Home Seller FAQ 9. How Can I sell my home without using a Realtor. ?

Home owners often try to sell their home on their own without having any knowledge of how to do it.

They buy a Sale Sign from Home Depot and have Open house every weekend.

I have gone to some open houses and noticed they do not even have a property description brocure.

Here are some things you can do if you are selling on your own :

1. Make sure you price it right. You should see what is on the market in your community and what has recently sold. The price should not depend on what you paid for the house nor on what you need to net inorder to buy another house or to pay off your mortgage.

2.Take many  great pictures of the house and all the rooms . Make a property description brochure. Include lot size, property taxes and all the upgrades you have made.

3.Prepare a sellers disclosure sheet if it is required by law in your state.

4.You already know about the Sale sign and advertising in the newspaper and on internet sites .

5.When you advertise you should decide whether you will pay a buyer agent who brings a buyer and how much .

6 .Be carefull when you let strangers into the house. Have someone else with you at the time.

7. Hire a good real estate attorney to help you with the contract to represent your interest.

8. Find out how to obtain certifications required for settlement.

9. Calculate your net and proceeds and if it is a short sale, do you have money to bring to the closing table . If not you may not be able to sell unless your lender has accepted the short sale. Do you know anything about short sales?

10. Please remember that you will receive calls from other agents asking if you are going to cooperate with agents and from buyers who will be looking to save the commission that you are trying to save. It is not a Seller's Market any more so it will be more difficult to sell than it was a few years ago in the Seller's Market.

But if you have time to show the home,if you will not be offended when people make negative comments about your house, if you know real estate laws in your state, if you have an attorney to help with the sale, if you are not scared of allowing strangers into your house,(when agents show the house they have done some screening of the clients, ), you should also know how to negotiate when the buyers make an offer, you should  try to sell on your own.

There is a lot more to selling a house than just placing a Sign in the yard and an Ad in the newspaper.

If you tried selling your home on your own and have not been successful, in Bucks County call Gita Bantwal at Re/Max Centre 215-343-8200x124 or 215275-8491 If you are selling in otehr parts of the Country I will be glad to refer you to a good agent in the area. I network with agents all over United States and Canada .