. That will keep you from putting all of your things on a truck before you have money in your hands. Remember that you will probably be expected to pay daily use and occupancy for the time you stay after the closing. Try to negotiate it to be refundable based upon actual occupancy. It is typically 1/30th of the buyer's monthly payment.

TAXES. Taxes are tricky in this day and age. Most real estate companies have especially prepared clauses that cover the lottery credit programs, prorations and percentages of the previous year's amounts and other legislation that affects the tax amount. Failure to disclose pending changes and over-or-under-assessments could result in a legal problem after the closing.

ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS. Be sure that you address lead, radon, asbestos, radium and other potentially harmful elements. Address environmental corridor, shoreland regulations, sanitary district assessments, flood plain, flood fringe overlay, underground storage tanks, abandoned oil tanks in basements, abandoned wells, sanitary disposal system requirements, water/well requirements. was built before 1978, be certain to conform to the Federal Regulations regarding disclosure. Major penalties can be imposed for failure to disclose and comply. If your homePay special attention if something about your property is of a non-conforming nature. Lawsuits lurk in every corner when it comes to these items and a whole list of others. You cannot be too careful.

CONTINGENCIES. Be sure that your contingencies are written clearly. Make them understandable to even a third party observor who is not aware of the rest of the content of the contract. Be sure that the conditions are clearly written, the cost is spelled out, and the consequences, if not met, are stated. "Buyer to have roof inspected" is not sufficient. This is the most important part of your contract. Your attorney will help you with this and the other components of your offer. You are reminded that all attorneys don't know about real estate any more than all doctors can do brain surgery. Be sure to retain an attorney who is a specialist in real estate matters.

FINANCING APPROVED. Be aware of any domino chains that may be required with the sale of other properties. Check regularly, usually once a week, to follow the financing trail. The income verifications should come in a timely manner. Be sure that their cash deposits are verified early in the loan commitment time frame. Ask the loan officer if the credit check is clean. When the appraiser calls for the appointment, meet him/her with comparables to justify price, tax bill, survey and any information that will assist him/her. Be prepared to justify marketability. Be prepared to provide information on area sales and how they apply to your transaction. Be prepared to do a lot of legwork if the appraiser comes up short on value. Your rapport with the lender and the buyer will be extremely important if you have appraisal problems.

INSPECTION
I advise you to insist on a professional inspector. The Yellow Pages is a dangerous source. Anyone can put an ad in the yellow pages or in the paper. Be sure to get an inspector who has proven himself/herself to be competent. You want a thorough honest inspector. You want one with credentials and certifications. You want one who comes with good references. An inspector who doubles as a contractor can be looking for work at the expense of your transaction. Ask informed people to give you referrals.

PROCESSING THE CLOSING
You are advised to have an attorney handle this part of your transaction, as well as the offer portion. Fees usually run between $300-$500. Don't forget, however, that the attorney charges you by the hour, by the call, by the FAX, and by the document. If the transaction gets messy your cost will go up. The real estate agent gets paid a set fee, regardless of the complications and the time spent. The title policy should be ordered early in the closing process. If there are any irregularities, you have plenty of time to fix them before the closing is to be scheduled. Remind the buyer to get an insurance binder. Check the closing papers to be sure that everything is complete. Don't forget the timing on well inspections, water tests, septic/mound inspections, inspection clauses, other contingency deadlines. Check the arithmetic on all paperwork. Call for your payoffs. Check the payoff figures against your records, recompute all prorations for accuracy. The professional covers this for you as your transaction progresses to closing. Our company has an attorney to do the closing documentation at no extra cost to you.

NET EQUITY CHECK
The real estate agent's closer handles the recording of the documents and the distribution of payoffs. Either pay your attorney to do that for you or do it yourself.

The competent real estate professional does the orchestration of the transaction. Whether it takes 2 days or 2 years to close, the fee remains the same. If the property does not sell, you do not get a bill for services rendered. The REALTOR® only gets paid when the transaction closes. Because the professional has a network of professionals that are accustomed to the transaction, you have a better likelihood of using competent inspectors, appraissers, title companies, loan officers, lending institutions and the myriad of other professionals that combine to make a successful closing.

IF YOU HAVE THE TIME, THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE INCLINATION, you can do everything that is needed to complete the transaction. It is extremely possible, however, that your net equity check and your personal bottom line could be the same or even lower if you do the transaction by yourself. It is a statistical fact that the competent agent negotiates a higher sale price than the owner does. The buyer responds differently to the agent than they typically do with the seller. The buyer of a "By Owner" expects to pay less than the fair market value because they don't expect the services of the professional. Typically, FSBOs sell at least 3% below the real estate industry sales. For Sale By Owner sales typically take longer to secure an offer and longer to get the offer to closing. The statistics moguls have concluded that it costs at least $1,000 per month for every month that a property is on the market. If the property is on the market just one month longer than it could have been, about 1% is lost in costs to the seller. Compute the advertising costs to the For Sale By Owner, the special marketing costs and the attorney's fees. Also, compute the time spent in the pursuit of the buyer and the time spent in the pursuit of the closing. There are exceptions, but there is an extreme possibility that the bottom line will not be enough higher to justify the effort spent.

We wish you the best as you enter the most incredible industry that I can imagine. During the time that you are selling By Owner, you will be a player in this industry. You will be, as the rest of the professionals are, totally immersed in the sale of your property. You will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will experience incredible highs and exasperating lows. You will be frustrated and elated, sometimes at the same time. And, if you find that waiting for buyers who don't show up, placing calls that aren't returned, showing homes to people who don't buy, changing your schedule so that you are there when the buyer calls....and the list goes on.... if you find that you enjoy the process, you should look into becoming a professional real estate agent. Few who attempt this profession succeed, Many who enter the industry find out very soon that it isn't as easy as it looked from the public's perspective. Licensees fail at this job by the score. If you are cut out to sell homes, you would probably make one of the few who are truly cut out to be one of the few good real estate professionals.

The For Sale By Owner, if they are to be successfull, statistically sell within the first 30 days that they are marketing their home. Many of your calls will be from other agents who want to list your home. When you decide to interview agents, don't choose the one who called the most. They are, perhaps, not busy enough. Don't call the one who seemed the nicest. This is a business venture and not a social gathering. Don't call the agent who gives you the highest price. The market creates its own level. The agent does not influence what the market will bear. Don't choose the one who is willing to cut their selling fee to get you to list. To get the maximum amount of services from the REALTOR®, you cannot pay the minimum price. Fully 50% of the fee charged by my office goes just to pay the general overhead. To reduce our fee by, say 50%, would put us in the break even position. Since the services offered by REALTY EXECUTIVES Elite are so innovative and extensive, the cost for those services is necessary to continue as we do now. It is because of those services that we continue to sell so many more homes than our competitors sell. It is not possible to offer maximum service for minimum fees, therefore, the active agent from the best companies will not be able to compete with those who compete by fee alone. If your home doesn't sell, it does not matter whether the listing was taken at 3%, 4%, 5%, etc. Only the best service and the finest in marketing techniques will offer you the highest bottom line in the least amount of time. There are never guarantees in anything....except perhaps death and taxes. But, the process is stacked in your favor when you hire the most competent agents in the area to handle your business.

May you do well. If you ever decide that you want to step away and turn the selling of your home over to a professional, call me. I would love to be THE REALTOR® THAT YOU CHOOSE.
Verna Acker, REALTY EXECUTIVES Elite.

In 1993, I wrote an article for a magazine.

Selling real estate is a little like going fishing. You cast out your bait. Sometimes you get a nibble. Sometimes you get a bite. Once in a great while, you land a beauty. But, more often than not, you swat mosquitoes, bake in the sun or freeze your buns off, try to convince yourself that you don't have to go potty, wish you'd brought more sandwiches--and what in the world are you doing sitting in the middle of the lake anyway????

The "game of real estate is a lot like playing the slots, too. You can plug a lot of money in before you admit that the odds are really stacked against you. With the low interest rates and the present market condition, many people are thinking about selling their home without professional help. It IS definitely possible. If you are lucky. Hitting a jackpot in Las Vegas is definitely possible, too. If you are lucky. This spring, I watched with wonder as an elderly oriental gentleman pulled the arm on a nearby slot machine. He won $1,600. I didn't get to ask him how many coins it took for the lucky pull. Some people are lucky at gambling. Most aren't. It can be expensive.

For starters, consider the buyer's ability to subtract. Why do sellers try to sell a home themselves? TO SAVE THE COMMISSION. Why do buyers want to buy a For Sale By Owner? TO SAVE THE COMMISSION. Both sides can't win.

Also to be considered is the buyer's need for help. Let's for a minute, make believe that you want to buy a microwave. The specialty shop's price may be higher, but the service should be good if you have a problem. They may even deliver and set it up for you. The discount store saves you money, but you sacrifice service. If something goes wrong you will have to load the thing into your truck, take it back, and wait a few weeks while they send it in for repair.

But, before you head out to the stores, you decide to look through the classified ads for a couple of weeks to see if you can get a bargain. If someone has one advertised, you head out to take a look at the For Sale By Owner. You have no intention of paying market value for the microwave. Even if it is brand new, why should you?

You do not have the protection of the store's return policy. You have no professional helping you decide which product will best suit your individual needs. If you need financing there is no one to help you find the best package. And what about service if something goes wrong after the sale?

When called to the home of a FOR SALE BY OWNER, I often hear, "We got a lot of calls, but nobody made us any offers. Half the time they didn't even show up. And when they did, we found out that most of them didn't have any money.

Like it or not, that is the nature of the beast. Statistics have proven that less than 10 percent of the people who call about a real estate ad ever buy anything. And, it can take that precious 10 percent a long time before they do buy. (My record is five years from first call to the offer to purchase.) And of those "less than 10 percent", almost NONE of them buy what they called about in the first place. The real estate professional, on the other hand, will listen to that buyer, find out what they can afford, access the market listings in the area and proceed to match the good buyer with the right property. Since statistics show that 85 percent of the available homes are listed with the real estate brokers, chances are that the buyer will find a home with the Realtor's help.

It is possible that the buyer will choose a FOR SALE BY OWNER property. The odds are, however, stacked in favor of the professional network.

Are you well versed in zoning requirements, designated wetlands requirements, shoreland regulations, environmental corridor limitations, well-abandonment procedures, non-conforming property requirements, proper registration of storage tanks, DILHR rules for non-owner occupancy, land division requirements, federal disclosure standards--the list goes on. If your water tests UNSAFE, can you explain it to the buyer without scaring the "heck" out of him? When the appraiser calls for more comps and compensating factors, do you know how to help? When the buyer chooses the wrong lender and is mired down by an inexperienced loan officer, do you know how to get past the bumps?

The list also can go on and on. The point is: getting the offer to purchase signed is the easy part. Getting it to closing can be the world's most monumental task.

And most important...you have done this on your own because you want to save money. Right? As surely as your financial advisor probably makes you more money than he costs you; as surely as your tax accountant pays for himself in taxes saved and regulations met; just as surely is the real estate broker often free. Skill in negotiation, knowledge of comparable properties, training in communication skills, mediation capabilities, and expertise in pricing are just a few of the ways the successful real estate person can put more dollars into the sellers pocket than they take out. Example after example could be told. One will suffice:

Last fall a young couple called me to sell a home. They wanted $195,000 for it. I explained that we could get $215,000. They were doubtful. I said, "Give me two weeks." If I'm wrong, we can lower it then. Three days later we had a signed offer at the $215,000. It closed a month later. I was free.

If you have the time, the money, the knowledge, the experience, and the fortitude, then certainly try to sell your property by yourself. Try for a specified period of time. Don't use up the best market time while you try to save a few dollars. Your ad costs, your property-holding cost, your debt retirement expenses, your legal fees, and eventually, the buyer's subtraction skills could end up costing you far more than will the services of the experienced professional.

Don't forget to put value on your time, too. Showing the property and handling details is time-consuming. Be prepared to change your plans on short notice. Acquire advertising skills by doing some research so that you use your ad space wisely. Trial and error is expensive. Try to be near the phone at all times so valuable phone calls aren't missed. Purchase some books that will help you "stage" your home for its best presentation.

Finally, if you decide to call a professional, choose wisely. The company you employ is only as good as the salesperson asking for your business. All real estate people are NOT created equal. Get credentials. Get their production records. Get references. Ask how many homes they have sold in your neighborhood. And, think twice before you hire someone "part-time." When the road to closing gets bumpy, most of the tasks required to complete the sale and closing process must be performed during regular business hours.

Handling the most important investment you have deserves the services of a full-time, dedicated professional, whose main focus is the business of real estate and your best interests. Chosen with care, your real estate agent will become one of your most valued allies.

Whether you are successful on your own or whether you hire a professional, selling property is unpredictable and exciting. Like that fishing trip, you cast about for buyers, handle the irritations as well as you can, and periodically you stop to consider your sanity quotient. When the happy buyer and the satisfied seller walk out of the successful closing--that is when you discover that the "fishing trip" was an extraordinary experience.

The author has been a REALTOR® since 1978, working in Northern Racine County.
Published in Business+ July 1993, Vol. 1, No. 3, P.32.