Selling your home yourself can seem like a financially wise decision at first. But if you’re not well prepared for the process, you may soon realize you bit off more than you can chew. If you’re looking to successfully sell your home by owner, follow these tips to sell your home like a realtor would.
Obtain an Appraisal
Your first step in selling your home should be to obtain an appraisal. This will eliminate any of the guesswork from your list price and also from any complications down the road when you have an interested buyer run through an inspection.
Run Comps
To gain a greater perspective on where your home sale price should lie, comparing similar homes should be on your to-do list. Looking at homes that are within a close distance to your own like the The Park at Westcreek apartments Houston TX 77027 which may have similar features and are of similar size is key.
Viewing how much these homes are listed for or have sold for in the last six months is a good start.
It’s important to note similar homes that have been sitting on the market for a few months as it is likely these homes have too high of an asking price causing home buyers to look elsewhere.
Make Your Home Appealing
Before placing your home on the market, putting it in the best possible condition you can is only going to make you more money in the long run. Don’t focus on major renovations if they aren’t going to provide you a return in your investment. Instead, opt for focusing on details such as a deep cleaning of your home, staging your home appropriately, and making any necessary repairs that don’t require a large chunk of change or time.
A few other tips that are useful include adding plenty of lighting as this will help make your home look larger and also making sure your home’s exterior is up to par.
Effectively Market
To gain as many potential buyers as you can, you’ll need to market your home well. However, before you list your home, invest in professional photographs as they have been shown to increase the amount of interested buyers.
Next, you’ll want to market your home like an agent. Being creative and enticing in your home’s description can easily engage buyers. When your home is listed, it’s important to spread the word wherever possible. The internet is typically your best bet such as advertising sites or social media. But this doesn’t mean you should count out the traditional method of word of mouth or placing an ad in your local newspaper.
Look for Committed Buyers
As the selling process ensues and you receive prospective buyers, ensuring that they are committed and prequalified is critical. The last thing you want to occur while selling is choosing a buyer who is unable to obtain the agreed-upon price.
Be Prepared for Closing
When the property is ready to be closed, be ready for some negotiations to take place. Depending on the experience of the buyer, they may or may not have the appreciation and understanding of the home value. It is expected that you’ll need to put in a bit more work with final negotiations compared to if you both had real estate agents that would be able to assist along the way.
Another factor you should be aware of when selling your home with or without an agent is the costs at closing. To estimate your expected costs, utilizing a seller closing costs calculator is quite helpful.
Celebrate
After your home has closed and you’ve had a successful sale it’s time to celebrate all of your hard work!
Selling your home by owner can be time-consuming and require a decent amount of hard work. Just keep in mind the end result during the process and when it’s completed be proud of what you accomplished.
