Tips For Selling Your Home Yourself
Some interesting statistics from The National Association
of REALTORS®
Selling a home without
representation can be a challenge, to which
many past Sellers will admit.
Obviously the thought of not paying a sales commission represents a substantial
savings to any Seller. Due to all the issues involved in the process,
selling a home on one's own can be time consuming and challenging, to which many
home sellers will confess. Ask any Seller who has sold or attempted to
sell a home on their own without representation, and they will
tell you the moment the For Sale Sign was installed in the front yard, the phone
started ringing. Unfortunate as it is, the majority of the calls where not
from prospective Buyers, they were from real estate agents wanting to list their
property.
The big secret is to get it right the first time by being prepared. If your not the selling time of your home may be much longer than you expect because your are not attracting and getting offers from qualified Buyers. This can be a point where many homeowners become frustrated and consider giving up their dream of selling their home themselves. It should be known there are Sellers who accomplish selling their own homes with success and you can be one of them.
We have prepared this article to help home Sellers understand the elements involved so they can sell their homes quickly and for the most amount of profit. To help get them prepared The Mc & Mc Team has provided the following suggestions that are critical to a successful sale and should be considered before the decision is made as to whether or not this is the right to approach for them.
Get Your Home Ready For Sale:
First impressions are crucial. Insure your home makes a
positive impression by carefully going over all details and viewing the home
through the Buyer's eyes. Don't overlook repairs and fix-ups, as
your prospective Buyer won't. One of your biggest jobs is to ensure that
your home stands out against the competition.
Price it Right:
Setting the correct asking price is crucial. So when setting your price go
by the guidelines in the Section Setting the Price and
DO NOT DEDUCT 6 or 7%
because you are not using a Realtor®. There
are two reasons for this:
A Prospective Buyer who has Realtor® representation will put in the contract for the Seller to pay the Buyer's Agent.
If a Prospective Buyer does not have Realtor® representation they generally will deduct 7% from their offer since you, the Seller don't have a Realtor® but they figure you have the fee included in your price.
From the above to
scenario's, a FSBO Seller does not save he fee, they pay it
anyway and have to do all the work.
An Interesting Fact:
Your home's market value is the same regardless of who sells it, you or an
agent. A real estate agent's fee is a service provided fee that has no
correlation to your home's value.
Assemble All Necessary Paperwork and Documents:
Most Buyers will expect you to have these for their convenience.
Daunting as it may be, there are many mandated legal documents, contracts and forms which you must assemble, complete, and understand. A partial checklist of forms required for prospective Buyers and for legal documentation is as follows:
Loan payoff:
Loan application for Buyer:
Real Estate Contract -- You can get this from The Texas Real Estate Commission Web site: www.trec.state.tx.us -- Arkansas does not have them available to the public, only to Realtors®
Property profile fact sheet and survey if available.
Buyer's closing cost sheet:
Seller's Disclosure on property - this is also available at TREC's Web site
Lead Hazard Disclosure -- this is also available at TREC's Web site
Tax office information sheet on property -- Buyer will want to see this -- www.bowiecad.org
Any inspection reports you may have on the property including any you received when you purchased home. i.e. Termite, septic, well, engineer reports, roof, etc.
Any other items the Buyer may won't such as utility bills, amount of insurance a year, etc.
Market Your Home Effectively:
Important as the For Sale Sign is, you will also need to find effective ways
to tell the world your home is for sale. The more people you reach the
better your chances are of getting the home sold and within your time frames.
Here are a few things we do:
Advertise in newspaper -- although this only reaches a very small segment of Buyers:
Locate as many top agents in your market as possible, to see if they have Buyers looking for what your home has to offer. Be sure and offer the agent their going rate of commission if they bring a qualified Buyer that purchases your home. The agent will probably have you sign a form specifying the fee to be charged.
Relocation Buyers are also a very important target, you should create an advertising strategy to reach these Buyers.
The real estate magazines are for Realtors® only, no FSBOs.
You will need to be service minded towards your prospective Buyers and make it easy for them to view your home on a moments notice. Have someone available to answer the phone or pick up messages and return calls promptly.
Stay Objective When Working With
Buyers:
Keep your emotion out of sight when working with a prospective Buyer.
Put yourself in the Buyer's place and address their comments and questions with
a positive approach. If you receive negative comments try and balance them
by pointing out the positives... do not become defensive in any case.
Get to Know Your Buyer:
Your goal is to determine what the Buyer's motivation is. Know your Buyer;
their needs, objectives, capability and concerns. Does the Buyer have the
cash or capacity to borrow enough to pay your price? Do they need to move
quickly? Knowing this information will give you the ability to negotiate
successfully because you know what you will need to do in order to get what you
want.
Pre-Qualify Buyers:
Most real estate agents require some sort of loan approval or confirmation from a lender before they will a Buyer property. Don't waste your time working with Buyers who can not afford your home. Research their ability and talk with the lender. Buyer's will tell you anything to save embarrassment.
Negotiations:
There are a multitude of detail to be resolved before a sale can be
considered at hand. Some of the major selling negotiation
points are: price, terms, time, seller inspections, Buyer concerns and
inspections, possession date and penalties. Be sure you fully understand
any contract you use or have drawn up so you can explain details and the ins and
outs to the Buyer. You may need to make some changes to the contract
without creating a
legal land mind. We recommend any contract you use be thoroughly examined
by a real estate attorney. Some real estate Brokes will be willing to help
you with this to, but the agent cannot give legal advice.
Don't Move Before You Sell:
If you move out before you sell you're telling any prospective Buyer that
they have a new place to live and may have two payments and and are motivated to
sell fast. This can give potential Buyers an advantage when it comes to
negotiating...It may end up costing you.
Know Why You're Selling and Keep it to Yourself:
The reverse of knowing your Buyer is understanding yourself..............
Different goals will present different strategies. Your motivation will
determine what is more important to you:
Your motivation to sell will affect everything you do including price to how much time, effort and money you will invest in getting your home ready.
Keep in mind that any reason you have for selling is very important t keep to yourself and not share with the Buyer. If asked by the Buyer, why are you selling, politely say, " your housing requirements have changed".
Closing Considerations:
