Selling your home is something you may only have to do a few times in your life. And unless you know of a local real estate agent who will sell your house for free or at a very low commission… it can be a real hassle and a costly process for you too.
So… you came to this page on “How to Sell Your House Yourself” for a few reasons I guess…
- You have little or no equity in your home, so you can’t afford real estate agents’ commissions.
- You have equity but want to try to save money by selling the house yourself before resorting to hiring an agent
- You’re in (or headed toward) foreclosure and just need to sell fast without incurring thousands in agent commissions
- You can’t wait for the months and months it sometimes takes to sell a house in your area, so you want to try to sell it faster.
Wherever you land… there are ways to sell your home yourself on the local real estate market.
Since 2013, the housing sector has experienced a significant recovery. Selling your home right now will definitely pay off if you do it right. In most cases, it’s about using smart marketing strategies and being realistic about your expectations of what you want to accomplish with this sale.
This article will provide you with some guidelines to help you sell your home yourself.
How To Sell Your House By Yourself – Let’s Dive In
Know the Real Estate Market Well
The first and most important step is to do market research in your neighborhood. This step involves visiting various home marketing sites (Zillow, Eppraisal, Redfin, etc.), calling a real estate agent or two to see how much your home is worth, or reading up on various market pricing techniques. Proper preparation on these topics will allow you to arrive at the correct price for your home and will also help you avoid making certain selling mistakes.
If you don’t want to bother trying to calculate your home’s value yourself…contact a local cash home buyer. They will be able to give you a fair and honest appraisal of what your home is worth in its current condition. And most cash home buyers can make you a fair cash offer on your home within 24 hours, giving you the option to sell quickly (most cash home buyers can close in 14 days).
evaluate the market
This step is almost similar to doing market research, only in this case, it’s tied to your neighborhood and similar houses. Are there many houses for sale in your neighborhood? If so, what is the average for which they quote? Are there many foreclosures in your neighborhood? That can drag the price of your house down.
evaluate the house
As a seller, your house needs to be in top condition in order to sell it at a good price. Identify certain unique features about it and emphasize them during marketing. For example, a home with garage parking may be more attractive to buyers compared to one with driveway parking.
Also, does your house require repairs? do i have to paint it inside or outside? How is the state of the roof? Is the landscaping in good condition? Is the house outdated at all? (You know, those popcorn ceilings. All of these things can make the house more or less attractive depending on the buyer…which changes the price they’re willing to pay.
After all this…calculate a selling price for your house that is fair…not so high that it will take you 12 months to sell the house…but attractive enough that you will have a frenzy of buyers who are ready to buy it quickly.
Use photos or videos
Buyers are media obsessed. Taking home tour videos and using them to advertise will allow you to reach a larger market. In fact, these videos are considered more transparent than taking photos. However, this shouldn’t stop you from using the latter option as it is more affordable compared to video.
So take some great photos. Take a picture of each room in the house that helps show it off. Take a picture of the house from the outside at a few different angles…people want to see the house before they show up to see it. So having great photos of your home online could be the difference between getting the right buyer fast…and waiting months and months to sell.
Get your home “listed” on the local MLS and market it
These days, you can find free or low-fee realtors who will charge you a few hundred dollars to list your home on the local MLS. This gets your house in front of all the real estate agents quickly (so be prepared to pay those “buyers” agents a 2-3% buyers broker fee if you plan on enlisting their support in helping you find a buyer.
Place ads in the local paper, sign on highways, and host an open house.
Does all this sound like a lot of work to sell your house yourself?
Can be.
And in the end, many homeowners think they’re saving money and time by marketing the house themselves…when it ends up costing them more money to go that route.
When you sell your own home, here are some things to consider…
- If you’re not a good seller or you’re not ready to spend a lot of time marketing your home properly…selling it yourself may not be your best option.
- If you don’t do a good job of preparing the house and marketing materials…and working with buyers to really build the value of your house in their minds…you can actually sell the house for 3-8% less than you can. obtain for the same house that an experienced person marketed the house for you
- Too many sellers never think about maintenance costs or opportunity costs…every month your house doesn’t sell means another mortgage payment, tax payment, insurance, utilities, etc. If your mortgage payment is $1,500/month…and $1,300 of that is interest…if it takes you 7 months to sell your house…that costs you an additional $9,100 (not to mention the taxes and insurance you paid during that time). So if you could sell that house faster…would it make sense for you to offer the buyer a discounted price today so he can close quickly and move on? Something to think about.
A local cash home buying company can give you a quick offer for a fair price.