Is it time to sell your house? Are you thinking of doing it yourself without an agent? There is good news and bad news that goes along with selling a house yourself. The good news, with the web it’s much easier these days to do it yourself. The bad, it will take you some time and effort. If you tend to be on the lazier side of things, you may want to hire an agent. However, if you are motivated and stay at it, you can sell your house without an agent.
Why Choose FSBO?
Why would someone want to try and sell their house themselves? The main reason is because they are trying to keep as much of the sale proceeds themselves. However there is a lot of debate as to whether or not you can get more for your house if you choose to use an agent.
Susan Johnston Taylor wrote a very indepth article covering this and more:
Forsalebyowner.com is one of several websites that let consumers list their properties on the Multiple Listing Service, or mls.com, instead of paying a real estate professional to do it for them. Eddie Tyner, general manager of forsalebyowner.com, says the website has seen listings grow by 14 percent in the past year. “If a person has the time and willingness to invest in the process, we believe that almost anybody could do this,” he says. “The benefits are pretty substantial.”
Beyond saving on commission (5 or 6 percent is typical when both parties have an agent), Tyner says FSBO gives homeowners more control over negotiating price and other factors. “If you take out the person in the middle and you’re able to negotiate with the actual buyer, you’re the only two people who have an interest in it,” he says. “If you add other people, some of their interests get put into the equation.”
Jane Hodges, author of “Rent vs. Own: A Real Estate Reality Check for Navigating Booms, Busts, and Bad Advice,” offers a different point of view. “Most people choose to FSBO because they want to keep as much of their post-sale proceeds as possible,” she says. “However, the Realtor argument against this is that a good Realtor can get you sufficiently more for your sale, or accomplish the sale faster, such that their fee and your higher sale price still wash out in a way where you make the same or better money.”
Read The Full Article “How to Sell Your Home Without an Agent” Here
If you search the internet for pros and cons of using a realtor you will find a lot of opinions on the subject. From the article above though, we have to wonder about being able to sell the house faster. We would recommend that you do your homework on the realtor you choose. Ask a lot of questions and check their online reviews to make sure that they can sell your house quickly.
Anyhow – let’s move on.
Selling Your House Without A Realtor
There are a few things that you are going to have to do, whether you choose to use an agent or not. The first, which we have covered in other articles, is that you HAVE to clean up the house, inside and out! Your average home buyer isn’t going to be impressed with trash and toys in the yard, or dirty floors, laundry that needs to be done and dirty dishes in the sink and counter top. You have to make your home look it’s absolute best. There’s just no way around it, unless you choose to sell to an investor, which is another topic.
Something that a lot of people fail to do is to consider the timing of their sale. Sometimes it’s unavoidable and you have to sell now. But there are better times than others to sell your house.
WikiHow has some good info on this:
Determine a good time to list your home. There are certain times of the year more likely to yield a profitable sale. Generally you want to sell when the weather is good, before school begins and not near the December holidays.
- In the U.S. some suggest that the week after the Super Bowl is the best time to list your home (meaning February). While studies show that this time is ideal and has the most buyers, it also tends to be the time of year with the most sellers. Some find that the spring is the best time to list.
- It will be more difficult to sell a family-sized home at an advantageous price once school has started. After all, it can be tough for families with children to change schools mid-semester.
Consider the weather. Sooner is generally better if you want to “beat other homes onto the market,” but think about the weather. Depending on your location, you may have excessive cold and/or snow to deal with. How does your yard look with two feet of snow? Would your home look better in the spring when your yard and landscaping are at their most appealing? If the yard is not that great looking, then your home might look more appealing when the yard is covered in two feet of snow.
- Weather-related websites or newspaper offices can provide you with historical data regarding the best time of year to sell in your area. Keep in mind that job relocations occur throughout the year.
Read The Full Article “How to Sell Your House Without an Agent” Here
Really good info about times of year to sell your house. Most people that have children know that selling during the school year could prove to be difficult. Parents don’t want to change their kids schools mid year. With younger children it’s not as difficult, but with teenagers it could prove to be really hard on them emotionally and academically.
Summing It Up
We’ve just touched on the tip of the iceberg here. There is a lot to consider when selling your house without an agent. Whether you choose to use an agent or not, you are going to have to clean and tidy up the house. Depending on how fast you need to sell will also determine the best time to put your house on the market. Stay tuned for more tips or search or blog for more on selling your house yourself.
Don’t forget, if you don’t want to worry about cleaning or the timing of your sale, here at Mandich Property Group we will buy your house no matter it’s condition or the time of year 🙂