FSBO your way to savings, like an agent would

If you're thinking about selling your own house without an agent, most agents will try to scare you out of it.

And honestly? If deadlines, paperwork, conflict, and stress completely overwhelm you, then yeah — hiring help is probably a good idea.

But if you’ve got a solid noggin on your shoulders, can stay organized under pressure, and are willing to learn, then yes…

You absolutely can sell your house without hiring a Realtor.

And yes, you can absolutely save money doing it that way.

But the savings are not because agents are just wildly overpaid door-openers. The savings come from the fact that you are taking on the work, the liability, the marketing, the pricing strategy, the negotiations, the paperwork, and the coordination yourself.

It’s no different than remodeling your own bathroom, building your own deck, or landscaping your own yard. You save money because you are replacing paid labor and experience with your own time, effort, and willingness to learn.

As an agent with 13 years in the business and hundreds of closings under my belt, let me tell you how I would personally approach selling a property as a For Sale By Owner.

Step 1: Start With Title

Before you worry about signs, photos, Zillow, or pricing, get in touch with a reputable title company.

And honestly? Don’t obsess over finding the absolute cheapest one. Title companies compete heavily for real estate business, so pricing between them is usually pretty similar. What you’re really looking for is a responsive, knowledgeable closer who is willing to answer questions and help guide the process.

A good title company can pull what’s called an O&E Report (Ownership and Encumbrance Report). This gives you a snapshot of the property’s legal status and usually includes:

• Current ownership information
• A copy of the deed
• Existing liens
• Judgments
• Easements
• HOA information
• Other items that could affect the sale

Starting here matters because it tells you exactly how the property needs to be sold. Are you selling as an individual? Joint tenants? Through an LLC? A trust? An estate? You want to know that upfront before you start accepting offers.

This initial conversation is also valuable because a good closer will usually know several competent real estate attorneys if you decide you want legal guidance during the process.

And to be clear: I am not an attorney, this is not legal advice, and I’m simply explaining how I would personally approach it.

Step 2: Use Standardized Contracts — Not Homemade Ones

If I were selling my own home without access to brokerage software, the first thing I would do is go directly to the Colorado DORA website and download the standard CREC real estate forms.

These are the same contracts and disclosures licensed agents in Colorado use every day. The biggest advantage is that they are standardized, widely recognized, and mostly structured as fill-in-the-blank documents.

Using state-approved forms helps everybody involved in the transaction:

• You
• The buyer
• The lender
• The title company
• Any attorneys involved

Everyone already understands these contracts because they are commonly used throughout the industry.

What I would not do is write some homemade legal agreement from scratch. And I definitely would not rely on a random AI-generated contract template off the internet and assume it covers everything properly.

Real estate contracts contain dozens of provisions that most people would never think about:

• inspection timelines
• appraisal objections
• title objections
• inclusions/exclusions
• deadlines
• earnest money handling
• default provisions
• post-closing occupancy
• disclosure obligations

The standard Colorado forms exist because all of those issues have come up before — many times.

If this is your first time selling a property, hiring a real estate attorney to review your paperwork is probably money well spent.

Step 3: Pricing Is Everything

There’s a meme that floats around the real estate industry every few months. It shows someone sitting at a computer with the caption:

“Time to price my FSBO.”

And underneath it says:

“But first…”

…followed by the person hitting a crack pipe.

It’s funny because pricing is where many FSBO sellers accidentally sabotage themselves.

In a fast-moving market you can sometimes get away with imperfect pricing. In a saturated or shifting market, pricing becomes absolutely critical.

Some homes are easy to value. If ten similar homes with the same floor plan sold in your subdivision over the last six months, you have solid data to work from.

But you have to stay objective.

Sentimental value is real — but it usually only matters to the person who owns the house.

The custom shiplap wall probably doesn’t add $10,000 in value.
Your indoor hot tub may actually shrink your buyer pool.
And in Colorado in 2026, most solar systems unfortunately add far less value than owners expect.

If I were selling FSBO, I would spend serious time studying the competition:

• Attend open houses nearby
• Tour similar homes
• Compare layouts, finishes, lot sizes, and condition
• Look at what buyers can realistically choose instead of your home

You need to think like a buyer, not like an owner.

Your price should come from honest, apples-to-apples comparisons — not optimism, emotion, or what you “need” to net from the sale.

And here’s the hard part: pricing real estate is both science and art.

Two homes with similar square footage in the same neighborhood can sell for dramatically different prices because of things buyers feel but struggle to articulate:

• awkward layouts
• lack of natural light
• low ceilings
• weird updates
• poor flow
• backing to traffic
• functional obsolescence

Meanwhile things like:

• air conditioning
• extra garage bays
• walk-out basements
• decks
• views
• lot usability
• renovation quality

…all influence value differently depending on the current market and buyer demand.

Pricing is not static. It changes with interest rates, inventory levels, consumer confidence, affordability, and overall economic conditions. That’s why getting it right upfront matters so much.

One concept that almost nobody outside the industry talks about is something called the “strike point.”

This is the price where the market actually engages with your property. It’s the number where buyers stop scrolling and start scheduling showings. And here’s the crazy part: missing that number by even 3–4% can dramatically reduce the number of offers you receive.

That sounds counterintuitive at first.

You would think a buyer looking at a house listed for $700,000 but believing it’s only worth $650,000 would simply write a lower offer and negotiate.

Most of the time, they don’t.

Why? A few reasons:

• Some people hate confrontation.
• Some don’t want to “insult” the seller.
• Some assume the seller is unrealistic and impossible to negotiate with.
• Some don’t want to waste time on a dead-end conversation.
• But most importantly: buyers usually have other options.

If your house feels overpriced compared to competing listings, many buyers simply move on to the next property that already feels more reasonably positioned.

That’s why pricing slightly high can actually hurt you far more than most sellers realize. You are not just negotiating from a higher starting point — you may be discouraging negotiations from happening at all.

And here’s another uncomfortable truth: the longer a property sits, the more buyers start wondering what’s wrong with it.

Fresh listings get excitement.
Stale listings get skepticism.

If you are uncertain about pricing, and if there is one professional service I would seriously consider paying for as a FSBO seller, it would probably be an appraisal.

Step 4 — The Appraisal

In the grand scheme of a real estate transaction, appraisals are relatively inexpensive. Usually we’re talking a few hundred dollars.

But the value they can provide can far exceed the cost.

A residential appraiser has likely evaluated thousands of homes over the course of their career. They’ve seen every imaginable combination of upgrades, layouts, additions, deferred maintenance, weird remodels, functional obsolescence, and unique features.

One major advantage of hiring an appraiser is accurate square footage measurement.

Most homeowners (and Realtors) rely on assessor records for square footage, but assessor data is not always correct. A licensed appraiser measures homes according to ANSI standards, and it is not uncommon for them to discover additional finished square footage that was never properly counted.

If an appraiser finds an extra 200–300 square feet in your house, that alone could potentially add far more value than the appraisal cost itself.

You can also often request a professional floor plan sketch from the appraiser, which can become a useful marketing tool for your listing photos and online advertising.

But perhaps the biggest advantage is this:

You now have an independent professional opinion of value before negotiations even begin.

That can become extremely helpful later if a buyer’s appraisal comes in low.

In many transactions, low appraisals create panic because neither side has supporting data ready to argue the case. But if you already have a recent appraisal from another licensed professional, the buyer’s lender and appraiser now have additional comparable sales and analysis to review.

Sometimes that additional data can help support a reconsideration of value.

Either way, spending a few hundred dollars upfront for clarity, pricing confidence, measurement accuracy, and potential negotiating leverage can be money very well spent.

Now, to be fair, not every property needs this.

If you bought a production-built home three years ago in a subdivision where the builder is still actively constructing the exact same floor plan, you can probably skip this step. Your square footage is likely already accurate, buyers can easily compare against builder inventory, and the market data is probably straightforward enough to support pricing without much difficulty.

Step 5 — Marketing

At this point your pricing is established, title work is underway, and your house is cleaned up and ready to go.

And yes, I intentionally keep saying house.

You are selling a house.
The buyer is trying to find a home.

That distinction matters more than people realize.

Now please, for the love of all things holy, do not walk around your house holding your cellphone vertically while taking dark blurry pictures like your favorite discount broker might.

Modern real estate marketing is visual marketing.

Professional photography is no longer optional. Spending a few hundred dollars on great photos can easily make you thousands — sometimes tens of thousands — of dollars in the final outcome.

Because here’s the truth:

Selling a house today is weirdly similar to online dating.

People are browsing listings while eating lunch at work, sitting in traffic, pretending to pay attention in meetings, or laying in bed at night scrolling through Zillow.

And if your listing is just:

• blurry photos
• bad lighting
• vertical images
• toilet seat up
• empty gray rooms
• crooked camera angles
• random closeups of faucets for some reason

…buyers are swiping straight past you.

You may only have a few seconds to create enough interest for someone to schedule a showing.

If the house is vacant, seriously consider staging. At bare minimum, look into virtual staging services like BoxBrownie.com.

Empty houses photograph terribly.

Humans emotionally connect to spaces when they can visualize life happening there. A vacant room with gray walls and no scale feels cold and forgettable online, even if it feels perfectly fine in person.

As an agent, I actually tell my buyers to intentionally look past bad marketing because most buyers simply cannot do it.

Some of the best deals we find are properties with terrible photos, weak descriptions, and poor presentation — not because the houses are bad, but because the marketing failed.

That’s an opportunity for buyers.
It’s a disaster for sellers.

Without MLS access, your goal becomes simple:
Get as many eyeballs on your listing as possible.

Zillow Is Your Best Friend

Zillow is by far the most visited real estate website in America.

And Zillow absolutely rewards listings with strong photography and engagement.

The reality is that every major real estate website wants buyers to stay on the platform longer because longer engagement means more ad revenue. Listings with better photos tend to perform better because people spend more time looking at them.

That means:

• more clicks
• more saves
• more shares
• more visibility

Good photos create momentum.

Don’t Ignore Facebook Marketplace

Is Facebook Marketplace annoying?

Absolutely.

Is it still full of real human beings actively looking at houses?

Also yes.

I would not skip it.

Yard Signs Still Matter

A visible yard sign with large readable contact information still works extremely well.

You would be shocked how many buyers:

• drive neighborhoods they like
• tell friends and family about nearby listings
• stumble across homes while already out looking

Real estate is still incredibly local.

Use Flyers and QR Codes

Put a flyer box on the sign if possible.

Your flyers should include:

• strong photos
• basic property info
• your contact info
• a QR code

That QR code should lead somewhere useful:

• the Zillow listing
• a simple landing page
• a Google Drive folder with disclosures
• a video walkthrough
• anything that helps buyers get more information quickly

Make it easy for people to stay engaged.

Tell the Neighborhood

One underrated strategy?

Print flyers and go knock 50 nearby doors.

Neighbors are nosy.
And I mean that lovingly.

People love knowing what’s happening nearby, and neighbors often know someone:

• wanting to move closer
• wanting to move into the neighborhood
• family members relocating nearby
• friends looking in the area

Neighborhood marketing works surprisingly well.

Open Houses: Go Bigger Than You Think

If you’re hosting an open house, commit to it properly.

Don’t put out one tiny red-and-white sign from Home Depot and hope for magic.

Put out fifteen of them.

Directional signage matters.

Every major intersection leading toward the property should have arrows pointing people in.

Then combine that with:

• Zillow open house scheduling
• Facebook posts
• local social media groups
• Instagram stories/reels
• boosted social media ads if you want extra reach

After running hundreds of open houses over the years, my traffic breakdown is usually something like:

• 70% Zillow / MLS / online search traffic
• 20% people who saw signs while driving
• 10% social media

The signs matter more than people think.

Now here’s the reality check:

By doing all of this, most regular buyers in the marketplace will probably see your property.

But the one audience you are still partially missing is buyer’s agents actively working with pre-qualified buyers through the MLS ecosystem.

That does matter.

Because many serious buyers never manually search Facebook Marketplace or random FSBO sites. They simply rely on listings their agent sends them directly from MLS feeds.

That doesn’t mean you can’t sell without MLS exposure.

It just means you should understand the tradeoff.

Also and this is a big one that agents get wrong all the time.  Your phone will ring.  You should answer it!

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Step 6 — Understanding How Buyers Actually Work

Here’s a reality that many FSBO sellers underestimate:

About 92% of buyers work with a real estate agent.

That means in most markets across the United States, the overwhelming majority of serious buyers are represented by someone whose job is to help guide them through the process.

Traditionally, buyer’s agents are compensated from the seller’s proceeds as part of the overall transaction. And yes — if you are selling FSBO, one of your primary goals is probably to save money by avoiding listing-side commission.

That makes perfect sense.

But once you understand that roughly 92% of your potential buyer pool is working with an agent who expects to be compensated somehow, you realistically have two choices:

Option 1:

Market only to the roughly 8% of buyers who are unrepresented and hope one of them buys your house.

Option 2:

Figure out a way to make buyer’s agents willing and motivated to show your property.

If I personally were selling my own home as a FSBO, I would absolutely budget something for buyer-agent compensation.

Do you have to?
No.

Is there some magical mandatory 3% standard?
No. There never really was.

But let me explain it another way.

Imagine I’m running Google ads for my business.

And Google tells me:
“Hey, similar ads in your market are averaging about $3 per click.”

Now imagine I respond with:
“Well I don’t feel like paying that. I’ll offer $1 instead.”

What usually happens?

I get fewer clicks.
Less traffic.
Less visibility.

Same basic concept here.

In normal markets — meaning basically every market outside of absolute chaos like 2020–2021 — buyers have options.

And most buyers perceive the services their agent provides as valuable.

A good buyer’s agent is often:

• helping match clients with lenders
• educating them on neighborhoods
• identifying pitfalls in certain properties
• coordinating inspections
• negotiating repairs
• managing timelines
• guiding the transaction from first showing to closing

And traditionally, buyers are not used to paying directly out-of-pocket for those services.

So if you want access to the largest possible buyer pool, it is probably wise to offer something reasonable to cooperating agents.

Notice I said reasonable.

It does not have to be 3%.
It does not have to match traditional commission structures.
It simply has to feel fair enough that agents are comfortable engaging with your listing.

Most agents genuinely want their clients to get the house they love. If your house is the right fit, many agents are not going to let a fraction of a percentage point kill the deal.

But if you offer something insultingly low, understand that you are creating friction before the showing even begins.

Agents are human beings. Many spend months — sometimes years — working with buyers before ever seeing a paycheck. If they feel like you are openly disrespecting their time and work, that attitude can absolutely influence enthusiasm toward your property.

You do not have to overpay.
You do not have to play by old-school commission models.
But you should probably avoid approaching it with hostility or extreme austerity.

Now, another important point:

If you are dealing with a represented buyer, remember that the buyer’s agent does not represent you.

The buyer.
The lender.
The title company.

None of those people are “your side.”

You are representing yourself.

That means nobody in the transaction has a fiduciary obligation to protect your interests except you — or an attorney you hire.

So if at any point you feel uncertain about contracts, deadlines, disclosures, inspection issues, appraisal disputes, or legal obligations, hiring a real estate attorney before signing anything is probably a very smart decision.

And finally, if you do decide to offer reasonable buyer-agent compensation, don’t keep it a secret.

Market it.

• Make flyers and drop them off at large brokerages.
• Post in local FSBO and real estate Facebook groups.
• Mention it when talking to agents at neighborhood open houses.
• Include it in your digital advertising where allowed.

Ironically, one advantage FSBO sellers currently have is that you can often openly advertise buyer-agent compensation in ways MLS participants now have restrictions around.

Use that to your advantage.

Step 7 — Showings

At some point, somehow, people are going to want to physically see the property before buying it.

Almost always.

This is one area where buyer’s agents make life significantly easier because they simply show up with their clients, unlock the door, and do their jobs.

If you are running a FSBO, your goal should be to make showings as easy and frictionless as possible.

A coded deadbolt, smart lock, or lockbox system is absolutely worth considering.

What you do not want to do is make buyers feel awkward or supervised.

Do not hover over them.
Do not follow them room to room.
Do not explain your backsplash installation process for 45 minutes while they’re trying to look around.

Buyers will rarely give honest feedback with the seller standing next to them, and most people feel extremely uncomfortable exploring a stranger’s house while that stranger is actively present.

If you want to be there for security reasons, that’s perfectly reasonable. Just handle it professionally.

Something simple like:

“Hey guys, nice to meet you. I’ve got another showing coming in about 45 minutes, so take your time but if you could wrap up before then I’d appreciate it.”

Then give them space.

You want buyers imagining themselves living there — not feeling like they are intruding in your life.

Safety Matters

Whether you are dealing with agents or direct buyers, be smart.

Get:

• full names
• phone numbers
• brokerage information if applicable

If an agent is scheduling a showing, verify they are actually licensed through your state licensing database. Here in Colorado that means checking through DORA.

With unrepresented buyers, use common sense.

As agents, many of us use tools like Forewarn to verify identities and screen phone numbers before meeting strangers at vacant properties.

And importantly:
finding something unusual does not mean discriminating against people or refusing service improperly.

It simply means adjusting how you handle the situation safely.

For example:

• meeting during daylight hours
• having another person present
• meeting in public first
• notifying someone where you are
• trusting your instincts if something feels off

You are opening your home to strangers. Take that seriously.

Guns, medicines, valuables and anything that you think can be pawned or ingested to get a rush need to be absent from the property or secured.  Pets ideally should be removed.  Literally herding run away cats is one of my least favorite parts of my job.

Showings Are a Symptom

One final thing:

Showings are usually the byproduct of proper pricing and proper marketing.

If your house is getting:

• lots of online views
• saves
• shares
• inquiries

…but no actual showings?

The market is probably rejecting either:

• the pricing
• the presentation
• or both

Because buyers vote with their feet.

And if nobody is walking through the door, the market is trying to tell you something.

Step 8 — Negotiating a Contract That Actually Closes

None of the work up to this point really matters if you can’t successfully navigate the contract itself.

And once again, if you have even the slightest uncertainty about what you are signing, what deadlines mean, or what obligations you are agreeing to, get an attorney involved before putting pen to paper.

A failed contract costs everyone time, money, momentum, and emotional energy.

In my opinion, the best negotiations usually start with good faith from both sides.

One of the worst realities in real estate is that deals often fall apart not because the problems were unsolvable, but because someone’s ego became more important than the outcome.

Agents do it.
Sellers do it.
Buyers do it.

Don’t let your ego cost you a successful sale.

Before you even begin negotiating, understand this:

The numbers are only part of the transaction.

Yes, price matters.
Yes, inspection items matter.
Yes, appraisal gaps and concessions matter.

But underneath all of that are actual human motivations.

You are selling for a reason that probably goes beyond pure dollars and cents.

And the buyers are not just “acquiring property.” They are trying to buy a home and build a future around it.

The more you understand about the buyer’s motivations early on, the smoother negotiations usually become.

For example:

• Have they already lost out on multiple homes?
• Are they relocating for work?
• Do they need possession quickly?
• Are they first-time buyers who are nervous about everything?
• Are they expecting a baby in three months?
• Are they incredibly financially conservative?
• Or did they cash out crypto they bought in 2014 and decide it’s finally time to ball out?

Knowing what matters to people helps you structure solutions that actually work.

Because once you go under contract, the transaction suddenly becomes very real for everyone involved.

You start thinking about:

• packing
• moving
• utilities
• repairs
• where you’re going next
• timing everything correctly

Meanwhile the buyer is:

• wiring earnest money
• watching money leave their bank account
• uploading endless lender documents
• paying for inspections
• paying for appraisals
• trying to keep their job and normal life functioning at the same time

Buying and selling real estate is stressful by nature.

Even calm, rational people can become anxious once large amounts of money and major life changes become emotionally real.

And people handle stress very differently.

Some people are logical and measured.
Some people are emotional and reactive.
Some people alternate between both every six hours.

Working with a buyer’s agent does not magically eliminate chaos or difficult personalities.

But when a good agent is involved, they often help filter the chaos into manageable conversations instead of letting emotions completely derail the transaction.

A skilled agent can turn:
“This deal is dead and everyone hates each other”
into:
“Alright, here are the actual issues we need to solve.”

That’s valuable.

Now notice I am intentionally not telling you how to negotiate specific terms.

I’m not your agent.
Every deal is different.
Every market is different.
Every buyer and seller has different priorities.

But philosophically, I tend to agree with ideas from Ray Dalio’s book Principles.

The best outcomes usually happen when people enter negotiations with:

• a clear conscience
• an open mind
• realistic expectations
• and a willingness to solve problems instead of “winning”

You are not going to war.

At least you shouldn’t be.

You and the buyer are trying to solve a puzzle together:
How do we successfully transfer this property from one party to another in a way that works for everyone involved?

And if there’s a good agent somewhere in the middle helping organize the pieces, even better.

Step 9 — Managing the Thirsty Realtors

Let me pull the curtain back a little bit here.

I was a new agent once too.

I sat through the corporate trainings.
I heard the scripts.
I watched the role playing.

And a lot of the messaging toward FSBO sellers was basically the same:

“Call FSBOs.”
“Get in the door.”
“Overcome objections.”
“Create urgency.”
“Make them realize how hard this is.”

Some agents are taught to:

• claim they “have buyers”
• ask to preview the property
• show up with giant packets explaining “everything Realtors do”
• overwhelm sellers with paperwork
• scare them with lawsuit statistics
• present the process as impossibly complex and dangerous

The goal is often simple:
Convince you that selling on your own is too overwhelming to continue.

Now to be fair, real estate can absolutely become complicated. There are legitimate legal, contractual, and financial risks involved.

But there is also a massive difference between:
“Here are the real risks you should understand”
and
“You are incapable of handling this without me.”

Those are not the same thing.

Here’s another piece of data that matters:

A huge percentage of licensed agents sell very few homes.

In fact, recent national data showed that roughly 71% of agents sold nothing last year. (2025)

That means simply having a real estate license does not automatically make someone competent, experienced, organized, ethical, or valuable.

If you are:

• detail oriented
• emotionally stable
• willing to learn
• capable of communicating professionally
• and able to dedicate real time and energy to the process

…you will probably outperform a bad agent.

That’s just reality.

Now with that said, expect your phone to ring.

A lot.

Many agents will contact you using the exact same recycled scripts and sales tactics you’ve heard a thousand times before:

• “Are you cooperating with agents?”
• “What’s your motivation?”
• “When are you planning to interview agents?”
• “I have buyers.”
• “Did you know most FSBOs eventually list with an agent?”

Some will be pushy.
Some will be awkward.
Some will be genuinely helpful.
Some will sound like they escaped from a timeshare sales conference.

Learn to filter accordingly.

Now interestingly, there is one category of agents I actually would pay attention to:

The agents offering to host an open house for you without immediately demanding the listing.

Talk to those people.

Hear them out.

Maybe even let them do it if it feels right.

Because agents looking to host open houses are often playing a much bigger long-term game than simply trying to “steal” your listing.

Maybe:

• they are farming your neighborhood
• they want visibility in that subdivision
• they already have buyers nearby
• all their own listings are under contract
• they genuinely think your property will generate traffic
• they are newer agents trying to build momentum
• or they simply enjoy working opens

Whatever the reason, there’s a meaningful difference between:
“Here’s something of value I can offer you”
and
“Here’s why you should panic and hire me immediately.”

Pay attention to that difference.

If someone approaches you professionally, respectfully, and with a collaborative attitude, there is no harm in having a conversation.

Some agents are absolutely worth their weight in gold.
Some are not.

Your job as a FSBO seller is not to blindly trust or blindly reject agents.

Your job is to evaluate people honestly and determine whether they are bringing actual value to the table.

Step 10 — The Closing

Assuming everything went reasonably according to plan, this is the payoff.

You successfully navigated:

• pricing
• marketing
• negotiations
• inspections
• paperwork
• deadlines
• stress
• and whatever random chaos the universe decided to throw at your transaction

And now you get rewarded for doing it yourself.

Not only do you get the satisfaction of seeing the process through from start to finish, but you also likely saved a meaningful amount of money along the way.

And with today’s home prices, that “little bit extra” might honestly pay for a pretty fantastic vacation.

Now before you ride off into the sunset, there are a few important things to keep in mind going into closing.

Inspection Items Don’t Disappear at Closing

If you agreed to complete repairs or inspection-related items, those obligations survive closing unless otherwise agreed in writing.

In other words:
if you promised to do it, you still need to do it.

And sometimes timing becomes a major issue.

For example, here in Colorado, it is not uncommon for someone to be completely packed up and ready to move… only to have a hailstorm destroy the roof two days before closing.

Now suddenly:

• insurance claims are involved
• lenders are nervous
• buyers are nervous
• contractors are delayed
• closing dates start moving around

Big repair items like roofs, sewer lines, foundation issues, or insurance problems can absolutely derail a transaction at the last minute.

Understand that chaos happens.
Build extra time into your plans whenever possible.
Have contingency plans for moving, temporary housing, pets, storage, and scheduling surprises.

Be Extremely Careful About Wire Fraud

Wire fraud is real, and scammers specifically target real estate transactions because large amounts of money are moving around quickly.

Your title company will discuss this with you extensively, but here’s the short version:

Be paranoid in a healthy way.

A very common scam involves hackers gaining access to someone’s email account and then creating a nearly identical email address to send fraudulent wire instructions right before closing.

People have lost life-changing amounts of money this way.

My personal recommendation?

Whenever possible, fill out wiring instructions directly at the closing table with your closer.  Simple.

Do not trust last-minute emailed wiring changes.
Do not rush.
Verify everything.

Slow is smooth.
Smooth is safe.

Leave the House Clean

Seriously.

Do not leave the buyer:

• mystery smells
• piles of junk
• old paint cans
• broken furniture
• ten gallons of chemicals
• random garage disasters
• or a crawlspace full of forgotten chaos

Moving is already stressful enough.

Leave the property the way you would want to receive it.

Help the Buyer Transition Smoothly

A few small things go a long way:

• Label keys clearly
• Leave garage remotes organized
• Explain utility providers
• Tell them how mail delivery works
• Leave appliance manuals if you still have them
• Explain weird quirks about the house that only an owner would know

These little gestures cost nothing and make the handoff feel much more human.

Go Get Your Stuff

Before closing:

• empty the crawlspace
• check attic shelves
• clean out the garage rafters
• grab the extra tile in the basement
• pull the holiday decorations out from under the stairs

And maybe most importantly:
transfer your kids’ height markings off the door jamb before the house photos permanently immortalize them for Zillow history.

Congratulations

Seriously.

Most people never attempt this process on their own.

If you made it this far and successfully closed your transaction, you probably learned more about real estate than many people ever will.

Now go celebrate.

And then go talk to a CPA.