Thanks to the fear antics and tactics that many realtors have used down the years, many people are very hesitant to sell off their houses without involving a realtor. Whatever the ruse you’ve been sold, you should understand that this is just but a strategy such real estate agents use to get paid thanks to the commissions they’ll charge you once the sale process is done.
Real estate agents’ fees don’t come cheap – a six percent commission may sound petty until the arithmetic is done. For instance, a house that you intend to sell off at a price of $250,000 will set you back $15,000 in realtor’s fees; quite a hefty amount by any standards. Why part with such cash when you can successfully sell your home without a realtor?
As much as you’d want to get started right away, you should realize that you will need some preparedness in terms of learning a few tricks of the trade. Here are some insights that will be of much help:
1Documentation is Key When Selling Your Home
The first step in selling your home without a realtor is to be spot-on with the requisite paperwork. Realtors will often capitalize on the unwillingness of many sellers to handle the documentation part of the transaction but you should not fall prey to this fear, especially when you understand what the said six percent fee can do for you. All the documentation you need can be purchased as a FSBO (for sale by owner) kit of pre-printed forms; get this from a local office supply store.
2The Internet is Where You Should Look for Prospective Buyers
With the internet you can effectively sell your home without a realtor simply because you will have access to a global audience of probable buyers. To begin with you need to identify an existent website that facilitates FSBO listings. This is the site you will use to advertise your property. Just like with other advertising you need to provide a lot of helpful information about the property – this must include photographs and non-flowery text descriptions. Using words like ‘cozy’ and ‘prestigious’ is frowned upon in real estate lingo and dismissed as being euphemistic. You must also figure out a suitable price for the property and indicate the figure as part of your online advert. One website that you can use is www.fsboamerica.org.
3Perfect Your Staging Skills
Having decided to sell your own house without a realtor, you must realize that the onus will be on you to present the property to prospective buyers and make all the required sales talk – all this being part of staging the property. Buyers will hardly part with their money based on mere talk; the property needs to play the part as well. You will be obligated to give the property some spruce-up such that it will provide enough incentive to elicit interest and a possible sale. Depending on the condition of the house you can decide to apply a fresh coat of paint, or sand the floors, replace some window panes, or something as simple as rearranging the furniture.
4Perfect Your Negotiation Skills
Negotiation skills are the fundamentals required in selling a house by owner. Owing to the inevitable fact that prospective buyers will do some bargaining, you must be prepared to judge and make sound calls regarding the price, ensuring that the end-price is a suitable amount for both of you. It is impossible to make sound negotiations if you don’t know what price limits you must adhere to. In selling a home without a realtor therefore, you must be armed with knowledge on the market rates. Do some prior research to determine what prices people in your locality with the same or slightly different properties have agreed to. This will help you quote a suitable starting price which will then be clipped downwards to a suitable figure upon negotiation.
5Educate Yourself on How to Handle Sales Contracts
The final step in selling your house privately is finalizing the sales contracts. Having some basic and helpful knowledge about these legal requirements is of the essence regardless of the fact that you will have to use the services of an attorney at this point of the transaction. You will certainly be in an advantaged position if you can accurately answer any question that the prospective buyer may throw at you; the confidence you exude will go a long way in convincing buyers of your understanding of real estate issues.
6Pros and Cons of Selling Your House Without a Realtor
The pros:
- You get to save a lot of money by not paying the six percent commission.
- If you get the negotiation part right, you can make a larger profit since you have a better understanding of the property.
The cons:
- You may lose out in terms of lacking the proper exposure for your property.
- You may not be in a position to make the right listing and final selling price for the property, mainly due to lack of real estate experience.
- Your negotiating skills may be inferior and as such end up short of what a fine-negotiating realtor would have achieved.
