Thinking of selling your own home?
According to DaveRamsey.com sellers using the FSBO option sold their homes for LESS THAN the median selling price of other homes!
There is so much to consider in selling your home, and it can be overwhelming.
Start with a deep clean and staging of your home, making it “model home ready.” Prepare your marketing - digital marketing, signs, videos, flyers, and just listed cards, and then properly post and expose your home to the masses on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and more. Yes, it can be overwhelming and take an enormous amount of time to learn to do. Did you get professional photography? Or just use your phone? Most buyers are looking online first, THEN they will schedule to see your home. The photos online are their first impression of your home, and you never get a second chance at that! Remember, this is the largest investment a buye4r will make in most cases.
Do you have a system in place for follow-up and a schedule set for showings? After all of the showings, follow-up, and run around – you FINALLY get an offer or TEN! Now what?? Does the loan type make a difference in the sale? Is the highest offer the best offer? How do you determine if buyers are qualified? You have accepted an offer, what comes next?
Are you overwhelmed yet? Just wait, there’s SO MUCH MORE! You need to coordinate with lenders for the appraisal, with title for signing documents, all while being available for inspections and showing the home to the buyer's parents and cousins for the 3rd time. Do you know how long buyers have to perform inspections? What are you obligated to do regarding repairs? What if the appraisal comes in low? Whew! Are you exhausted yet? All the while, you are supposed to be packing and coordinating your move to your new home. Isn’t that stressful enough? I handle all of this for you and then some! Allow me and my team to relieve you of not only the stress but some of the time involved in coordinating a smooth escrow. Let’s connect and discuss your real estate goals and how we can achieve them together!
Mistakes That Will Cost You Money
Pricing:
Almost any realtor you call will come out to your home for free, without any obligation to list with them, and bring you data to help you decide on the right price. This would be the best way to price your home. Another route you could take would be to look up your value on a third-party site like Zillow in order to give you a starting point, but be careful because Zillow does not take into consideration your home's upgrades, etc. that can alter the value of your home.
Property Description:
Instead of just throwing a random description together, take your time in listing your home's best qualities by making a list of home improvements that you have made, and make a list of reasons why you purchased the home! Look at similar homes in your area that have sold or are currently for sale to get some ideas for phrases that you can add to your description. Be sure to have someone review the description for spelling/grammatical errors before publishing to keep the listing looking professional. If you can close your eyes and listen to your home's descriptions and make up what the property looks like, you did something right!
Leaving Money on The Table:
Why just sell your home when you can get top dollar? The National Association of Realtors or NAR for short conducts research and puts out market reports each year, and according to NAR, only 8% of homes are sold for sale by owner, and of that 8% a third of those were sold to people they already knew. The data also showed that for sale by owners sold for significantly less than homes listed by realtors. This difference can be anywhere from 15% - 30%. Now I don’t know about you, but I would trade paying a commission fee, in order to receive even 15% to 30% back all day long! However, if you are set on doing all of the work to sell it yourself, I am assuming that you want to get the most money you can from the sale of your
Selling Your Home For Top Dollar
Every seller wants their home to sell quickly for a large profit, but it takes more than luck to make this happen. It involves careful planning and knowing how to professionally prepare your home to convince buyers to pull out their checkbook.
Here are 5 items to help your home shine above the competition:
1) Disassociate From Your House
You've lived there, possibly for years, and the house holds many memories. To detach from it emotionally, you must realize that without you in it, the house is just a shell to be filled by other occupants. Look to the future, where you can make new memories in your next home. Sever your emotional attachment to the house by realizing that the home is about the occupants who live there, not just the space or building.
2) Depersonalize Your Home
Pack up your personal photographs, family heirlooms, and other objects and clutter that might distract potential buyers and hurt a possible sale. You want to present buyers with an impersonal, clean environment so they can imagine the home perhaps decorated with their own photographs, furniture, and art objects. Depersonalizing your home makes it easier for potential buyers to visualize how the home might look filled with their own items.
3) Declutter Your House
People tend to collect an amazing quantity of items over the years. Reasons for keeping items include an emotional attachment, an intention to reuse or fix the items in the future, or a wish to pass them on to others. However, for many items, if you haven't used them in over a year, you probably don't need them. Discard items in a useful way by donating them to a charity or nonprofit organization such as the Salvation Army or Goodwill. These items not only help those in need but some are tax-deductible.
4) You’ll also want to organize Bedroom Closets and Storage Cabinets
Buyers will be curious about storage space and will want to check closets and cabinets. It's important to ensure these are organized, as it sends a negative message if your storage spaces are cluttered with items falling out. When a buyer sees everything organized down to the last detail, it shows that you take care of your possessions and likely took good care of the house.
5) Consider Renting a Storage Unit
Remove pieces that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage, along with distracting furniture, artwork, and empty bookcases. Removing extra leaves from your dining room table will make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture to showcase the room's purpose with plenty of room for buyers to move around.
Lesli Koontz
Global Real Estate Advisor, Realtor®
Compass I DRE #02073736
Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01991628. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sourcet is deemed reliable but has not been verified. Changes in price, condition, sale or withdrawal may be made without notice. No statement is made as to the accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footage are approximate. If your property is currently listed for sale this is not a solicitation.