For sale by owner. The words may strike fear into your heart, or you may find them the start of an exciting journey. There are some advantages to selling your home yourself, one of which is keeping all of the proceeds from the sale. There are a few things to keep in mind if you intend to sell your home yourself. Here are some of the best tips to make the sale a success.
First, make sure your home is in tip-top condition. If you need to do a little landscaping to enhance your curb appeal or touch up some paint to make things look fresher, go for it. You’ll also want to remove any clutter from kitchen counters or bedrooms. People want to be able to visualize their stuff there, and it’s harder to do that when your stuff distracts them.
Good housekeeping is also necessary, dusting and cleaning carpets along the way. Obviously, if something needs fixing, you’ll want to take care of it first or reveal what needs to be done at the sale. This means that you will sell for less, but you will not incur the initial cost either.
Next, you need to price your home. This is one of the most difficult parts of selling your home. You need to get an accurate price without underpricing it too much. On the other hand, you don’t want to overprice it and keep people away, or worse, have them buy the house down the street. You will need to do a lot of research on similar houses in your area. Once you can get an estimate of an average cost, you’ll be better able to price your home. You’ll also need to consider market trends: is it booming or falling?
Even if you decide to sell without a real estate agent, you shouldn’t do it alone. Finding a good attorney who specializes in real estate will be a small investment with big dividends. Your attorney can review all of the paperwork to make sure it is worded correctly and not causing you any harm. They will also make sure you meet all the requirements of the fair housing law.
Now is the time to market your home. It can be tricky, and the first two weeks are the most critical. There are select websites that specialize in being a place for FSBO sellers to go to list their homes. You will also need to write a good ad that is concise but still gets all the information. To help you with your writing, you can always take a look at the real estate ads in the weekly newspaper. If one makes you cringe, don’t use it as a model. Listings that inspire you and make you want to see the house will be your guide.
The most important part of marketing is not whether you link to a Facebook page, but rather putting in the most important details. People want to know how many bathrooms a house has or if it is close to schools.
Selling your home on your own can be done, and it’s not as painful as it might seem. Nor will it be as lonely a process as you might think. These tips should make FSBO much more attainable.