Selling a home without a real estate agent can be a reasonable choice in the right circumstances.
Some homeowners already have a potential buyer. Others are comfortable marketing the property, arranging showings, and negotiating directly. Some simply want to reduce the commissions and other costs associated with a traditional listing.
These can all be legitimate reasons to consider a for-sale-by-owner, or FSBO, transaction.
However, removing the listing agent does not remove the work involved in selling a home. It changes who is responsible for performing that work.
Before deciding to sell without a realtor, homeowners should understand the responsibilities they
Continue Reading Selling Without a Realtor Does Not Mean Selling Without a Process
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FSBO Sellers: The Buyer’s Attorney Is Not There to Protect You
When selling a home privately, one of the most common mistakes a seller can make is assuming that they are protected because “there is already an attorney involved.”
That sounds reassuring.
It should not be.
If the attorney represents the buyer, then the attorney’s job is to protect the buyer. Not the seller.
This does not mean the buyer’s attorney is doing anything wrong. Quite the opposite. A good buyer’s attorney should be looking out for the buyer’s interests. That is the purpose of representation.
But sellers, especially FSBO sellers, need to understand the difference between an attorney being involved
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FSBO Sellers: Don’t Argue About the Buyer’s Broker Fee. Do the Math.
A seller recently came to me with a concern I expect to hear more often:
“I don’t want to pay the buyer’s broker.”
That reaction makes sense.
If you are selling your home FSBO or through a private sale, one of the main reasons is usually to control costs. You may not want to pay a listing broker. You may not want to pay a buyer’s broker. You may feel like the whole point of selling privately is to avoid giving away part of the deal in commission.
Fair enough.
But sellers need to be careful. A request for buyer-broker
Continue Reading FSBO Sellers: Don’t Argue About the Buyer’s Broker Fee. Do the Math.
FSBO Sellers: Who Wrote the Contract Matters
Selling your home without a realtor can feel empowering. You find the buyer. You agree on a price. Everyone seems ready to move forward.
Then someone sends over a contract.
That is the moment many FSBO sellers move too quickly.
In a private sale, the buyer, the buyer’s agent, or the buyer’s attorney may provide the purchase contract. That does not automatically mean the contract is unfair. But it does mean the seller should stop and ask a basic question:
Does this contract protect me, or does it mostly protect the buyer?
The contract is not just paperwork. It is
Continue Reading FSBO Sellers: Who Wrote the Contract Matters
5 Mistakes FSBO Sellers Make Before They Even List
Many homeowners choose to sell their property without hiring a realtor. Sometimes they already have a buyer in mind. Sometimes they want to avoid paying a commission. Sometimes they simply believe they can handle the process themselves.
Selling a home without a realtor can be successful, but many For Sale By Owner (FSBO) transactions encounter problems before the property is ever listed.
Here are five common mistakes that can create unnecessary headaches later in the transaction.
1. Pricing the Property Based Solely on Zillow
Online valuation tools can provide a useful starting point, but they are not appraisals.
Automated valuation
Continue Reading 5 Mistakes FSBO Sellers Make Before They Even List
The Cheapest Closing Lawyer Will Cost You More Later
When buying or selling a home, it is natural to look for ways to save money.
Real estate transactions are expensive. There are inspection costs, lender fees, appraisal fees, title charges, moving expenses, commissions, taxes, and closing costs. By the time someone gets to the attorney fee, it can feel like just another line item.
So some buyers and sellers choose their closing attorney based almost entirely on price.
That is understandable.
It can also be a mistake.
The cheapest closing lawyer may save you money upfront. But if the legal work is rushed, incomplete, or too high-volume, the problems
Continue Reading The Cheapest Closing Lawyer Will Cost You More Later
Your Realtor’s Lawyer May Be Convenient. But Are They Independent?
When buying or selling a home in the Chicago area, it is very common for a realtor to recommend a real estate attorney.
That recommendation may be helpful. Many realtors work with experienced attorneys and know who can keep a transaction organized. A referral can save time, reduce confusion, and give a buyer or seller a place to start.
But it should not be an automatic decision.
Your real estate attorney should be chosen because they are the right fit for you, not simply because their name was handed to you during the transaction.
A Realtor Recommendation Can Be Helpful
Continue Reading Your Realtor’s Lawyer May Be Convenient. But Are They Independent?
Why Closing Dates Get Postponed in Chicagoland Real Estate Sales
A closing date feels final when it is written into the real estate contract.
Unfortunately, anyone who has been through enough Chicagoland closings knows the truth: the closing date is often more like a target than a guarantee.
Most buyers and sellers assume that once the contract is signed, everyone simply works toward the closing date and the deal closes on time. Sometimes that happens. But in many residential real estate transactions, the closing date gets pushed back because one piece of the process is not ready.
That does not always mean the deal is falling apart. But it does
Continue Reading Why Closing Dates Get Postponed in Chicagoland Real Estate Sales
FSBO Sellers: Finding a Buyer Is Not the Finish Line
FSBO Sellers: Finding a Buyer Is Not the Finish Line
For many FSBO sellers, the biggest concern is simple: finding a buyer.
That makes sense. If you are selling without a listing agent, you are likely thinking about pricing, photos, showings, online exposure, buyer interest, and whether someone will actually make an offer.
But once a buyer appears, many sellers make a dangerous assumption.
They assume the hard part is over.
In reality, finding the buyer is only the first major step. The transaction still has to make it from contract to closing. That is where many FSBO sellers run
Continue Reading FSBO Sellers: Finding a Buyer Is Not the Finish Line
FSBO Sellers: The Hard Part Starts After You Find the Buyer
Many homeowners who sell by owner focus on one major goal: finding a buyer.
That is understandable. Without a listing agent, the seller may be handling pricing, photos, showings, buyer questions, and negotiations on their own. Getting someone interested in the property can feel like the biggest hurdle.
But in many real estate transactions, the hard part starts after the buyer says yes.
Finding a buyer is important. Getting the transaction to closing is a different challenge.
A Buyer Is Only the Beginning
Once a seller has an interested buyer, the transaction moves into a more detailed phase. The parties
Continue Reading FSBO Sellers: The Hard Part Starts After You Find the Buyer
What Sellers Should Know About Buyer Inspection Requests
Why Buyers Ask for Concessions After the Inspection
Selling a home in Chicagoland can feel like you cleared the hard part once you accept an offer. The buyer liked the home, the price was negotiated, the contract was signed, and everyone is moving toward closing.
Then comes the inspection.
For many sellers, the inspection period is where the deal suddenly starts to feel less certain. The buyer may ask for repairs, credits, a price reduction, or some combination of all three. Sometimes the request is reasonable. Sometimes it feels like the buyer is trying to renegotiate the entire deal after
Selling a home in Chicagoland can feel like you cleared the hard part once you accept an offer. The buyer liked the home, the price was negotiated, the contract was signed, and everyone is moving toward closing.
Then comes the inspection.
For many sellers, the inspection period is where the deal suddenly starts to feel less certain. The buyer may ask for repairs, credits, a price reduction, or some combination of all three. Sometimes the request is reasonable. Sometimes it feels like the buyer is trying to renegotiate the entire deal after
Continue Reading What Sellers Should Know About Buyer Inspection Requests
Cook County Commercial Property Owners: Don’t Wait for the Tax Bill to Think About Appeals
1. Introduction
Commercial property owners often focus on property taxes when the bill arrives. That is understandable, but it may be too late. In Cook County, the appeal process is tied to assessment notices, township filing windows, and Board of Review deadlines, not just the final tax bill.
2. The Tax Bill Is Not the Starting Point
The bill tells you what you owe. The assessment process helps determine how the taxable value was set. If the assessment is too high, the owner needs to act during the appropriate appeal window.
3. Commercial Appeals Require More Than Complaining About Taxes
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Cook County Condo Assessment Appeals: Should Your Condo Board File as a Group?
When Cook County reassesses a condominium building, individual unit owners often focus only on their own assessment notice.
That is understandable. But it may be too narrow.
For many condominium buildings, the better question is whether the condo board should review the assessments across the entire building and consider a group appeal.
Why Condo Buildings Are Different
Condominiums are often easier to compare than single-family homes because similar units may exist in the same building.
A building may have several units with the same floor plan, same square footage, same number of bedrooms and bathrooms, same tier, similar views, and
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Why Sellers Give Property Tax Credits in Chicagoland Closings
Why Sellers Give Property Tax Credits in Chicagoland Closings
If you are selling a home in the Chicago area, one of the closing costs that can catch you off guard is the property tax credit.
Sellers often see this line item on the closing statement and think: Why am I giving the buyer a credit for taxes if I already paid my tax bills?
Fair question. Annoyingly, the answer is not always obvious, because Illinois property taxes are paid in arrears. That means the tax bill you pay this year is usually for the prior tax year. Naturally, because nothing
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The 3 Main Reasons to Appeal Your Cook County Property Tax Assessment
Cook County property tax bills can be frustrating, especially after a reassessment. But a higher tax bill does not automatically mean your property assessment is wrong.
Before filing an appeal, the better question is:
What is the actual reason the assessment should be reduced?
For many Cook County residential property owners, the most common appeal arguments fall into three categories: lack of uniformity, incorrect property characteristics, and overvaluation.
1. Lack of Uniformity
A uniformity appeal argues that your property is assessed higher than similar properties.
This does not mean simply finding a neighbor with a lower tax bill. A useful
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Closing Costs That Catch Sellers Off Guard in Chicagoland
Closing Costs That Catch Sellers Off Guard in Chicagoland
When sellers think about the cost of selling a home, they usually focus on the biggest numbers first.
They think about sale price, mortgage payoff, and maybe commission.
What often gets less attention are the smaller or less obvious closing-related costs that can still affect the seller’s net proceeds in a meaningful way.
In Chicagoland transactions, these costs are not always huge individually, but they are often surprising. And because many of them show up later in the process, they can create frustration right when sellers expect the numbers to be
Continue Reading Closing Costs That Catch Sellers Off Guard in Chicagoland