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Tips for Selling Your Home By Owner

Posted Monday, July 22, 2013

You can be successful at selling your home without a real estate agent if you do your research and put in a little work, you'll be selling your home in no time, without pricey real estate agent fees.

Prepare your Home For Sale
Any potential buyer will be hiring a home inspector to find problems with the house before closing. Prevent buyers from unexpected delays, backing out the sale, or negotiating for a lower price by hiring your own inspector at the beginning of the process. Knowing what to expect going in will give you a chance to fix problems now, offer full disclosure to buyers, and strengthen your negotiating position.

Pricing Research
Pricing your home too high will make it difficult to sell, while pricing too low means less money in your pocket. Compare your home to others already on the market and with recent sales in your neighborhood. Take into account special features your home has. You may want to consider getting your home professionally appraised ahead of time to remove uncertainty and give you a stronger negotiating position.

Don't Leave A Mess
Keep your home clean and organized when preparing to show it to buyers. If you've accumulated a lot of clutter over the years, now's the time to clear it out. Having less furniture and clutter will make your home look larger, which is a big plus to potential buyers.

Market Your Home On The Internet
The National Association of Realtors reports that 93% of buyers begin the house hunting process on the internet. There are many different real estate listing sites available online. Doing a simple search of "for sale by owner" is a good way to find the websites online where you can list the details of your home. Popular online classified sites such as Craigslist are updated minute by minute with new listings.  Getting on all these sites will get your house ‘found’ by buyers looking on the internet. Take a good amount of high quality photos that show off your home's best features and list as many details as possible. Buyers are much more likely to consider a home with precise descriptions and plentiful pictures. 

Hire a Real Estate Attorney
Real estate contract law is complex and should be handled by a professional to ensure everything is legal and binding.  You want to make sure all the paperwork is in order and that your closing goes smoothly. 

Don't Get Impatient or Give Up
I can hear you now. "But I want to sell my house fast." The fact is, selling a home by owner can take a little longer, but the good news is, you'll be able to save some money. You may however, need to lower your asking price, make changes to your marketing strategy or make some repairs. If you're home has significant damage or needs to be sold quickly, try a We Buy Houses company. This may mean that you don't get as much as you had hoped for your home, but will get your house sold faster.