The process of selling your home for sale by owner can be a great way to avoid realtor commissions and fees. But the question is, is it right for you? In this article, we’ll discuss how to sell your home for sale by owner, and alternative methods to get full price. Interestingly enough, only 7% of homeowners sell without realtor assistance. So if you want to have success selling your home, you’ll want to follow the advice below. Let’s dive a little deeper.
The Process of Pricing Your Home for Sale by Owner
As easy as it seems, for sale by owner is not for everyone. There are both advantages and disadvantages to selling independently. One of the most appealing things about it is not having to pay realtor fees and commissions. Additionally, you have control over scheduling showings and managing your listing. But there’s more to it than just managing the property itself. You need to know the value of the property and how to price your home for sale. Here’s how you do it.
Set a Reasonable Price
Pricing your home to sell can be a little tricky if you don’t know how to run comps or can’t afford an appraisal. What you don’t want to do is waste time overpricing your home. Overpricing your home can lead to a world of disappointment. Your time is valuable, so instead of listing your home too high, have a local realtor run a CMA (comparable market analysis) or hire an appraiser. If you can’t get the assistance of a realtor, you’ll have to run your own comps. You’ll need to know a few things before you start running comps.
- Know the number of beds, baths, and square feet.
- Properties sold within a quarter of a mile from the subject property.
- Find properties that sold within the last 6 months with the same number of beds, baths, and within 10% plus or minus the square feet.
Once you know the recent sales in your area, you’ll be ready to set a reasonable price.
Prepare Your House For Sale
Knowing how to sell your home for sale by owner involves more than just picking a price. You have to stage the home for interested buyers, giving it curb appeal and a fresh new look. This includes some or all of the following:
- Making repairs
- Staging
- Curb appeal
- Painting
- Lighting
- Deep cleaning
- Organizing personal items
- Taking quality pictures
Furthermore, a new look can mean the difference between selling in under 30 days and having to relist. By taking the time to fix things, you can possibly even create a bidding war. A bidding war is when there are too many interested buyers, driving the list price up, creating more equity. Who doesn’t want to walk away with more cash after closing?
Invest in Marketing
Marketing your home is one of the surest ways to give it exposure. Having a marketing system in place will help your home sell much faster by opening it to larger audience size. Below is a list of marketing tactics you can employ:
- Running ads
- Flyers/brochures
- Bandit signs
- Video footage
- Bold letters in the description
- Colorful photos
These are just some ideas for you to utilize when selling a house by owner contract. Moreover, you’ll want to stick to a marketing budget, and make sure you’re consistently marketing the property. The more exposure you give the home, the sooner it will sell.
Be Professional
When selling a house for sale by owner, you must present yourself as a professional. Most buyers are accustom to either realtors or investors who practice real estate daily. Therefore, you’ll need to do the same. Here are some tips for how you can be more professional when selling your home without a realtor:
- Be responsive
- Be polite and respectful
- Have a positive and welcoming attitude
- Be punctual
- Keep your buyers first
It may not seem like much, but professionalism goes a long way. Not having a realtor to assist you will put all the pressure on you. If a buyer doesn’t feel respected, it’s highly unlikely they’ll do business with you. So bear that in mind.
Consider Other Options
As previously mentioned, when selling your home without a realtor, you control your listing. Which means, you can sell your home traditionally, or consider other options such as owner financing. Owner financing is a great way to exercise a fast sale without waiting to find a traditional buyer. There are far more people that can’t qualify for bank financing than those that can. Even better, we have a list of qualified buyers waiting to purchase an owner financed home. If you decide to sell with financing, contact info@ibuyhomesinkc.com, and we’ll get your property sold immediately.
Owner financing is defined as, “a transaction in which a property’s seller finances the purchase directly with the person or entity buying it, either in whole or in part.” The benefit to owner financing is a fast sale, tax breaks, debt pay-down, and extra income. For a more in-depth understanding of owner financing, click here.
If all else fails, consider hiring a realtor to assist with selling your home. Statistics show 93% of homes sell with assistance from a real estate agent. There are plenty of qualified agents to choose from in the Kansas City area. Find one that fits your criteria and hire them if need be.
Hopefully, you learned a lot from this post, and you decide to implement all that you’ve learned. Now you’ll know how to sell your home for sale by owner.