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Florida has long been an attractive destination for retirees and out-of-state transplants, thanks to its beaches, warm weather and relatively affordable cost of living. But as mortgage rates continue to rise, the state’s housing market has started to slow.
The most recent data from Florida Realtors reveals that the median home sale price in the state in April remained flat year-over-year at $410,000. However, homes are taking much longer to sell, spending a median of 31 days on the market before contract — a huge increase from just 8 days in April 2022.
These trends may seem concerning to homeowners thinking of selling in the Sunshine State. To maximize your investment while prices are stagnating, you might consider foregoing a real estate agent in favor of a for sale by owner or FSBO sale. Here’s what you need to know about how to sell a house by owner in Florida.
It’s certainly possible to sell your house without a Realtor, in Florida or anywhere, but there are major drawbacks as well.
No matter where in Florida you live, there are some important steps you’ll need to take before your home is ready to list.
You might already have an idea of how much your home is worth, but you should still do some research before setting a sale price. After all, if you price your house too high, it could deter some buyers immediately. But you don’t want to go too low and potentially lose money, either.
So, how do you price your house appropriately? First, look at real estate comps in your area. This means searching for recently sold houses in your neighborhood that are similar to yours (think square footage, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, amenities) to see how much they sold for. This exercise will give you some insight into how properties like yours are performing in your local market.
For the most accurate understanding of what your house is worth, schedule a home appraisal. A professional appraiser will both review comps and perform a walk-through of your property, giving you an independent assessment of its value. According to HomeAdvisor, a home appraisal in Florida typically runs from $325 to $425.
To get the word out about your house, you’ll have to put some effort into marketing. Get started by adding your property to the multiple listing service (MLS) in your area, which is a database that real estate agents use to list and view available properties. You’ll need those professional photos you took for the listing, and without an agent, you may need to hire a company to list the home on your behalf — many will do it for a one-time flat fee, search online for options in your area.
You’ll also want to add a yard sign to let locals know that your home is on the market. On it, mention that the property is FSBO and include your phone number. Promote the sale on every social media outlet you can — look at other local listings to get an idea of how the posts should look, and what hashtags you may want to use. Look into placement on local websites, Facebook groups and even bulletin boards at area coffee shops. And schedule at least one open house, ideally on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It’s a good idea to have printed flyers with the highlights of your home (including a photo, the address and your contact information) so visitors can review them and reach out later if they’re interested.
Remember that Fair Housing laws apply to all home sales, whether you’re using a Realtor or not. This means, in short, that you can’t discriminate against a prospective buyer due to their race, religion, disability or other protected class characteristics.
The financial and legal end of things is probably the trickiest part to manage without a Realtor. When a buyer submits an offer, you need to know that they have the financial means to back it up. To do this, ask them for a mortgage preapproval letter. This document shows that a mortgage lender has looked at their financials and is very likely to approve them for a loan of a particular amount. It’s not the same as final approval, but it gives you some assurance that the buyer is qualified.
While the state of Florida does not require you to hire a real estate attorney to sell your home, it often makes sense to hire one — especially if you’re selling without an agent. Real estate contracts are complicated, and you want to be completely sure that you’re both following the law and looking after your best interests.
Whether you work with an attorney or not, there’s plenty of paperwork involved with selling a home FSBO. Be ready to pull together a lot of documents for closing, which can include:
Is selling your Florida house without a Realtor the right decision for you? If you find the sheer amount of work involved overwhelming, it’s not too late to call in a pro. Florida real estate agents are licensed professionals and experts in their local markets. Working with an agent can ease much of the stress that comes with selling your home, save you time and hassle — and potentially help you earn more money from your sale.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories, except where prohibited by law for our mortgage, home equity and other home lending products. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
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