Ever considered selling your home without using a real estate agent? It may seem like a huge undertaking but if handled correctly and with the proper guidance, the process can be quite rewarding. If you have any friends that are realtors, try to pick their brains about the kind of things that they do when preparing a home for sale. They may try to get you to list with them but stick to your guns. Its going to be a good idea to make a list of things that need to be done in order to keep yourself on track.
Perhaps the most important thing that you are going to have to deal with will be the marketing process. Most realtors have a huge advertising budget that places homes in prominent view to local buyers. It can be difficult to compete with, but a smart FSBO seller can compensate for this by flat fee MLS listings, and proper newspaper coverage. Also try to find a national FSBO web site and list your home there. This is will not only give your home exposure to a national audience, but it will also make your home known to realtors. It is likely that you will end up dealing with agents in some capacity as buyer's agents will undoubtedly have clientele interested in your home.
The next section of preparations are one that you would be doing yourself anyway. However, when representing yourself they become more important. This is the time for staging your home. Go on a cleaning spree and bring the kids with you! It's important to get the house into ship-shape condition if buyers are going to be interested in making an offer. Be mindful of things like aromas in the house. Pets can be a major cause of odors in the home, so burning some scented candles during showings is a good idea. Also, before the showings start try to de-odorize the house as much as possible by getting rid of the source of the smells. This may mean leaving pets outside or better yet, with a friend or relative for the duration of the showing.
It also might be in your best interest to get a professional hand with the closing contracts and financial concerns. These can be tricky if you are not used to dealing with them. You want to be sure that you are not left hanging with unreasonable contracts or conditions on the sale.
Someone you know is selling a home? Had successful experience in doing so before? For someone who's never done it, home selling can be frustrating. If you think you can help selling a home, it usually means you've had enough satisfaction doing it before, and is willing to do it again. Good for you (and for the confused homeowners).
So how can you help sell a house? Most home owners will stumble even on the preparation phase - when they have to understand all the legal requirements. You might have known from your experience that getting the legal stuff straight is the first step of a home selling process, so an assistance on this would always be appreciated. You can help the owners understand difficult clauses in documents, or design the wordings in their contract forms. Not keen on paperwork? Help advertising. See if you know anyone who's looking for a house. If you have some potential buyers, think about who would fit better to the house. The good thing about having a "personal home salesman" is that it knows more than just facts about the house. Think about the neighbourhood, the size of the house, and the climate, and find someone who might be interested in the qualifications. Or if you work in a newspaper or magazine, you can help by posting up the advertisement.
Of course, the concept "helping to sell a home" also applies when you're selling your own house with the help of an agent. If you want to improve the home selling process, there are some independent steps you can do. Spread out the news that you're selling your home in the neighbourhood. Organize open houses to invite visitors. Provide your agent with complete information about your house. Put up extra advertisements where your agent may not cover; a blog or personal website is excellent for this. Some people are reluctant to help their agents selling their home on the reason of "that's what they're paid for!". Remember that agents have a lot more clients to handle and may not always focus their attention on your house. The home owner is the only one who's willing to voluntarily give out complete information to potential buyers at no cost! Also keep in mind that no matter how great an agent you have, if your house has been in the market for a long time, you are going to be the person most financially damaged.
Whether it's helping sell someone's house, or an agent selling your own home, an assistance in home selling is always needed. Homes are such large investments - one simply can not sell it alone.
Both Kevin Bilberry & Charles And Kim Petty are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.