Tips for FSBO

So I know in the blog last week, I talked about why not to sell your home for sale by owner (FSBO). Well, if you’re still planning on selling your home by yourself, I’ll give you a few tips. It is possible, you just need to be well educated on the home selling process. Especially if the buyer is not represented by an agent. Pretend you’re a buyer and walk around your house, what jumps out as a red flag to you? Let’s dive in.

                                CONDITION

Before we jump in, let's talk about conditions. Are there a bunch of little fixes that are cheap and easy to fix? Fix them! Most buyers want a move-in ready home. If you want the most money for your house, do the little fixes. Power wash your home, declutter, clean a little, paint. All these things will help buyers make their decision. Now I’m not saying build a brand new home and do things you’re not capable of doing, but the tiny holes in your wall or the landscaping is overdue for a makeover is an easy fix you can do yourself.

                                PRICE IT RIGHT

First things first, price. Take a look at homes in your area that are like yours. See what they sold for, that can help you decide what price is right for your home. Hire an appraiser to appraise your home. Even though an appraiser value is good for right then, it will still help you a lot knowing what your home is worth. Tip: don’t put your house higher than it’s worth for “wiggle room”. That isn’t a thing anymore when finding out home values are very easy to figure out. Even on home buying sites buyers can set their budget. Wouldn’t it suck if you priced your home at $325,000 with a $25,000 window for negotiating and a qualified buyer has his/her limits set at $300,000 and can’t even see your home on their feed. Price it at market value.

  MARKETING

One of the most important steps, marketing. Now I can spend a lot of time on this topic, but for the sake of the read I’ll shorten it a little. Ask yourself this question: where am I going to post my house? Zillow, facebook, realtor.com? There’s tons of places to post your home for potential buyers to see. Other than the internet you can try putting it in the newspaper, for sale signs, or holding an open house. You will want to maximize your marketing if you actually want your house to sell, putting a sign out and calling it a day might not work how you want it to.

PICTURE PERFECT

Now that you know where you’ll be showing off your property, what are potential buyers going to see when they view your pictures? Are they going to see horrible iPhone pictures that are blurry? Tip: turn up the brightness! Turn on the lights, let in natural light if you plan on taking the pictures yourself. Better yet, hire a photographer that can make your home look stunning. Wouldn’t a $200ish investment in great pictures be better than your home sitting on the market for months?

 CURB APPEAL

I know we just talked about conditions, but let's talk about curb appeal. People see the outside of your house first, make sure it’s a good impression. Power wash, rake the leaves, shovel the driveway and sidewalks when it snows, mow the grass. Paint the front door. Homes with black or charcoal gray front doors sell for $6,271 more than expected (Zillow). Could you imagine getting more for your home because you painted your front door. Also, getting debris off of the roof and cleaning the gutters help boost curb appeal too. What would you like to see if you were a buyer looking at a house? 

                               TAKE AWAY YOUR BELONGINGS

Next, and probably the best tip, your personal belongings. Take away any small valuable item, as well as prescription drugs in the home. As much as you want to trust everyone you still need to use precautions. You should really take anything out of the home you possibly can. Buyers want to look at a clean slate to imagine all their belongings in the home. It would be pretty hard to do that while staring at your family pictures and all your clothes. 

          BE SAFE AND SMART

You don’t want to waste your time right? Make sure buyers are pre-approved or can show you proof of funds. One, it's a safety precaution because at least you know they’re at least somewhat serious, but also because you don’t want to spend all this time showing these buyers when they can't even afford your home. Doing this will at least give you some ease that you’re showing your home to the right buyers. 

LEGAL STUFF

Let’s wrap things up with this. You accepted an offer, now what? Did you educate yourself like I said in the first paragraph? In PA, you don’t need to hire a lawyer to sell your home. It is different in every state so I would check that out. Even though it isn’t required, it is a very smart decision to get that help. A lawyer can help with final details, closing dates, etc. You want to make sure everything you’re doing is legal. I know I said this in about every paragraph, but this is important! It all is, and if now you’re reading this and you are unsure if you can sell your home FSBO, hire a real estate professional. 

I hope this helped and gave you some tips on how to sell your home by yourself. Maybe you’re thinking about becoming an agent and want to see if this is for you, or maybe you just don’t want to deal with anyone else besides you. Either way, be smart, stay safe, and be happy.

Have real estate needs in Western PA? Give me a call!