For Sale By Owner

It’s always good to save money whenever possible, don’t you agree? Saving money can be especially important in difficult financial times, like today’s economy. The real estate market has been particularly hard hit, and it’s no wonder that sellers in distress want to save the commission fees that are involved when using a Realtor. I understand completely. That’s why I  want to help you if you’ve chosen to sell your home on your own. So I’ve put together this checklist you might find useful. You can call me any time if you have questions or need more information.

• Set your asking price: Research the market on the internet, using the many real estate search sites available. (Realize the information they offer is not always accurate or current). Look at other homes for sale in your immediate area that are comparable to yours. Find out which other properties are currently in escrow, pending closing.  Check the county tax records to see what price homes have actually sold for in the last 6 months. Determine the average time homes are on the market before they sell. Figure out the difference between what price homes are listed for and what they actually sell for.
• Consider home improvements: research what things you can to upgrade your home that will maximize your return on investment and appeal to today’s buyers.
• Set your advertising budget: Most people who sell their own homes spend at least $1000 -$2000.
• Design  your ads for the newspapers: Take numerous  High Definition pictures of the exterior and interior of your home. Write some attention-getting copy.  Create an attractive and compelling layout of words and pictures that will cause people to pick up the phone and call you. Be sure to include your mobile phone number so buyers can call you at work.
• Run your ads: decide when, where and how often you will run your ads…on weekends, weekdays or both, whether to use color or B/W, what newspapers and magazines to use.
• Consider marketing worldwide: a significant number of homes are purchased by international buyers.
• Design and print color fact sheets: color increases the visibility of your flyer and the perceived value of your home. There are different  programs that will help you, depending on the type of computer software you use.
• Display your flyers: try local supermarkets, your workplace, and other high visibility locations.
• Put a For Sale sign in your yard: be sure to display your phone number. You might consider purchasing an 800#  and using a text messaging service to provide recorded info to people who drive by.
• Send your flyer out–preferably with a cover letter–to all the real estate offices in a minimum ten mile radius.
• Create a website: be sure to include the website and your email address on all the materials about your home.
• Advertise your home on the internet: 84% of homebuyers today begin their search online. You will want to create a profile and add your listing to as many internet sites as possible. Adding videos of your home is also very important.
• Create a social media presence: demographics show that a great percentage of buyers today are young people who use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other sites in their decision-making process.
• Return all calls and emails quickly: one of the biggest complaints I hear from people is the lack of prompt follow-up.
• Set appointments ASAP: if buyers are looking at your property, they are also looking at your competition.
• Be available days and weekends to show your home.
• Constantly monitor the market: be ready to make adjustments in your asking price to changing market trends.
• Pre-qualify your buyers before inviting them into your home: ask questions over the phone, such as how they will pay for the home, can they get a mortgage, have they been pre-qualified by a lender, do they have proof of funds, do they have to sell another home before they can purchase yours, etc.
• Decide the terms and conditions of your contract of sale: determine whether you want to pay an attorney to handle the contract. Buyers have the right to make  inspections, review documents and get appraisals before commiting to purchase your home. You’ll need to decide how long this process should take and make sure the buyers adhere to your deadlines. In addition to the purchase agreement, there are a number of discloures you’ll need to make regarding the condition of your property to avoid getting sued later.
• Choose your escrow and title companies: you’ll probably want to require a “good faith” deposit and the buyers will  want their money held in an escrow account.
• Be prepared to pay a commission anyway: Your buyers will most likely use a licensed real estate agent to handle their side of the transaction who will probably ask you for 2%-3% of the selling price as their fee.
• Be prepared for the process to take months.

While everyone wants to save money, it’s easy to see that saving a commission fee may not be worth the time, effort and expense you will make to accomplish the goal of selling your home in the fastest time for the most amount of money possible.

We Realtors are professionals, experienced in home buying and selling, with a complex combination of skills including:

• Marketing
• Sales
• Negotiating and handling objections
• Qualifying buyers
• Home staging
• Drawing up and managing contracts
• Getting you to the closing table as effortlessly as possible.

Not only that, but licensed Realtors like myself have resources available to us that you don’t, like the all important Multiple Listing Service. As a sales consulting expert with First Team Real Estate–the #1 office in Orange County and #9th in the nation in total sales volume, I also have an advertising budget, hyper-specialized, world-wide marketing systems and syndication capabilities that are unrivaled by other agents or national franchises.

First Team Real Estate is also a founding member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, and in addition to being an ePro Realtor certified internet specialist, I am also a designated Luxury Home specialist focusing on properties over $1 million dollars.

But, if you’re willing and able to follow the steps I’ve outlined, list your home for sale and see how it goes. If I can be of further help, just call me.