So you’ve decided to sell your own home! Chances are you’re looking to save some real estate commissions and no one can blame you for that – it’s a tough economy out there. It’s critical that you have a few tips that will help you through this procedure.
Selling your own home can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Doing the proper due diligence is very important – once the up-front research is complete, you should feel good about knowing you’ve done your homework in researching the market and finding the best price to list your home at.
Here are 5 tips to sell your own home:
1. Clean your home so it shows well. Dirty, mess homes never show well and it reflects negatively on the sellers. If you don’t like cleaning, spend a few dollars and hire a cleaning service to do it for you. This is extremely important.
2. Staging is also very important. No need to rent furniture as you should leverage what you already have in the home. Pay special attention to kitchen and bathrooms as these areas actually sell the entire home – they are the most important aspects of any home and buyers will note this.
3. Spend some time and do research for your home’s value. Many times a seller asks too much and they sit on the market too long – this listing becomes “stale” after a few months. Avoid this at all costs.
4. Research and hire the right FSBO service. You want to make sure that you have proper exposure online through a local MLS provider – this way the people representing buyers (who have the money to buy your home!) will be notified that your property is for sale. The more exposure, the better.
5. This about hiring an attorney to facilitate and negotiate the contract for you. This is always helpful because local attorney usually specialize in the real estate contact arena. It’s much better to pay a few hundred dollars and know you’re represented and being looked out for than losing sleep at night guessing on the paperwork.
There are plenty of other small things here and there that you can do to sell your own home – however, focus on these 5 areas and you might be surprised at how much luck you have. After all, saving thousands of dollars on real estate commissions is well worth it if all you have to do is put in a little time and effort in doing the proper due diligence.