The process begins with a decision: “Should I sell my home?” Only you know the answer, of course. Factors you may want to consider include the state of the housing market. House values have far outstripped inflation for several years running, so homes today are worth more in constant dollars. At least arguably, it’s a good time to sell. Other factors include the size of your family (empty-nesters may not need the big house anymore) and proximity to your job.

Once you decide to sell, the rest is easy! (Well, not easy, but at least all the difficult, emotional decisions are out of the way.) First, educate yourself about the process. There are many free resources on the web. There is even an easy-to-read “map.” In addition, there are numerous books on the subject, as well as a variety of helpful ebooks. Most experts believe you should hire an attorney to assist you. By hiring the attorney early in the process, you will have an invaluable source of information – and a real person, no less – who can answer your questions and address your concerns as they arise.

Second, get that house ready to sell. Make it shine! Eliminate the clutter, shampoo the carpets, tend the garden, consider a fresh coat of paint. Look at the house as if you were thinking of buying it: What stands out as a positive? Make sure those aspects are featured prominently. What features jump out as drawbacks? Do what you can to minimize or eliminate them. Consider having a neighbor over to give you a frank assessment. Particularly if the house is empty, consider hiring a stager who can assist you in making the house as warm and inviting as possible.

Some people suggest that the owner hire a home inspector before placing the home on the market. The theory is that the owner can identify and correct all problems that might otherwise derail a deal because of an inspection contingency. However, many states have seller disclosure requirements. If you live in such a state, you will probably need to disclose those defects revealed by the inspection. Accordingly, it may be better to skip the inspection and deal only with those conditions revealed by a buyer’s inspection.

Third, set the sale price. The key here is to identify a reasonable price given the state of your particular market. Consider hiring an appraiser, a real estate professional trained to determine a property’s market value. A real estate agent may be willing to provide you with a free market analysis (although, in doing so, you can expect to hear from that agent again!). You can also get similar information from web pages like HomeInsight that act as lead generators for real estate agents. In other words, you’ll get a “free” appraisal, but you’ll be hearing from a local real estate agent.

Alternatively, there are several resources on the internet that can assist you in making your own determination: Zillow provides an estimate of your home’s value based on a variety of available public records; HomePages provides market data regarding recently sold houses, as well as an appraisal of your home by a local real estate agent (like HomeInsight); and larger counties (such as King County, home of Seattle, WA) often maintain a searchable database of recent property sales. There may be other helpful sites unique to your area (such as ShackPrices in Seattle). Finally, there’s always research of the existing market, whether by perusing the newspaper, surfing the local MLS, or even wandering your neighborhood and checking flyers on homes for sale. In setting the price, remember to balance your desire to get a good price with your desire to attract buyers – the more the better.

Fourth, market your home. The key here is maximum exposure for an amount that fits within your budget. You should always start with free marketing, such as a sign in your yard. You may want to create and distribute a flyer (with photos) about your home. Consider holding one or more open houses. You can place an ad for the open house in your local paper. In regards to internet-based marketing, there are all-purpose web pages where you can list your home for free: craigslist, which is the community bulletin board of our times (remember to post on your area’s page); and Google Base, a challenger to craigslist. Consider listing your home on one or more of the many FSBO web pages – there are many, some of which will list your home for free. If you want the best marketing possible, it is probably worthwhile to list your home on the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the database maintained and operated by real estate brokers/agents. If you decide to list on the MLS, you will need to commit to paying a commission to any agent who brings you the buyer. Thus, you will significantly reduce the savings associated with FSBO. Search the web for “MLS flat fee listing” in your area. While there are many, many pages with a national scope, it’s good to use a local discount broker who is more familiar with local rules and customs (such as, in Washington State, MLS4Owners.com).

Fifth (and here’s where it starts getting good), negotiate the terms of the contract. If you have not done so yet, you should hire an attorney at this point, as there are many legal issues surrounding the creation of a contract. Besides, this is not your average contract – your home is probably your most valuable asset, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the FSBO context, there are many ways by which the parties may negotiate, although there are no rules and the negotiations are entirely up to the parties. Commonly, buyer and seller discuss price and, once they reach agreement on that key term, one of the parties will contact an attorney to draw up “the paperwork.” Remember that if the buyer has an attorney, that attorney does not care about your interests. Rather, that attorney is looking out only for the interests of his or her client, the buyer.

When an agent is involved (likely if you’ve listed on the MLS), you will probably be presented with a written offer. Hopefully, you will receive multiple offers. If so, one or more may contain escalation clauses. In that case, it is doubly important to have an attorney on board, as you will not get the best price possible unless you understand how the offers relate to one another. In considering one or more offers, take into account the potential buyer’s financial ability to buy the house. Unfortunately, it’s quite easy to get a “pre-approval” letter, so don’t give much weight to such a letter. Rather, consider how much money the buyer will be putting down on the home. The more money the buyer is putting down (with 20% being a threshold), the more likely the buyer will be able to obtain financing for the purchase.

Sixth, once there is a contact in place, open escrow, which will remain open until the closing date. Customs and laws regarding escrow services vary widely from state to state and community to community. During this period, title insurance is ordered and title is cleared [Clearing Title], the home is appraised by buyer’s lender, and contingencies in the contract are either satisfied or waived. The buyer will deposit the earnest money [Earnest Money] when escrow is opened. Again, an attorney will be able to assist you in this stage of the process, particularly where the parties dispute some aspect of the transaction, such as whether a contingency was waived.

Seventh, the sale closes and you get the proceeds – HOORAY! The escrow agent will insure that title is clear, title insurance is in place, title is conveyed to the buyer, and the proceeds of the sale are released to the seller. Congratulations – you just saved yourself thousands of dollars by selling your home yourself.