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5 Tips for Selling Your House Yourself & Saving Thousands

As a homeowner, you worked hard to build the equity in your home, and you deserve to keep every dollar of the sale of your home. With changes in online marketing and For Sale By Owner services, you can harness the power of having a realtor sell your home – but without any of hefty commissions!

Specialty services, such as the ones provided by ForSaleByOwner.com, allow you to capitalize upon the same tools realtors use to sell your home, while you pocket tens of thousands more in saved commission fees.


Why realtors may not be worth their commission

A general misconception, potentially perpetuated by the real estate industry, is that working with a realtor will yield you the highest sale price for your home. However, researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison found that homes sold by an owner did not have any price difference compared to a realtor’s listing.

In fact, according to renowned economics researcher Steven Levitt, the price of your home may sell for less with a realtor. In Levitt’s research, on average, a real estate agent would sell a client’s home for almost 4% less than his/her own home. The client’s home also sold, on average, nearly 10 days faster than the realtor’s own.

What does this research tell us? It is in the best interest of realtors to sell your home quickly to pocket the commission as income – meaning they are not willing to honestly wait to obtain the best deal for your home. Your house may sell for thousands less, but the difference in commission to the realtor is minimal. Thus, not only do you pay tens of thousands in commissions, but you sell your home for a lower price through a realtor.

Maximize the value of your home through FSBO

The advent of the internet has levelled the playing field between realtors and for sale by owners. You can quickly, easily, and affordably market your home through For Sale By Owner – with the same exact selling strategies expensive realtors utilize.

These are valuable tips for selling your house yourself – ones that will maximize your selling price and the amount of money you get to keep:

  • List on the MLS – This point cannot be reiterated. When you list your home on the MLS through For Sale By Owner, your home is in the same database as the realtors’ listings. Considering that more than 80% of homes sell through their MLS listing, this is the key step in getting your home exposure to the buyers.
  • Advertise online - The National Association of Realtors reports that nearly 85% of buyers start their home search online. Placing your home online brings you directly to the forefront of the prospective buyers. When you work with a service such as For Sale By Owner, you can choose a package that automatically lists your home on Yahoo, Google Base, SaleByOwner, USAToday, and many other major online portals – giving you access to 85% of all buyers.
  • Honestly inspect your home – Selling your home for the highest price means presenting the property in the best light possible. You should take an honest, unbiased look at the condition of your home. Keep in mind that minor repairs can make a large difference in the final value of your home. Cleaning your carpets, painting the home, and perhaps even planting attractive flowers in the yard can pay off exponentially more in a higher sales price. You may also want to consider “staging” the home yourself – which means removing the clutter, opening the space, and utilizing universally-appealing decor to attract buyers to the closing table.
  • Price your home competitively – Determining the price of your home can be difficult. An important tip for selling your house yourself is accurate home pricing. Pricing your home too high means buyers do not turn up for open houses; however, pricing your home too low reduces its attractiveness – even if it is the nicest home on the street. Staying up to date with the current market is critical to setting a competitive price for your home. If you list through For Sale By Owner, you obtain an in-depth pricing report that will guide you through creating the best price for your property.
  • Understand closing negotiations – An important tip for selling your house yourself is to effectively negotiate at the closing table. A three-stage negotiation process is standard for most transactions, and thus, you should know that the buyer expects to talk you down from your original asking price. You can get creative to find ways to maintain your price, yet appease the buyers. For example, you could purchase homeowners insurance for them for one year, or include the appliances and plants with the sale. Remember, the best way to negotiate is to keep your feelings and emotions away from the table; when you look at the numbers objectively, it helps you best understand if you should continue to negotiate, or simply walk away from the deal.

    • Significant FSBO savings

    Although the tips for selling your house yourself may require more work than simply hiring a realtor, the rewards are significant. Let us compare the difference of cost on a $250,000 home.

    $250,000 Selling Price Cost / Commission
    Selling through For Sale by Owner $249 Flat Fee
    Hiring a Realtor $15,000 Commission

    Simply by selling your home through For Sale By Owner, you can pocket an extra $14,750! Indeed, for many homeowners, utilizing these tips for selling your house results in savings of tens of thousands of dollars – money that deserves to be in your pocket.