As most of you know, and from the title of my blog, I am an advocate of the “for sale by owner” model. I have had much success with the company Buy Owner who operates the web site buyowner.com. Recently I have been inundated with emails telling me that “my favorite FSBO is out of business.” Most of these emails are from real estate agents who forget I can Google their name and find out who they are. So it was time to get some answers.
The Daily Business Review posted an article indicating that Buy Owner’s assets had been turned over to Michael Moecker and Associates for liquidation. But, it also said that they were an Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors, also known as ABC. This is an alternative to bankruptcy. Now granted that Michael Moecker and Associates is known for liquidations, it seems they don’t plan on liquidating Buy Owner. How do I know this? Because the company is still running. You don’t run a company to liquidate it, you just liquidate it.
It seems that Buy Owner is still alive, although like most real estate companies in this market, they are struggling. But this is the time to thrive. Investors and flippers want to make as much money as they can, that makes FSBO the best possible was to sell a property.
Oh, and to all those people sending nasty emails to me, here’s more news. ForSaleByOwner.com IS part of the Tribune bankruptcy. Apparently it is going to be split off to some smaller entity. ByOwner.com is on auction. That’s right. The owner is auctioning off his assets but shows no financial statement indicating how much income the assets generate. To me, that seems a bit shaky.
I have to give Michael Mocker and Associates credit for seeing an opportunity here with Buy Owner. While the other two major FSBO’s are either in bankruptcy or bailing out in fear, they have decided to put time, effort, and money into keeping the last standing FSBO around. If I were in a position to do so, I would swoop in and scoop up all three companies and corner the entire FSBO market. But that’s just me.
My favorite blog to keep up with, the Buy Owner Blog, added a new category of blogs. If you are selling your home and moving to a new city, or you are searching for a city to relocate to, this category is for you. If you are looking for a place to vacation, this category is also for you.
It’s called Featured City and is located under the Buying Tips tab. Each blog focuses on a different city that Buy Owner works in or around. The blog provides helpful information on the city, from population and weather conditions, to local attractions and the distance to surrounding cities. If you’re interested in the city once you learn more about it, the blog lists houses, condos, apartments or the like that are for sale in that city. Click on the link and read more about each available residence. It’s as simple as ever!
Cities that the Buy Owner Blog has covered thus far include Aurora, IL, Lakeland, FL, Marietta, GA., Hialeah, FL and more. Check back often, as a new featured city seems to be added every week or so.
It’s no secret that I am a Buy Owner fan. It is the company that helped me through my FSBO transactions and it is the company I recommend to friends and blog readers.
I keep up with their blog, and during the month of January, that was especially helpful. I e-mailed several posts to my friends who are ready to sell, but I forgot to mention it here. Essentially, the entire month was a 31-day series on why to sell with Buy Owner.
Definitely check it out. Even if you’re not sure you want to sell FSBO, if you’re about to sell your house or you’ve had no luck selling it thus far, there is no harm in reading the 31 reasons why selling with Buy Owner is a smart choice. Because I sold a house using Buy Owner, I can acknowledge that what they say is true. You don’t pay anyone commissions, so it’s more money for you. People can find all the information on your house without leaving the comfort of their house, on the Internet. There are also new features of Buy Owner, like seeing what houses other people are viewing right at this moment, and the extra advertising on social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook.
Reading these 31 reasons to sell with Buy Owner will explain better than I ever could on why selling FSBO is the way to go. It also explains how Buy Owner stands out from other FSBO companies, so that when I continue to mention this company in the future, you will understand why.
Have you always dreamed about living in a trendy industrial loft? What if you could do that without moving to a big city, without giving up a backyard and without paying a hefty price for your pad? I’m here to show you how to get the look of a loft without making a big move, sacrificing space or spending too much money.
First, consider the location…within your home. If you don’t have an open floor plan, a loft-like living room might look a little awkward next to your country kitchen. Also, at the risk of redoing your entire home, rather than just one room, you may want to choose an unused space like the basement, the attic or the bonus room over the garage. These spaces typically don’t fit with the rest of the house and take on a personality of their own when finished and decorated. By choosing to redecorate one of these low-traffic spaces, you can still pursue your dream while having a functional home that meets your needs and possibly the needs of a new owner should you ever sell the property.
Now, on to the construction…
- Exposed Brick: If you know that brick exists behind the plaster in your finished basement, you need to consider the condition of the bricks and the absence of insulation before you knock down any walls. Cut a small hole in the wall first to test the waters. If you need to install brick, you can do so easily by applying veneers. The process of creating a brick face is similar to that of adhering a backsplash onto the wall of your kitchen.
- Exposed Ductwork: You would most likely deal with exposed ductwork in an unfinished basement. So if your basement is not finished, you may already have a loft-like ceiling! If your home boasts a finished basement with a tile ceiling, you can easily lift up one of the tiles to see the condition of the ductwork. Consult a professional contractor before you knock down a drywalled ceiling.
- Flooring: Hardwood floors are typical of lofts. Feel free to choose any type of wood you want. However, if you want to keep costs low, a Pergo or laminate faux wood floor is the best option. You can always add area rugs for added flair and comfort.
- Painting: Where is your “loft?” And what kind of look do you want? If you constructed this industrial space in an unfinished basement, inexpensive spray paint allow you to create your own custom designs and replicate an urban graffiti style. If you’re working with a finished basement or attic space, paint the drywall yourself. Neutral hues like black, brown, tan and gray are good base tones. A colored accent wall is common in many lofts and may make a smaller room appear larger.
- Artwork: A typical urban loft shows somewhat like a gallery. However, you don’t need to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on an original Monet or DaVinci. Create your own unique works of art by framing personal photos, magazine clippings or travel calendar pictures. You could also use patterned wallpaper.
- Mix & Match Design: Today’s “modern” décor is all about mixing new pieces with old. This look is easily achievable by purchasing a new expensive piece and complementing it with vintage pieces from yard sales or thrift stores. You can also separate your large space into smaller areas using multi-functional dividers like a long dresser, a trunk, lockers, or an island, depending on the look you’re going for and what is available to you.
Social networking isn’t just for job seekers and business marketers anymore! Use these available tools to your full advantage when selling your home. As a home seller, the rules for you are much like the rules being offered to job seekers. You are both trying to obtain a goal as the underdog, because there is an overload of you and less of what you are trying to obtain. You have to work extra hard to find those homebuyers and to spark their interest in you and your home!
How do you stand out from the overcrowded market of home sellers? You could aim for the easy route, which is to use Buy Owner. By advertising with them, you let them do all the work for you. They take professional photographs of your house that show off its best features, they write professional content to correspond with the photographs, they publish the advertisement on their website, they use social networking websites to increase the number of people that view your advertisement, they advertise in your yard with a number for passersby to call and obtain all of the information; they do so much more than one person could do on his or her own! How do I know this? I used them. It was the best decision I ever made.
How can you market yourself? You could do your own part by actively using social networking websites. Create an account on Twitter or Facebook, which I use as well, and let the world know that you are selling a house, the highlights of the house, the location of the house, etc. With or without a computer, you could also create advertisements to place around town on public bulletin boards. You could also place ads or open house schedules in the local newspapers. And the word of mouth never fails. Spread the word to your family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, everyone! You never know who they might know, who might be looking for a house.
Using these contemporary tools is an ideal way to stand out from the crowd of home sellers and to sell your home as quickly as possible!
When it comes to buying and selling FSBO, there are no limits to types of homes offered. If you do a quick search on any site to see what’s available for sale by owner, you won’t only find single-family homes and apartments. Many of the options present an investment opportunity, with the possibility of building houses or an apartment complex on vacant land, or living on a property that also contains a separate house, a guest house, a manufactured house or a vacant lot.
Doing a quick search on the site I find most credible, Buy Owner, I found all sorts of investment opportunities for anyone interested in real estate revenue. With Buy Owner, it’s so simple, because if you choose to do an advanced search, you have the option of choosing business property, vacant land, commercial property and others.
One option I found included a duplex that is available to own and currently contains renters. That’s immediate income for whoever purchases it! I also found a two-flat that had one renter and a bar in the bottom, which would obviously provide immediate income. Lots of vacant land was available, with permits already allowing construction. I found a few lots that included an extra lot next door, and one property included three gorgeous homes that could all be rented!
The best part of it is that even if you don’t realize there’s an investment opportunity available with a purchase, the writing description will usually point that out for you. Why not at least consider the possibility of making an income with your real estate purchase?
Maybe you’ve heard? The real estate world has been a buzz lately, discussing a CNN Money article entitled, “Farewell to ‘for sale by owner’?”
The specific article, four short paragraphs in length, tells the story of the entrepeneur behind FSBOWebsite.com. He’s sold about 50 sites, the article says, but now his volume seems to be dwindling. Where he’d get one call a day before, he gets one call a week now.
I’m no mathmetician, but do those numbers seem to indicate something about FSBO real estate or about the real estate world at large? I mean, the guy has sold 50 sites. 50. As in, half of 100. This is hardly a major player in the FSBO marketing realm.
And where were the figures from sites like BuyOwner.com or FSBO.com or Fizber.com? Why were those sites lumped in to the realm of companies that may have to bid farewell, based on one small, struggling little company of 50 sites?
To be fair, the article also sites Sean Murray, of Real Trends, a market research firm in Colorado, who predicts percentage of FSBO sales may slip to a smaller slice of the greater market. But you know, he also says the market will bounce back, which doesn’t sound like a farewell to me.
CNN Money: Disappointing, to say the least.
After calling Buy Owner and having a Buy Owner marketing professional work with me to develop an advertising plan that I was happy with, my ad went live almost immediately. My rep sent some information into the office, and the written description went online within a few hours. Then they scheduled my photographer to come out and shoot pictures and virtual tours.
I’d say within the first week, I received the first call from an interested buyer, but this was in a very different market. To be honest, that first property, I sold within a month of buying my BuyOwner.com ad. The buyer found the ad online at BuyOwner.com, liked what she saw and called me. She came out to see it, made me an offer, and things just were that simple!
Over the intervening years, I’ve sold and bought a few other properties, which weren’t always as fast and easy. I currently have a home listed that’s been advertised for six months. I know that when the right buyer comes along, I’ll be ready: I have my home showcased with incredible photos and text, 360 degree virtual tours and lists of schools and nearby attractions. The interior is in showcase shape, everything looks gorgeous.
Thing is, it’s a tough market! Now, it makes sense to cut costs everywhere you can. That’s why I use BuyOwner.com!
As part two in my series on using BuyOwner.com, I’m going to tell you about the in-house meeting with a Buy Owner marketing professional. After I’d called the 1-800 number and scheduled an appointment, my sales rep came out to my home on a weekday afternoon. (He’s the same rep I ended up using each time in Illinois because I liked him, and I worked with another rep in Florida.)
For the sake of explanation, I’ll just relay the first meeting I had with my rep. He brought in a variety of materials to show me how the BuyOwner.com advertising works. We went online together, and he showed me the different sizes of ads, the professional photography and how the listings are placed in search results. He explained that I would be paying for advertising with Buy Owner, not an agent. When I found a buyer, there would be no commissions owed. All his statistics and figures had me sold immediately. As a former real estate professional, I was only too aware of how much money I’d be saving.
Essentially, everything I wanted was up to me. I chose one of the nicest ad packages, so that my property would show up first when people searched for my city and so that I’d get a lot of photos and virtual tours.
When I tell people about my experiences with BuyOwner.com, which I usually do whenever the topics of real estate or investing or buying/selling houses come up, they often ask me one thing: Jane, they say to me, how does Buy Owner work?
In an effort to answer that question here, I’m going to present a series of posts, each one explaining how BuyOwner.com helped me buy and sell properties. Think of it as a step-by-step guide to selling your home on your own.
Today, part one: Calling Buy Owner.
Using Buy Owner begins with a simple phone call to 1-800-771-7777. I guess you could also say using Buy Owner begins with a visit to their Web site: http://www.buyowner.com, as that will answer some preliminary questions you may have and will also provide links to testimonials of previous customers (you won’t see me in the videos, but I wouldn’t mind being interviewed, if you’re listening, Buy Owner!). At the site, you can also watch an info video that explains things.
So what can you expect when you call Buy Owner?
The person I spoke with was very friendly and easy to talk with. She asked me for some information about the property I wanted to sell: where it was, why I was selling, etc. Just got some background information basically. Then, working with my schedule, she set up an appointment for a Buy Owner sales rep to come to my house.
More to come in Part Two: The In-House Meeting.
