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Ten Things You Should Know About Selling Your Home
- Try to be flexible with your schedule during the sales process. You'll need to work with potential buyer’s schedules to make sure you maximize the likelihood of the sale.
- Spending a few bucks on advertising. It takes a lot more than a sign in the yard to sell a house. You are looking for that one buyer who is also looking in classified ads, driving neighborhoods and surfing the Internet to find a home. Be prepared to spend the time, energy and money marketing your home to find them. We highly recommend that you have a special WebPage created to really highlight the features and benefits of your home. Use several quality photographs in your WebPage.
Nothing sells like pictures! As the old saying goes, " A picture is worth a thousand words!" It is especially true when selling your home. Contact our WebMaster at his Email address of webmaster@fsbo-home.com and discuss your options for creating a WebPage. If you want your own, on your server, it will normally run about $150-$200 plus a small monthly fee to maintain the WebPage on the Internet until your home sells.
- Pricing your house properly with objectivity will be one of the first critical steps to insuring a quick sale. The right price is key to selling - even an overpriced home listed by a real estate agent doesn't sell any faster and are eventually referred to as expired listings.
Real estate agents can give you a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis), if you tell them up front you are trying to sell your house yourself. In return, be willing to refer them people who have inquired about your house but did not buy. Visit homes in your area to see what your competition is. CMA’s and Appraisals are based on the sale of similar homes in your immediate area. Therefore, what is happening in your area is of major importance.
A wise investment is an actual fee appraisal. Your new buyer can possibly use this when they apply for a loan. Be prepared to sell your home at or very near the appraised value. Most lenders will only lend on the final appraised value, regardless of what is written on your sales contract.
- Keep track of all callers and lookers. If possible, get their name, address and phone number. You want a record of who has inquired about your home, it is also a good way to track you’re advertising and marketing efforts. You may also need this information if any valuables find legs and walk off by themselves!
- Find a local Escrow Company/Title Company or attorney to take care of the handling of monies and solicit their assistance in preparing the necessary paper work for the closing and transfer of title.
- All of the necessary paperwork and disclosures need to be prepared. Educate yourself ahead of time to know what your responsibilities are.
Have a copy of the contract you want to use for the buyer to sign. You will want to familiarize yourself with the contract since it is a legally binding agreement. Get them from a helpful agent, or from the American Homeowners Foundation, 6776 Little Falls VA 22213 (703) 536-7776. Consider having an attorney review the contract for a fee, usually between $250-$500.
- Any needed repairs that are needed are a necessity. You don’t have the resources most real estate agents have, and if you don’t do the repairs yourself research local companies who can help you. Interview several of them and get estimates so you can be sure which one can do the job you need. This is very beneficial when negotiating with the buyer and eliminates any unpleasant surprises. Caution needs to be exercised here. In most cases you can do the repairs yourself.
There are those issues though where the repairs need to be guaranteed for two years and/or preformed by a bonded specialist. I would start this information gathering process with a Home Inspection, followed with a conference with your Lender of choice and a Buyer’s Agent. Between these two professionals they will be able to help you identify when a specialist is needed over a handyman.
- Once you have a buyer that wants to purchase your home or property you need to negotiate with them in a non-emotional manner. Emotions can run very high when discussing your home and keep this in mind. You don’t want to loose the sale by being too emotionally involved.
- Unless your buyer is paying cash for your home they are going to need a loan. If you can, qualify buyers before you let them into your home so you can spend more time with prospects, not suspects But once you find a real buyer, help them by providing anything they need which will allow them to qualify for their new loan. It is always a good idea to contact a Mortgage Loan Officer to whom you can refer potential buyers, as well bounce off the information you receive from potential buyers or their respective Loan Officer to see how real they are.
Make sure the buyer has already been pre-qualified, by having them submit a loan application and getting pre-approval within 72 hours. Smart buyers will have already done this. Get a deposit of 3% of the sales price and have the buyer deliver the money to the Escrow/Title Company or attorney of your choice that will be representing the sale.
- Unless you get an offer right away, cooperate with the real estate agents that work exclusively with buyer’s who want to sell your house, pay them a commission. The small percentage you pay them is worth it, plus the buyer will have the representation they so often want. Besides, the real estate agent does most of the paperwork, so let them handle it. However, do work closely with the Title or Escrow agent, since they understand the intricacies and complexities of their business.
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