For Sale by Owner, Parts 7 and 8

7. The Urgency of the Situation. When the time in which a home must be sold is limited, it is very unwise for an owner to take any of that time to try and sell their home themselves. When they fail, which is often the case, a broker finally selected often times does not have enough time to market the home properly to get it sold (depending on the market) before the owner moves out to leave the home vacant. A vacant home, even when redecorated, usually is more difficult to sell than one being lived in.

8. Problems with Financing. Even though a buyer secures their own financing for the purchase of a home, many homeowners when presented with an offer, do not know what a good loan to value ratio is, nor do they recognize poor earnest money offers, or unacceptably low down payments. Often a home sale is lost due to poor financing in which the seller has unwittingly accepted.