Real Estate

For Sale By Owner – You Can Do It!

Do you need to sell your house? In today’s market, “selling by owner” may be the best way to sell. Trust me, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to succeed in selling your own home. The information in this article can provide you on 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 inexpensive. 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 feel bigger. The closest ones are a real turn off for buyers who ALL want lots of storage space. Get rid of all nick knacks.

We all know how important curb appeal is. Clean up those patios, front and back! Remember, an appraisal has pictures of the backyard and the front yard. I know it sounds silly, but a junk-filled backyard tells an insurer a lot about your home’s interior and maintenance routine. A buyer may miss it, but the appraiser and lender may not.

Next, do a home inspection. An inspector will review the structure and systems of your home. He can find things that you are not aware of. It is best to find and repair these problems before the buyer’s inspector does.

Make sure you price it right. Spend the money to get a professional appraisal done by 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 based 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 probably aren’t required by other loans? Will your home qualify for an FHA loan without expensive repairs? If you’re on a tight budget and need to get as many pennies as possible from the sale of your home, you may want to negotiate into the contract for the buyer to obtain 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 getting started 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. Homebuyers DO NOT spend hours searching “For Sale By Owner” websites. They work with real estate agents, read the newspapers, and drive the streets of the neighborhoods where they want to live.

The advantage you get from 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 images, amenities, 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 them in your house 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 of that said, the rest is just common sense. You can sell it yourself!

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