Selling a home is perhaps one of the most uncomfortable, inconvenient, energy draining and grueling experiences you will undertake on your own. It's one thing to be put in an uncomfortable position for a minute or two, or have a run-in with a co-worker or friend that has you anxious and sleepless for a few days, but selling your home, especially on your own is a complete and prolonged lifestyle change. Know that when you put your home on the market, you're opening your door, your family and your life to strangers - strangers close enough to find your sign or see your ad in the local newspaper.

Realtors are at the top of the list when it comes to assault victims. We talk to strangers every single day, drive them around in our cars and open our personal time and our lives to serving them during the process of the search for a home. I personally take these measures when meeting strangers and I responsibly ensure my own safety as well as my client's homes and personal possessions.

It's imperative that you take necessary precautions to ensure your personal - and legal safety when selling your home. If you have family members that may be present during showings please share this information with them. Outline specific guidelines and make sure everyone understands the importance of each one.

Never display your home phone number on your sign
Use a number other than your home number. A cellular phone number or office voice mail number is preferable to your home number. This is important for two reasons. First, if you have children in the home you don't want them running into a stranger on the phone that wants to come to your door while you're not home. Second, you need to set boundaries and limitations for strangers. Some will assume they can call the number anytime since you're trying to sell and won't hesitate to call in the middle of the night. Realtors that have their own home numbers on business cards experience this dilemma often. You'll need to check your voice mail frequently to ensure that you capture and hold your buyer's interest.

Investigate before calling back
When a prospective buyer leaves a message with his phone number and name, be sure to cross check the phone number and name, and be sure to check the list of sexual predators with your local sheriff's department. This is public information. A few minutes might save someone a lifetime of trauma.

When you call back
Qualify him before arranging a personal visit. Ask at least five questions and listen to his answers. How did you find my home? What about it interests you? Have you been looking in this area for awhile? Have you talked with a lender? Are you working with a realtor? Do you work close? Where? What do you do there? Do you live close? What's bringing you to this area? It may sound intrusive, but this is accomplishing two tasks at the same time. First, you're establishing a rapport with this person and second, you're opening your home - you should know who you're opening it to.

Pets
During your phone call and if you have pets in your home, be sure to ask if your visitor has any pet allergies. If so, be honest and upfront and state that you have a dog or cat (or both) and ask if that will be a problem. Most likely it will not, however this will avoid surprise and discomfort later. Make sure your animal is locked up in a cage or make arrangements to have the animal elsewhere during the showing.

Schedule an appointment
Have your schedule handy when you call back. Avoid the embarrassment of double-booking yourself and have the advantage of knowing what your schedule is at the time of your callback. This asserts that you are busy, your life is controlled and you are firm with your plans. In reality, many buyers not working with realtors are browsers and often not extremely motivated or ready to confidently proceed with a purchase. They delay or often fail to show up at all. You'll have to find the common denominator between being available 100% of the time and being in control 100% of the time.

Set an expectation during your appointment
This includes a timeframe and who's coming to the showing. There's nothing wrong with making up an imaginary appointment immediately preceding and following this appointment, and letting him assume that someone will be present with you. This sets an expectation that the visitor will show up on time and that you won't be alone for long. Verbiage such as "okay then, we have a 2:00 and a 5:30 showing, so this would be a perfect time to come by. We'll see you at 4:30 this Saturday and that will give you about a half an hour. Will anyone else be accompanying you? Great. We look forward to seeing you at 4:30."

Write it down and share it
Keep a registry of visitors. Write down their first and last name, their phone number and notes you've gathered during your conversation. You don't need to display this, but keep a record for yourself. Let a friend, family member or neighbor know who is expected and when. Be sure to also write down callers that you've talked to but that won't be visiting and why. This is important in order to avoid any complicating accusations of discrimination.

Use a buddy system
We tell our children to do it and so should we. If at all possible, have another adult present for the showing.

Children
I strongly encourage anyone with small children showing their homes themselves to make arrangements for someone to watch the kids during this time. This will limit their contact with strangers and avoid distractions and interruptions during this time allowing you to focus on the visitor. Also, make sure that children's rooms are secure by locking the windows. Just by looking, a visitor can tell if windows are locked and if they're not, this is a piece of information a stranger doesn't need.

Secure all valuables
Do a quick check of your home to be sure you've hidden away all valuables including jewelry/jewelry boxes, personal photographs, cameras and expensive collectibles. Remove all bills, credit card statements, travel agendas, personal mail and address books from view. Put them in a file cabinet or drawer instead of a pantry or closet. Buyers might want to see inside the closets and built-in shelving.

Greet him at the front door
You're conditioned to use your side or back door entrance, however, greet your prospective buyer at your front door. This gives a better presentation of your home, as well as keeping you away from stairs and narrow landings that trap you into small spaces.

Follow, do not lead
Step outside of your home when greeting this person. Specifically stand outside, greet him with a firm handshake and eye contact and gesture him inwards with the same hand that you shook his hand with. Never outstretch both arms at the same time. When inside, keep close eye contact on all movements and stay three steps behind (enough to avoid a turnaround and lunging contact). Avoid following his hand gestures and getting momentarily distracted, for example if he stands beside, points and looks upward to the ceiling, step back and note his concern (ceiling damage, etc.) and address it if it all possible without turning your head away from him.

Trust your instincts
Use your own judgment to guide you through the showing. If there's a hint of discomfort, back off. Don't question your instinct and shut out the actual situation while your mind ponders whether or not this is a good idea. Simply back off and if you're more comfortable standing at the end of the hallway rather than following him down toward the bedrooms, do just that. If you get this feeling as soon as you open the door, stay at the door and allow him to tour the home himself (it's a better situation for both parties anyway). This is why it's important to put valuables away prior to any showings.

Never turn your back on your visitor
Stay behind your visitor. If he motions or leads toward something behind you, stand aside and follow. Watch for any hidden movement and stay alert.

Never represent more than you can back up in writing.
If a concern arises, speak the truth very clearly, precisely and without explanation then after the visitor is gone, note the concern and what you said. For instance, if he questions a water stain in the ceiling tile and you know that it was caused by faulty plumbing that was repaired and has not had a problem since, you may state something like "we repaired a leaking pipe last summer but didn't replace the damaged tile - it's in the disclosure form, would you like a copy?"

Keep the showing moving
In the event you have a visitor that seems like they just want to stay awhile and aren't necessarily in the market to buy your home (you'll get a feel), avoid humoring them and becoming their new best friend (unless you're really looking for one). Even if they're the best company you've had in awhile, this is still a stranger. Each minute you spend after you realize they're not particularly interested in buying is another signal that you're open to them stopping by unexpectedly or calling just to "catch up". I've run into a number of lonely people that simply enjoy getting out of the house and finding someone nice to hang out with. When you have a sign in your yard and you're showing your house, they know that at the time they're with you they have your full attention and there's no one more important to you.

You want to be as polite as possible and still end the showing, so make sure that they're ready to leave satisfied. As you're talking with them, keep moving throughout the house, gently gesturing them as you go. Avoid getting stuck in conversation in one room for 20 minutes. When you're through, get the conversation back on track and find out how interested they might be. "Is there something you'd like to see again? Do you have any questions? Will you be seeing any more houses? When were you hoping to make your decision? May I call you this weekend after you've had time to think about it?"

Show them out
Thank them for their time and for stopping by. The best way to get appreciation is to give it. Reaffirm future follow up with them and if possible, make plans. Find out if there's someone else that might want to see the home before they make their decision and try to schedule a time for this before they leave, or at the very least get permission to call to confirm plans with all parties.

All agents are the same.
False. Each agent independently operates under a broker, meaning that his/her license is held by a broker, however their business conduct and marketing strategy will differ. Some companies that are incorporated restrict their agents from specific advertising. All advertising an agent does must be accompanied by the company logo. Some companies will not allow the logo to be placed in certain non-traditional advertising, resulting in limited marketing that may be extremely beneficial to specific homes.

Further, the real estate industry is highly competitive and over 90% of new real estate agents fail and are out of the business in less than two years. Many new and veteran agents work full or part time jobs in addition to real estate. Many sellers discover after a listing expired that their agent wasn't full time and many feel that had they been involved with a full time agent, their results would have been better.

All commissions rates are the same.
False. You have options. Generally commissions are tiered and are based off the purchase price of your home. Full service companies typically charge a slightly higher rate. However, the rate should be justified by the additional services offered on your specific home. Commissions are generally negotiable, depending on the company, services and agent.

I can list my home on the MLS.
False. Unless you're working with a REALTOR®, you are not listed in the MLS. In order to input to the true Northern Ohio Multiple Listing Service (MLS), you must be a licensed REALTOR® and pay dues to the National Association of REALTORS® and Cleveland Area Board of REALTORS® (CABOR). There are numerous flat rate fee 'mls' systems online that home sellers subscribe to. In actuality these are nothing more than forums. The companies providing this service warrant nothing, offer nothing and sell nothing. They do collect a fee. Realize that homebuyers typically are not scanning these sites for their new home. Most 'hits' from these are other FSBOs looking at their competition in order to price their own home.

I'm not bound to the same Fair Housing laws brokers, agents and lenders are.
False. Because of this misconception, FSBOs may wind up in litigation prior to even getting an offer. Well-kept documentation is critical in speaking with, or showing your home to any inquirer.

I will save all of the commission by not listing with an agent.
False. Studies show that the median selling price of a sold FSBO home is 17% less than market value. Typically a FSBO will poorly price their home, either too high or too low and wait for a buyer to come. After several months of open houses, paid ads and flat fees pre-paid to list on a private forum, they'll lower the price in hopes of motivating a buyer. Sellers get an idea if they now sell for about 7% less than they original asked, that they'd get a buyer and still not pay a commission. Realize that the buyer pool for FSBOs is extremely limited. Marketing is reaching a handful of house shoppers, and of these, 90% will eventually work through an agent to find their home. Most sellers have a timeframe in which to sell. When they reach that limit anxiety and desperation sets in and they'll take nearly any offer on the table. Selling by owner can also take double, or triple the time to get an offer that a listed home will. This results in additional mortgage, interest and taxes for the seller who's moved on to their new home. Add to this the outside expenses incurred from lawyer fees, inspections, closing costs, title and examination fees. Assuming the heavy burden of conducting a sale without these professional services is begging for future litigation.

I'll get the same service from a limited service company and save money.
False. Today we want choice and change. Much of this new change is trial and error. What seems like a quick out and money-saving opportunity usually results in a failure, worse market positioning afterward and additional costs. Limited service companies that charge flat rate fees do not offer to sell the home. They offer only to list it. Research success rates in comparison to full service companies to determine what's right for your home. Unfortunately, after months with no sale on their own, many FSBOs realize they need a little more exposure and go this route. However, after the listing expires, the seller is no better off than they were before, and if an agent does bring in a buyer to purchase your home, it's an automatic full commission charge. When you consider it closely, a REALTOR® charges nothing to list your home in the MLS or to put a sign in your yard - in fact, you don't pay until the home is actually sold and transferred and the commission is paid through the proceeds of the sale. No out of pocket expenses! So why should you need to pay $800 - $2,000 for an entry in the MLS and a sign, or a full commission if it actually does sell?

Understand that there's no motivation to sell your home after payment is made. What's prohibiting this agent from taking your prospective buyers through other homes where they'll be offered a full commission for a sale? Read the fine print. Research. Discover this now before listing and being robbed of your cash and your home's value 6 months from now. It's basic - those that advertise price do not advertise service. I've interviewed these companies myself and decided they weren't worth my time or my clients'.

Legal Issues

2004 profile of home buyers and sellers research statistics

6,675,000 homes sold in the U.S. in 2004

2004 Home Purchasers responded to a six-page questionnaire about their home purchase.

How they searched:
74% used the Internet and yard signs
53% looked at newspaper ads
51% went through open houses
90% used a real estate agent

Where Internet users searched:
52% used Realtor.com
45% used the MLS through their agent
39% used real estate company websites
26% used real estate agent websites
17% used local newspaper websites

Where they first learned about their home:
38% real estate agent
16% yard sign
15% the Internet
7% from a friend, relative or neighbor
7% from a home builder
5% from a newspaper ad
5% knew the seller
2% from a home book or magazine
Other categories totaled 5%

Conclusion:
90% used a real estate agent
5% knew the seller they purchased from
5% directly purchased through a builder

Information summary from resource: www.Realtor.org - National Association of REALTORS®

The 2004 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers can be ordered by calling 800/874-6500. The cost is $50 for NAR members and $75 for non-members.