For Sale By
Owner
Tips for Selling Your
Property Yourself
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1) EFFECTIVE PRICING
A good market
analysis can help you to fetch the highest price for your home.
Too high a price can mean no sale and
the delay of selling your home can actually result in you receiving less
money for your home than you would had it been properly priced to begin
with. If your home is priced too low, you will also lose money.
Proper pricing is the key.
A good idea for pricing your home is to
ask neighbors with similar homes (to yours) what they paid for their
homes. It wouldn’t hurt to ask about some homes on the next streets
over as well. This can, to a degree, emulate what I, as a Realtor am
able to do for you in performing a Comparative Market Analysis or CMA.
If your area has an online MLS, you may be able to compare prices to
features through that service as well.
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2)
PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR SALE
Identify and
improve selling points for your home that can help you get the highest
price for your home.
(i.e., painting, landscaping, carpet, etc.) You can find tips for
these touches on various internet websites. A good place to start
is through a good internet search engine such as "www.google.com" |
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3)
CONTRACT PREPARATION
Have a lawyer draw up a sales contract
for you beforehand that will ensure you are protected against possible
legal contingencies during and after the sale of your home. DO NOT
USE A REALTOR ASSOCIATION CONTRACT FOR YOUR SALE! A contract drawn
on one of these VAR forms without the representation of the named
association, REALTOR or real estate firm is a VOIDABLE CONTRACT.
Protect yourself against possible loss of the sale - you are much safer
having your attorney draft these contracts for you. |
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4)
MEDIA
Put together a sales brochure that
includes multiple photos and outlines the positive features of your home. Place the
brochures (preferably) next to your yard sign so potential clients can
access them. Also place copies of the brochure in your home next
to a sign-in sheet where you can request that visitors sign in and log their contact
information for you to use in following up with them later.
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5)
FINANCING
It would help you significantly to be
aware of financing options. You may wish to consider contacting local
banks to find out what the best and current mortgage rates are and print them on a
handy sheet with possible payments on your home for potential clients to
take with them. If you know a banker or mortgage lender or broker who can pre-qualify potential
buyers quickly, then you are on a par there also with many Realtors –
and already ahead of the game. |
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6)
FOLLOW-UP
It is critical that you
keep track of people who have come by and follow-up with them or their
buyer's agent by phone, mail, or fax. This is especially important
because buying involves emotion and you do not want a prospective buyer
to forget about your home and how great they felt about it when visiting. You
may wish to design and use a type of feedback form that you can fax or
send to past visitors that will help you assess what changes, if any,
need to be made in your marketing approach. |
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7)
ADVERTISING
A big advantage Realtors have over the
“For Sale By Owner” is the Multiple Listing Service or MLS. Realtors
pay dues to use the MLS service and it is available only to licensed
real estate agents who are members of the local board. It lists, with features and photographs, every house for sale
in the City and surrounding counties that is listed with MLS-member real estate
agents.
Although the MLS service cannot effectively be imitated by the "for sale
by owner" seller, that does not
mean you cannot advertise your home effectively. You can advertise
regularly in the newspaper – The News and Advance, and The
Lynchburg Ledger are good places to start. If you can place a photo
with the ad – all the better – your ads will stand out from others. Try and do this
at least once per week, preferably in the Sunday newspapers. Most
Real estate agents will also use the periodical, Real Estate this
Week which is available only to real estate brokerage firms. |
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8)
INTERNET – ELECTRONIC EXPOSURE
Roughly 80% of all homebuyers use the
Internet to shop or explore the market before they buy a home. There are
several FOR SALE BY OWNER websites available for you to use that can
help you market your home.
These sites will charge a "listing" fee to "show" your home until it
sells which is usually (but not always,) due up front. You may also be offered additional services for additional
prices. This can be considerably less expensive than using a
REALTOR. Two examples
of such websites are:
FORSALEBYOWNER.COM and FSBO.COM
I market my listings
on the following websites:
LYNCHBURG AREA MLS, REALTOR.COM,
VAREALESTATE, HOMESINFOREST.COM, AND/OR LYNCHBURGBUILDERS.COM
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9)
SHOWINGS & OPEN HOUSES
Advertise and open your house to the
public periodically on weekend afternoons. Also, have someone available
to show your home on short notice during the day, early evenings, and on
weekends as these are the most likely times buyers will wish to see your
home. Always follow-up with those you show so you do not lose the
possible sale.
NOTE: While open houses can be a good source of potential
clients for a listing agent, they are not particularly effective at
selling houses. |
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10)
FAMILIAR CONTACTS
It is always a good idea to send out a
mailer to your friends and neighbors to let them know your house is on
the market. They can be a good source of contacts for you. |
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IN
CONCLUSION:
Selling a house is almost never easy, but if you follow these steps in
marketing your home, you will find yourself to be much more
competitive in the marketplace and will greatly increase your chances of
selling your home for a price you can live with.
Should you decide to hire a real estate agent to assist is selling your
house, we hope you will consider calling us first and let us show you
how affordable a full-service firm can be.
IfI can be of
assistance to you
please contact Chuck at our office: (258-5072), or
in the evening at: (237-3224).
Thank you, and we wish you the best for a
quick sale.
Chuck Gammon
Broker/Owner
C.H. Gammon Real Estate
Lynchburg, VA
Phone: (434) 258-5072
Click
Here to E-Mail
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