Tips To Sell Your Home on Your Own.
The Dreaded For Sale By Owner Agents Have a Love-Hate Relation
That’s it...you had enough! The broker you hired didn’t get the price you wanted or worse, no offers came in! Your home has been sitting on the market for six months and you won’t renew your agreement. Instead, you decide to take matters into your own hands and want to list the home yourself. This may not be your scenario. The other, which probably happens more often, is that you refuse to pay a broker's fee/ commission
For Sale By Owner. Four words real estate agents have a love-hate relationship with. At first sight of these words the real estate agents mouth starts to salivate. Their eyes begin to enlarge; they lick their lips while researching your address and contacts. Why? Because they want to sell your home! But by now you’ve been getting so many calls from agents “who want to help” and they don’t do anything other than annoy you with more calls. You then become frustrated and decide to write in the property description ‘NO BROKERS’. Hate might be a strong word but that's the point when agents turn from excited to angry.
I completely understand both sides of the FSBO views so I’ve written a handful of tips which, I hope, will help sell your home faster and for more money.
If You Don’t Use It, You Lose It.video/youtube
Simply take 10 minutes to look around your home and you’ll come across items that you haven’t used, needed or touched in years. Go look now...seriously...I’ll wait...Throw them out! Or, at least, store the items you don’t use in neat decorative bins if you are going to keep them out or clear plastic bins if you are going to put them in a closet. This means clearing, cleaning and organizing kitchen countertops, book shelves, desks, tables and closets. De-cluttering will help buyers concentrate on the homes main features and not the loads of knickknacks you have laying around. Providing a more comfortable environment and better showing experience for the buyer.
Do Your Homework
It’s important to understand the current real estate market. Is there an influx of homes similar to yours in the area that are "sitting"? Why aren't they selling? Is it price, condition of the home, location? It may very well be other factors. One action I strongly recommend all owners take is to attend open houses in the area. I mean, if you are going to list the home yourself, you might as well take some time to learn what’s out there. By doing so, you’ll quickly learn what your competition looks like and how your home compares to others. You'll also sound very educated on the market when other buyers ask you questions and you're able to answer them.
Search the Web
The web offers many websites to help understand the market. Websites like PropetyShark.com (Link PropetyShark.com) or StreetEasy (Link StreetEasy.com) will provide vital information such as last asking price, actual closing price and days on market to properties in your chosen area. Nearly all closing information is made available to the public yet some of these websites will charge for extra details.
Market Your Home Like a Pro
Yes, believe it or not, your home is a physical object that needs to be marketed correctly. Marketing your home is a major process which directly impacts the amount of foot traffic you receive and more importantly, the amount of attractive offers you receive. Take a minute and think about all the ads you see on TV, print and on the web that features food porn, sexy cars, or funny beer commercials. Would you ever order a pizza pie if it looks like it’s being cooked in a garbage pail? (Wait, I hope your answer is no) So why wouldn’t you take the same consideration when selling your home? It makes me cringe when real estate agents take cheap and dark photos with their phone. I mean why on earth would an owner think that’s adequate? (Maybe you do enjoy garbage pail cooked pizza) It’s also just sad when homeowners do the same.
If you are going to take marketing your home into your own hands, please hire a professional photographer who is experienced in the real estate field. The fee to hire one can cost anywhere from $150 to over $1,000 for a shoot depending on their experience of the photographer and size of home. Trust me, it’s well worth the investment.
If you are not going to hire a photographer then please do the following when taking shots.
Clean and organize your home before you take any photos! When it comes to showcasing your home, buyers will judge a book by its cover. The dirtier your home looks the less likely anyone will want to view it. Simple idea right? But it amazes me how many people don’t do this. Many buyers have a hard time looking through all the clutter so having a clean and organized home will also show better when they are in your home.
All photos must show how spacious the room is. Take shots where the outcome shows how large the rooms, kitchen or bathrooms are. Nobody cares about your ugly shower head, or the molding by the floor. Okay, fine maybe someone does. But if there are specific features you want the buyer know about, tell them briefly in the description, or better yet, tell them in person during the showing.
Make sure that everything in the photo looks clean and neat. That means doing the bed when taking the bedroom shot. I get it, I hate doing my bed too. Also, make sure nothing is under the bed sticking out. When it comes to the kitchen photo, please remove EVERYTHING off the kitchen counters. And no, nobody wants to see your dirty dishes in the sink. Thanks for asking. Do you have toys or knickknacks lying around the living room floor? Put them away and retake the photo.
Create a Floor Plan
Having a floor plan really helps buyers view the layout and flow of your home. Where can you find a floor plan of your home? Well, if it’s an apartment, your floor plan is in the offering plan. What’s an offering plan? Do you remember that large book of pages (thicker than a bible) given to you during your closing? You probably don’t. No worries, you can ask the agent you used to help purchase your home or ask a fellow neighbor to borrow their copy. A last option you have is to call management and ask nicely for one. Chances are though they’ll force you to purchase the entire plan. Offering plans average around $150. Also, if you do eventually sell the apartment it’s your obligation to provide a full offering plan to the buyer’s attorney. So you’ll have to get a copy one way or another.
If none of the above options are available to you then I recommend hiring a professional to draw the floor plan. Hiring one can cost you anywhere from $100 or more depending on how experienced they are and the size of your home.
Another option to find your floor plan, which is my least favorite method and strongly discourage, is going on a real estate website like StreetEasy to see if a similar layout has been used before. Note, there are copyright and other legal issues you will violate when taking this route. Again, I don’t recommend it.
Last but not least there are floor plan websites and phone apps where you can create your layout. You can easily do a Google search or find them on the iTunes market.
Advertise Your Home on the Following Sites
Now that you’ve got your photos, description (you did write one correct?) and floorplan, it’s time to upload them into websites. I recommend the following sites:
StreetEasy.com
NYTimes.com
Zillow.com
Showing Times and Open Houses
Buyers are typically going to want to see the property either after work hours or during open houses. Make sure you are available for both options. Open houses during the weekend should run between 1 to 2 hours. If you’re selling during the slower summer months I would suggest hosting a weekday open house during a Tuesday or Wednesday from say 6PM to 8PM.
How to Deal With Offers
Once you get offers the first step you have to take is to qualify the buyer. If the buyer is working with an agent, the buyer’s agent should have already taken care of this. Furthermore, if the buyer has an agent PLEASE let the agent be aware if you are willing to pay a buyer’s agent fee.
Let’s say the buyer has no agent. It’s your job to qualify this buyer. If you live in a Coop you should be familiar with what the Coop wants to see in the buyers financial statements after closing costs. You don’t want to sign a contract, wait 2-3 months for the board to review and end up having the board decline the buyer. That’s a waste of everyone’s time.
How to Handle Offers
Let’s say you get an offer at a price you hate. Don’t be offended by it. Instead think of it as a positive sign that buyers are:
Willing to make an offer and
You might have listed your home at the correct market value price
At the end of the day, the best case scenario is to make a win-win bidding scenario for all parties involved.
Pricing Tip
If you’ve listed your home now for over a month, have impeccable marketing tactics, know the market well by doing your homework and still received zero offers, chances are the asking price needs to be adjusted.
Pay a Buyers Brokers Fee
Question: How many qualified buyers do you work with that want to buy your home? My guess is probably zero. Yes putting your home on the internet will help bring in buyers but the majority of buyers work with agents who they know and trust. By offering to pay a buyers agents fee, you’ll allow agents to show your home to their arsenal of buyers. Not to mention, if you live in a Coop or condo, the buyer’s agent will be in charge of completing the board package / purchase application.
Getting your home sold at a price you love is an amazing feeling. It's a rush unlike any others. Just ask my previous clients link. I can only imagine how much greater that feeling is when you sell your own home on your own. If you are planning on or currently are taking the FSBO route I do hope this guide has helped you. There are a large amount of other tools and tips I'd be happy to offer. Feel free to contact me to get the conversation started.
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