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There are many reasons that a home owner may want to sell their home with out a real estate broker. The biggest one is the cash savings; most of the time thousands of dollars in savings. This article will give some tips on selling your house yourself.
Setting the price is usually the most difficult thing for a person selling their home on their own. But nothing is more important to the sale of your house than the price that you set. You don’t want to sell too low and miss out on thousands of dollars. Nor, would you want to price to high and drive off potential buyers or the house could sit for months or more unsold. In addition, too high a price can cause problems with lenders and appraisers when the house sells.
If you live in a tract of homes that are similar in size and are fairly new then it is pretty easy to set an asking price. Homes in older neighborhoods will have changed over the years with room additions and upgrades, so pricing is more difficult. In either case, research is your first step. Go through the neighborhood and see what other houses are for sale. Find out their prices. Go to their open houses, make a list of all their features and the asking prices. Compare these features to your own home and find the one that is closest. This should give you an idea where to set your price. Price your home slightly lower than the most similar one to yours, but always leave room for you to negotiate with the buyers. The next step is to get comps for houses that were sold in your neighborhood in the past year. The easiest way to get this information is through a Realtor. Find at least three homes that are comparable in size, age and features. This will give an idea what your home can actually sell for. A good idea now would be to get your home appraised by a professional appraiser. If you get a VA or FHA appraisal at this time you will find it is a good sales tool for potential buyers. Potential buyers will be able to use the appraisal to get their mortgage.
Curb appeal; preparing your home for potential buyers. The first impression of your home is the only impression your buyers will remember. You never get a second chance at making this first impression. Buying a home is mostly an emotional decision and so how the potential buyer feels about your house is key. Making sure your home is as clean, crisp and new looking as possible will make a big difference. Making your home look like a model home is also a plus. You do not need to spend a lot of money to do this. Fixing all the obvious little flaws will really add up.
Outside your home make sure the yard is well groomed. Buying a few new plants and flowers for planters will help, along with putting down some fresh dark topsoil. Replace ripped screens and broken windows. Paint: at the very least the front door and trim if it needs it.
Inside your home start by boxing all the knick nacks and clutter. This will make your home look clean. Get rid of broken furniture. A good idea is to ask a family member if you can store some things in their garage until you sell your house. Clean out closets to make the house seem like it has an abundance of storage if it doesn’t. Have a garage sale to get rid of everything. Now clean everything until it sparkles. Paint if the house needs it. Or spot clean the walls. Get new bed spreads in neutral colors. Get the carpets cleaned. If you have pets, make sure your house doesn’t smell. A bad smelling home is the biggest turn off.
Now that the house is ready. You need to start advertising. Having a yard sign is one of the best tools. Neighbors and people who drive by and see the sign will spread the word that your house is for sale. Making a good quality sturdy sign will add a bit of professionalism to your home. Another advertising tool is flyers. Take a picture of your house, list all the features of the home and the price. Make sure that is looks neat and professional. List a phone number so that you can be reached; a pager number is good so you can be reached at all times. Take copies to hand out at open houses and interested buyers. Now, consider listing your home in newspapers, magazines and television shows.
Showing your house to prospective buyers needs to be done as professionally as possible. If you have children, send them to the neighbors. Have everyone who looks at your home sign a guest register, leaving their phone number. Glance out the window at some point and privately make a note of the car license and car make. This is a good idea because it can protect you should anything happen.
If you get an offer on a home you will need to research the buyer to see if they have good credit and are really who they represent themselves as. Once you have sold the home and agreed on a price, you will need a sales contract. Standard sales contracts can be obtained form title companies, lawyers, any real estate agent, legal software programs or on the Internet. Educate yourself on how to fill out the sales contract, get appraisals and how to wrap up the contract. Having a real estate attorney or title company agent to help with all the closing details will ensure that everything is done right.
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