For Sale by Owner? To Do or Not To Do?
For sale by owner? FSBO, Is this right for you? In the first place, when it comes to thinking about selling your home it can be an enormous decision to make. And, you may think it might be better to sell your home with out the help of a licensed professional. To say nothing of, avoiding paying commission and giving you complete control over your listing. However, this means you as the seller has to be completely responsible for all of the details of the transaction. Which, in some cases can cost you time and money. Following are some things you should consider before selling your home yourself.
Accurately Pricing Your Home
Of course, every seller wants to sell their home for the best possible price. In light of this, not properly understanding the market can make this an almost impossible task. Therefore, making it more difficult to achieve the result you are looking for. Consequently, inaccurately priced homes tend to sit on the market for a longer period of time. Additionally, there are some things you will want to investigate when pricing your house for sale.
First, you will want to consider current prices for homes similar to yours in your neighborhood. Second, factoring in and adjusting for any home improvements you have made. And just as important, deducting for similar properties that are upgraded more than yours. Third, you will want to research market trends. The above tasks can be a bit formidable without access to Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data. This is where your licensed real estate agent can be invaluable. If you are interested in discovering your homes value click here. Watch our video on tips for pricing your home
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Preparing Your Home for Sale
Every seller wants their home to sell quickly and for a profit, but this will take more than good fortune. Here, you will want to depersonalize and de-clutter your home. To put it another way, now is the time to stage and showcase your home in a way that will help buyers to imagine themselves living in your house. Statistics show staging a home increases the dollar value of offers up to 5%. In fact, many agents offer their own staging services. Since you are on your own, you may decide to hire a professional stager or, do it yourself. If this is the case, pay special attention to the living room, kitchen and master suite.
In the same way, the exterior of your house needs to shine as well. Curb appeal is a plus. Consequently, this is where the first impression is made.
Lights, Camera, Action! It’s Picture Time
We have all seen the listing photos where you see the person in bathroom mirror taking a picture. If so, it’s time to consider a professional photographer. For instance, professional photos will help sell your home quicker and typically for more money. Although, many of the new smart phones have great cameras it is best to trust a professional who knows about lighting and the best angles. Thus, this will be great to use in your marketing materials. By the way, did you know most real estate agents offer this service as part of their listing package?
For Sale by Owner
Finally, now you can list your home. Where? Well, you can put your FSBO on Zillow. Unfortunately, only a licensed agent can create a listing in the Multiple Listing Service. Once a home is listed in MLS it gets fed to sites like Zillow, Realtor.com and others. Hence, you might be missing out on some good screen time. As a rule, most buyers start their home search online. So then, wouldn’t you want your home in front of as many potential buyers as possible?
It’s Time for Some Marketing
While, you may think a for sale sign will do the trick, it’s not quite that simple. However, at the Kolb Team we extensively market our listings through several platforms, such as Social Media and our Facebook page with over 3,400 followers. Additionally, we mail postcards, do newspaper ads and an email to the thousands of people in our buyer database including other agents. Above all, our website ranks at the top of Google searches.
Communication is Key
As a matter of fact, selling your home can be a very emotional time, even more so when you are doing it on your own. So, you will need to be ready to communicate with potential buyers and most likely their agents. Therefore, you will have to be diligent about returning phone calls, emails and texts. Being responsive to questions and available for showings is key.
Documentation and Disclosure
Once you find a potential buyer you will need to have knowledge of the required paper work and disclosures. Especially, what is required by Arizona law. In summary, the Seller Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS) is what a seller must tell a buyer about the home. Including, any past issues home may have, flooding, structural issues, repairs and upgrades. At this point, you may want the help of an attorney. Which, unfortunately can be pricey. But, can help you stay out of legal trouble.
Ultimately, selling your home yourself can be a daunting task. Is for sale by owner really for you? As a rule, according to the National Association of Realtors homes sold through MLS were sold on average 20 days faster and for more money. If you are thinking of selling your home give us a call 480-809-5759. Or email us at info@www.thekolbteam.com. The Kolb Team. Your Arizona’s active adult community experts.
The Kolb Team is recognized as the #1 real estate team in Sun Lakes by Nextdoor in 2019. And, we are in the top 1% of all Keller Williams agents nationwide.
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