If you are trying to sell your house without the help of a real estate agent, you have an uphill battle ahead of you. It's harder to sell a house fast when you are marketing and showing the property yourself. Generally, it is best to sell your house with the help of an agent, but if you are not able to sell with an agent because of budget constraints or other problems, here are some strategies that can help your house sell faster when you choose to list it for sale by owner.
1. Take professional pictures.
Home buyers look for potential listings online. They browse through listing after listing, making a list of houses to see. If your home does not show well online, even if it looks great in person, you will not have as much interest. Many people just use their phones or a small camera to take photos, and they don't realize that bad lighting, clutter, poor angles, or reduced quality will automatically make a house look small, dirty, or even old. Hire a professional to take photos of each room, and make sure your home is clutter-free, light, and bright for pictures.
2. Contact professional home buyers.
Some real estate companies and investment firms will buy homes with cash, which is a way to make a quick sale without the need for real estate agents. Contact some of these companies yourself to see what they might offer on your home. If selling your house fast is the highest priority, these buyers can usually close a sale within a couple of weeks because they don't need to wait for loan underwriting, which is often the most time-consuming part of buying and selling real estate.
3. Get a proper assessment.
Listing your home at the right price is essential for your sale success. When you have a real estate agent, they might assess your home and suggest a fair listing price. When you sell the home yourself, especially if you have lived in the home for many years, you might not know what the fair market value is. Unfortunately, people have a bad habit of listing their home for too much money. They feel like the price is fair, but usually, it's wishful thinking or sentimentality.
The trouble with a higher-than-perfect price is that you exclude potential buyers who might look at the property, since they will overlook it because it's listed out of their budget. You also will get some people who are interested, but when they compare your house price to houses asking for similar amounts, they will choose the other properties because those are listed more correctly, and therefore have more to offer for the price point.
Your house then sits on the market for days, and people then begin to ignore the listing entirely because it is so old. They instead want to see what's new, passing over your house even if you end up dropping the price. It's better to price it right at the start, and for that, you need a professional assessment.
4. Use an attorney right from the beginning.
Finally, before you list your house, meet with a real estate attorney to discuss your plan. Get the needed documents, and discuss the need for a purchase agreement and other offer forms so that you have them ready when a good offer comes along. You also want to entertain all types of offers, including offers with buyers that have representing agents. If you exclude agents, you often exclude a lot of buyers. Ask your lawyer what commission you should offer for buyers' agents so your listing can do well.
Share24 September 2018
When I started looking for a new home, I realized that there were a few things I needed to be careful about. For instance, I really needed to focus on finding a home that would appreciate in value, so I began thinking about investing in the right property. After quite a bit of research, I was able to find a great neighborhood that had a big support system for my family. After we found a house we loved, we worked with a real estate agent to procure it, and it was really nice to feel like we belonged somewhere. Read this blog about ways to find amazing pieces of real estate the first time around.