Real Estate Sales by Owners

Last summer my husband and I sold our house and it was a good experience. We used only a good escrow company and some standard sales-agreement forms available at any good stationery store. We did not have an attorney or a mortgage broker. We had no trouble deciding on the terms with our buyers. The escrow company told us the terms we needed to negotiate and from there it was easy.

Flyers advertising the house were relatively inexpensive and the printer helped us with the format. Advertising the house in the newspaper was also easy, and we had a good response.

Certainly we spent quite some time fixing up our house. We also spent a weekend hosting an open house, which was no different than having a realtor host it. Either way you do not have the use of your house.

We had more trouble buying our next house. There were so many agents involved we never spoke directly to our sellers, and that created an atmosphere of anxiety and suspicion.

Your article mentioned a time investment of 40 to 50 hours to sell a house and an average savings of about $10,000. I cannot make $10,000 in 40 hours at a job, and I doubt there are many who can. Selling one’s own home sounds like a bargain to me.

KAREN D. HAMSTROM

Torrance