Most for-sale-by-owners spend far more time sprucing up the house than they do gathering information about it. But if your goal is to be a successful, not perennial seller, putting together facts and figures on the house is vital. Before the house hits the market, it’s imperative to do the “due diligence” fact finding for several reasons. First, interested prospects will ask for particulars when initially viewing the house. Second, incomplete and/or erroneous information bears the highest liability for you as the seller and could cause a sale to fall, or worse yet, a lawsuit from the buyer.

While more information is better than less, the following is an overview of the minimum amount of information you’ll need:

1. Obtain the legal description and property tax information ideally from the courthouse or a title company since the information on your property tax assessment notice could be incorrect;

2. Measure the square footage of the house. This means livable space, not an attic too short to stand up in;

3. Complete a property fact and amenities sheet. While you can obtain a sample from most stationery stores, a better bet would be the listing form used by the real estate agents in your area;

4. Obtain a property disclosure form. In the more than thirty states that require this disclosure, the for-sale-by-owner is not exempt from completing this form and presenting it to buyers. You can obtain a form from a real state licensee or from the Real Estate Commission/Division office in your state;

5. Obtain mortgage pay-off information from the lender. A toll-free number is often found on your payment coupon. The lender may charge $15-$20 to obtain this information.

6. Check public records to determine if any liens (i.e. federal income tax, etc.) or other legal actions are posted against the property. A surprise here could prevent you from selling the property.

7. Information about your current homeowner’s insurance (premium paid, exceptions to coverage, etc.) This is especially important if real estate in an area is tough to insure (as in Florida and California). Or perhaps the individual house is a potentially higher insurance risk since a buyer may be able to obtain insurance coverage quicker and at cost savings if they use your current carrier.

These items are in addition to preparing a comparative market analysis (CMA) to determine the market value of the property.

A median amount of time for completing this preliminary phase is between twelve and fifteen hours. Think of it as taking on a part-time job for a period of time, which is the primary reason many people list their home with a real estate agent. If you can’t spare the time to gather information thoroughly up front, it may indicate that you need the help of a full-service real estate agent or should hire a real estate consultant to assist you on an a la carte basis for the services you need.

Gathering the facts you need can make a difference in the quality of buyer you attract, how quickly the sale closes as well as what you’ll net in the sale. The term “information is power” can make the difference between getting what you want and taking what you’ll get as a seller.

Published: August 4, 2000

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Julie Garton-Good, DREI “The Frugal HomeOwner™” As a syndicated newspaper columnist, author and international speaker, Julie Garton-Good DREI, C-CREC™, is called “America’s Home Affordability Expert”, addressing more than 25,000 persons annually on topics of real estate industry trends and home affordability. She is the author of five real estate books and is the sole two-time recipient of the international "Real Estate Educator of the Year" award from the Real Estate Educators Association. In 1997, The National Association of Realtors® nominated Julie as one of the fifty most influential people in the real estate industry. She shared the list with only three other women.