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10 Tips for Selling Your Home Yourself

1. Understanding the real estate market

Getting an idea of your local market conditions makes good sense. Just like any other product getting a feel of what's hot and what's not can help you make decisions that affect the sale of your home. Consider your neighborhood and the features that distinguish it from others. If you're comfortable, contact a real estate agent to discuss what the current market environment is like.

2. Timing is everything

Timing the decision to sell and gauging the current market conditions could be two of the most critical decisions you make. If you need to sell your home quickly, the less flexibility, you'll be able to have. Conversely, if you're not in a big hurry you can sit back and wait for the perfect buyer. Just remember the real estate market is a cyclical environment. If it's a slow period now and you're in a position to wait it out then it might be a good idea to wait for the next upswing.

3. Assemble a team of professionals to help you

While it's nice to think that you can handle things on your own, selling a home takes specialized knowledge. It's more than just writing up a sales agreement. Depending on what part of the country you're in you'll either need to find a real estate attorney or a title / escrow company to help with the legal details. As a rule of thumb, if you're east of the Mississippi it's usually a real estate attorney. If you're west of the Mississippi, it's a title company. Either way they'll be an indispensable part of your home selling process. Another important partner to consider is a reputable mortgage banker/lender. They can assist in helping you prequalify buyer prospects. We'll talk more about qualifying prospects as you read on.

4.How to determine the fair market price of your home

This always seems to be a real tricky one. For many home sellers this typically reveals itself as a major point of contention. When trying to decide on a price guessing or basing your asking price on hearsay or nontraditional methods immediately reduces your negotiating advantage. Basing your price on what the house down the street sold for or what media outlets perceives as increased market value is not the way to get a legitimate price either. There are only two legitimate and well-recognized ways of determining a fair market value. One way is to contact a real estate agent or broker to provide you with a CMA otherwise known as a comparative market analysis. The best and most accurate way of determining price comes from a full-blown appraisal done by a professional real estate appraiser.

5. You're selling a house not a home

While it's important to become emotionally detached, you don't have to become a robot. After all this is your home, be objective but don't be cold. Keep in mind that people are going to perceive your home differently than you do. Either way remain positive and ultimately the right person will walk through the door and buy your home.

6. Preparing your home for sale

Today's real estate market rewards those homeowners that place a high-value on neatnessas well as cleanliness. It not only adds value but alsogenerally promotes a quicker and more profitable sale. Once again the depersonalizing of your home helps your prospect with such an emotional decision. Decluttering the inside of a home is also key to your preparation. If necessary, rent out a small storage space and store some household items there. Just as a side note, having a garage sale is also a great way of getting rid of items that clutter up the house. Not only do you get rid of the items but also you make a little money in the process.

7. Start spreading the news

It should be understood if you're going to sell your home and you're going to do it yourself, the easiest way to get the word out is to put a sign in your yard. This will immediately get the attention of anybody that happens to ride by. Naturally, this is the essence of selling on your own. Coming up with a highlight sheet to outline the key features of your home is a must. With the readily available use of word processing programs putting together a simple highlight sheet is easy.

8. Knowing a few, negotiating skills will get you a long way

It's not necessary to become the next great diplomat. You will want to keep in mind that it's necessary to keep your emotions and personal feelings regarding the negotiating price of your property in check. When discussing the selling price it's important that your calculations and numbers are correct. This allows you to have greater flexibility and leverage and you can negotiate from a position of strength.

9. Qualifying buyers and stopping the lookie loos

So what's a lookie loo? A lookie loo is a person that comes to your house and looks in everything. They look in cabinets closets and drawers check everything out but never make you a serious offer. You need qualified buyers looking at your home or it's going to get very discouraging. One of the best ways of getting qualified prospects is to have them referred by your mortgage broker/lender. You can also take the direct approach. If you're arranging a showing over the phone, go ahead and ask them if they are pre-qualified. Don't be too shy when it comes to your prospects. If you're holding an open house and someone expresses interest in your home go-ahead and ask. Most of the time if they're pre- qualified they love to tell you. So don't worry about asking, it's the right thing to do.

10. If all else fails go to where the realtors hang out

If after a while, you're not getting the results that you were hoping for you can always list with a real estate agent or broker. Your time is valuable too. Do you really want to spend all of your time at home fielding phone calls and arranging showings? Your agent will do all of this for you, plus he or she has access to other homes that she can show the buyers so that they can see that your home is a better choice for the same money.

If you are uncertain as to the paper work involved in selling a home, a real estate agent can be invaluable. There will be offers, counter offers, disclosure statements, inspections, title searches and closing fees. If you are not sure how any of these things are handled, it is best to have a real estate agent handle them for you. It will be a much smoother sale!

Contact us today if you need assistance!

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