For sale by owner tips
Know your motivation, but don’t let it get in the way. Why do you want to sell the house? Is it to move to a bigger place? Pay off debt? Downsize? Whatever it may be, you want to have strong motivation so that you can do everything in your power to sell your house quickly, however, you don’t want to be desperate.
Know the facts on your home. If you don’t have all the facts, they are usually very easily found online with a little research or a short phone call. You can quickly do this on your own while saving time and money by not hiring an agent that his or her payday in mind rather than your best interests.
Know your legal stuff. You will want to have knowledge on the legalities of selling a house in your state. Make sure you cover yourself by knowing all the elements of selling a house on your own. For a fraction of the cost of hiring an agent, you can also hire an attorney to review all contracts and documents involved in the sale of your property.
HOST OPEN HOUSES
Open your home up to get potential buyers in to see. You will want to host open houses so that your potential buyers have the opportunity to see the home. Make sure that you are welcoming and your house is tidy, clean and smells good when your potential buyers arrive. You can simply sit back while they tour the home, but be available should they have any questions. Hosting open houses will increase the likelihood of a faster sale. To market your open house, you can easily add the open house dates in your listing account. These open house details will be shared to the websites that we are sharing your property with. We recommend providing these details a few days or even a week in advance so we can share it in time for maximum exposure.
Make it easy for people to see themselves living in the home. Create a flier, booklet or binder with pages that let people know about the neighborhood, the schools, your favorite restaurants and local events that go on in the area. Share your favorite parts about living in your house. Make it personal, like you are talking to a good friend and ‘selling’ them on how wonderful it is to live in your house.
Stage Your Home
In general, the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen are on the top of people’s list of what they are looking for in a house. Make sure these areas of your house are especially clean, tidy and organized when you are showing your home. Clear the clutter from your house and depersonalize it by removing family photos. You want your potential buyers to be able to visualize themselves in the house. When you declutter and depersonalize, there is more room for them to picture themselves living in the home with their own items.
Do a walk through with an unbiased person. Have a friend come in and walk through your home with you once you have decluttered and depersonalized and let them give you feedback.
Got kids? Consider this: If you have kids, include them in this process. Have them pick out toys they will keep out while you are in the process of selling your home, and put the other ones away in boxes. This will leave you with less cleaning up when you have potential buyers coming to look at your home.
Approach your sales like a professional. Let go of emotion, and focus on getting the right buyer into your home. If you attach your emotions to the sale of your house, it is going to take longer and be less enjoyable of a process.
THINGS TO AVOID
Overpricing and underpricing, find your sweet spot. Have a professional come to assist you in pricing your home. Spend money to make necessary improvements but don’t make an overhaul, the new buyers will likely want to personalize the house. Seasonal sales require unique approaches. The way you would sell in spring is very different than selling in winter. In most parts of the country, April is the best month to put your home on the market.
LISTING VERBIAGE
When you are writing the verbiage for your property, make sure it is accurate. This may seem obvious, but do a fact check with yourself and make sure you are painting the real picture, not just a pretty picture of your house. You want to make sure you emphasize the properties best features while giving a warm feel to any other features that you feel will be good selling points.
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY
When listing your home you definitely want to have amazing pictures. When taking pictures, makes sure your house is clean and tidy. To display your house beautifully, you want to have great lighting and if possible a wide angle lens to allow the house to feel big in the photos.
If you can, find a photographer who specializes in real estate photography and knows what they are doing to best display your home. The photos will most likely be the first thing they see, so make them count.
HONESTY
Be honest with the details of your house. If there are any major repairs to be done or issues with the home, you must disclose those to interested buyers.
RESPONSIVENESS/RESPOND TO ALL OFFERS
You want to respond to every inquiry in a timely manner. Your potential buyers are likely looking at multiple homes and you don’t want them to lose interest while they are waiting for your reply. Be fast and courteous in your response. Stay with the potential buyer until it is a yes or a no.
