thought with this week’s blog I would cover a fun topic: Selling your home yourself. With there being literally no inventory for buyers to choose from sellers are getting top dollar for their home so it’s no wonder that you might want to sell your home yourself and save a few bucks on commissions. Here’s my guide to how to sell your home yourself.
1. Update the interior of the home.
You have got to make the house have a WOW factor. We’re talking new paint and new carpet, refinish the hardwood, get rid of the linoleum and put in tile, new appliances, new counter tops and cabinets if they are dated. No matter what you do make sure you hire a professional to do the job because anyone can tell when you do it yourself.
2. Take professional High Definition photos.
Once again you don’t do this yourself you need to hire a real estate photography company. You want 25 to 35 photos that make your home look like a rock star.
3. Marketing.
Once the photos are in you’ll need to turn them into flyers and 2 or 4 page brochures. You’ll want to write up copy on your home as well. You want to use great descriptive words, adjectives, and point out upgrades and remodeled items in the home.
4. Put a sign in the yard.
This sign needs to be large, easy to read, and clearly lets people know that the home is for sale. The best sign you can use is a yard arm that real estate agents would use when selling their homes. A simple “home for sale sign” that sticks in the ground with a phone number in black marker will not cut it.
Since selling a home is all about getting it in front of as many people as possible you’ll need to advertise your home online. Since you are selling yourself you won’t be in your local MLS unless you pay a company a flat rate fee of around $1500 to put it in the MLS. We know you want to save that money so instead you need to put your property up on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, FSBO sites, everywhere. If you can plug in the photos, the copy, and your contact information on a site then that is a site you need to be on; no matter the cost.
Now you’ve got your marketing in place, it’s time to work with people!
In order to sell your home yourself you’ll need to do open houses. The days of 3 and 4 hour open houses no longer exist. You need to hold your home open to the public for 6 hours at a time. Noon to 6 or 10 to 4 is great. The more people that come through your home the better odds you have in selling it.
When doing an open house you’ll need to invite between 200 and 400 people in either a step up neighborhood that would downsize down to your home or step up neighborhood that would buy your home. You need to door knock these neighborhoods and personally invite the people. The act of simply leaving something on the door doesn’t work. You must be actively inviting these people to your home house. You’ll also need to have great signage for that open house. I’m talking 20 signs and 2 at every major intersection. Having a few signs that say open house doesn’t draw that crowd that’s necessary to have a successful open house. Also, put a few balloons on the signs for good measure.
The next step is to understand your local real estate contracts.
You’ll need to know what to look for in the contract to buy and sell real estate when you’re submitted an offer. You’ll also need to know how to draw a counter offer. You’ll also want to know how to read an inspection report as well as handle inspection objections and inspection resolution items that may come up from your buyer’s inspection. You’ll need to know which title company you wish to work with, what coverage you wish to buy, and how to read over the title doc information to make sure everything is in order for transferring the deed of sale. You’ll also want to know how to work with appraisers to make sure your home appraisers for the price you’ve agreed upon.
The last step and probably the very most important step is answering your phone and setting showings.
If your phone rings you need to answer it and return phone calls promptly. You’re selling a home not a toaster on craigslist. If you decline showings you’re declining a sale; buyers don’t wait to see homes they will move to the next home. This means that when someone calls you answer or you return the phone call within 30 minutes (not 24 hours) and if they want to see the home you better set the showing. You only get one chance with buyers and agents.
There’s the rough guide to selling your home yourself. It an absolutely be done but there’s a lot more that goes into it than taking photos on your iphone, putting it on Zillow, and haphazardly marketing the property. There’s a reason our profession, real estate agents and Realtors, exist. Sure we come with a commission but everything I’ve detailed above is our job and that’s why we make that commission. If saving a few thousand dollars on the sale of your home is worth the work I’ve mentioned then by all means you should probably sell your home yourself.
Marc Bayes is a Broker Associate with the Colorado Dream House Team, Keller Williams Realty DTC. Contact Marc at 303-619-3052, marc@coloradodreamhouse.com,codreamhouse.com or coloradodreamhouse.com
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