I’m home with the flu today just two short days before a much needed week long vacation in the Dominican Republic and thought that since I’m out of commission (certainly not in the financial sense of the word) a post for all of those "do it yourselfers" might be appropriate. To all of my clients who will contact me while I’m out of the country and don’t want to wait for my return (this is a joke by the way), here are six GREAT tips (with my commentaryt added after each point) from Amy Hoak of The Real Estate Journal for Selling Your Home Without a Real-Estate Agent:
The biggest advantage of the for-sale-by-owner strategy is that a commission won’t need to be paid to a listing agent. But those taking on the job themselves need to roll up their sleeves and prepare for a little work to get the home sold, understanding that they will be the ones taking care of tasks ranging from marketing to showing the property to interested buyers.
- Prepare the house: clean, declutter and de-personalize
- Price it correctly: it’s your castle but don’t get carried away as overpricing will crush you and don’t rely too heavily on the Zillows. Search the Internet on sites like Street Easy (For New York) for comparable homes in your neighborhood and remember that someones asking price means absolutely nothing. sales price that you want to compare to.
- Decide how to use the commission savings: Spend some on marketing
- Market it correctly: Good luck with this as this is different in every market across the country. Take note of how the successful real estate agents in your area are procuring buyers for homes and model them.
- Get support lined up: Speak with attorneys, title companies, etc before going to market
- Make sure a buyer can afford it: I recommend having them sign and notarize a financial statement that often times becomes part of the contract. That way if they are dishonest about there finances, they may be in breach of contract. Also ask them for pre-approval letter from lender.
So it’s a piece of cake? For some maybe. As I have said before on True Gotham, many of you out there are just the type to take on a task like this and save yourself thousands of dollars in commissions. Having said that, there is a reason that most sellers choose to have a professional assist with this process…it’s not an easy one. Check out more tips here, listen to the pod cast, and good luck.
Now I’m going back to sleep.
