Selling Your Own Home...
You have decided to put your home on the market and want to do it yourself. Here are a few steps to consider as you prepare to do a For Sale By Owner.
1. Put up your For Sale Sign. Before advertising your home, make the right first impression. Attract buyers with low cost cosmetic steps such as cutting the grass, cleaning up the outside and painting drab walls. Have a garage sale to get rid of inside clutter. Why? Because people buy homes that appear clean, solid and well maintained.
2. Set your price right and sell your own home fast. To find the true value of your home, compare it to similar homes recently sold in your neighborhood. You may even want to get an appraisal to be sure of what your house is worth. When setting your price, also consider the cost of closing fees, other selling costs, and the amount of cash you want after the sale. You may also want to look at financial terms that support a higher price for your home. A Buyer might be willing to pay more for your house if he or she can assume your current mortgage, or if you are prepared to provide. Often, home prices are higher in Spring and Summer. Buyers look for homes in the Spring and Summer, making it harder to get high prices in Winter when few Buyers are looking for homes.
Be sure to list what items are not included in the sales of your home. In general, items that are bolted to a wall, floor or ceiling or attached by a pipe are included in the sale. Expensive chandeliers are usually bolted to the ceiling. If you want to take your chandelier with you, list it as NOT included in the sale.
3. Good Advertising Sells Homes. New low cost web sites will put multiple pictures of your house on the Internet. Use Internet ads in combination with local newspapers and neighborhood flyers.
A flat fee MLS listing is an effective form of advertising because real estate agents look in the MLS to find homes that match buyer requirements, and most buyers use real estate agents.
4. Schedule An Open House. Kick off your home selling campaign with an open house. Invite all the neighbors for blocks around your house. Show them your home's best points and tell them your price. Why? Because neighbors are the best promoters of the neighborhood and they all have friends and family who buy homes.
5. Negotiating With Buyers. Always make a counter offer when selling your own home. The buyer who offers less than your asking price can be encouraged to pay more or agree to other terms like accepting the house without repairs.
6. Closing the deal and selling your own home. Avoid the tendency to relax after getting a buyer to sign your sales contract. Finishing details, the events between signing a contract and closing day should lead smoothly to collecting cash for your house, but little things can go wrong if you don't pay attention.
Buyers have the right to inspect your house. Pay attention! Every inspection is a potential deal killer. Closing documents can be completed by an attorney, escrow agent or title officer, depending on your state. The closing attorney or escrow agent transfers the title to the buyer, pays all outstanding bills, and turns the cash balance over to the seller.
About the Author:
Greg Sullivan is the President of www.ByOwnerMLS.com, a For Sale By Owner MLS service, the leading real estate search engine of homes for sale by owner (FSBO). For more information, please visit www.byownermls.com.
