Do you need to sell your house? In today’s market, “for sale by owner” may be the best way to sell. Trust me, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be successful in selling your own home. The information in this article can provide you with the site that you may not have had before. You can do it by yourself!
Prepare your home for buyers. New paint helps and is not expensive. Make sure it’s clean, clean, clean. The most important thing and most overlooked by sellers is that you need to get rid of the clutter, inside and out. Less is more! Rent a storage facility or have a garage sale, but get rid of the clutter. Less furniture makes a room appear larger. The closest ones are a real turn off for shoppers who EVERYONE want lots of storage space. Get rid of all the nick knacks.
We all know how important curb appeal is. Clean up those yards, front and back! Remember, an appraisal has pictures of the front and back yard. I know it sounds silly, but a backyard littered with junk tells an insurer a lot about the interior and routine maintenance of your home. A buyer can miss it, but the appraiser and lender can’t.
Next, do a home inspection. An inspector will check the structure and systems of your home. He can find things that you are not aware of. It’s best to find and fix these problems before the buyer’s inspector does.
Make sure you price it correctly. Spend the money to get a professional appraisal from a HUD-approved appraiser. Don’t rely on a real estate agent’s market analysis. These are rarely accurate and many times an agent will simply tell you what he thinks you want to hear.
Go sit down with your local mortgage broker. He has a wealth of knowledge that you should take advantage of. Most mortgage brokers have free FSBO programs that will help you tremendously. It is important that you know what your costs will be depending on the type of loan that the buyer acquires. Did you know that a VA loan could cost you much more in closing costs PLUS home repairs that may not be required by other loans? Will your home qualify for an FHA loan without costly repairs? If you’re on a tight budget and need to get as much money out of the sale of your home as possible, you may want to negotiate in the contract that the buyer gets conventional financing.
A mortgage broker will also teach you the critical areas to look for in the sales contract. It can even provide you with blank contracts and other required state mandated disclosures when you sell your home. Most brokers will even create your startup brochure and, more importantly, your financing options brochure. Prospective buyers want to know two things: how much my payments will be and how much money I need to pay plus closing cost.
You must list your home on a “For Sale By Owner” website. I want to warn you here. Many of these sites try to charge you a lot of money for things that don’t or won’t help you sell your house. Home buyers DO NOT spend hours searching for “For Sale By Owner” websites. They work with real estate agents, read the newspapers and drive through the streets of the neighborhoods in which they want to live.
The benefit of listing your home on the Internet is that you put the URL in newspaper ads, flyers, and your yard sign. Then, when a buyer walks by your house or sees your ad, they can go online and see pictures, services, and the price. If your house fits their needs and their budget, they will call you. If not, it’s less annoying for you. It can be very frustrating to let them watch you at home week after week. Don’t you really want only truly interested buyers to come to your door? There are many free FSBO websites on the net. Check it out.
All that said, the rest is just common sense. You can sell it yourself!