Sell Your House Yourself - Save thousands of Dollars

Why You Should Negotiate Directly

There are many good reasons why you should negotiate directly, among them you will know exactly what the other party is thinking. To be more clear when you negotiate directly you eliminate any chance of a middlemans interpretation not being what you meant.

In a normal expensive real estate transaction one of the services your real estate agent provides is negotiation.

What that means is the buyer goes through their agent and makes you an offer on your house. Your agent then tells you what that offer is and what his/her opinion of it is. Then you tell your agent that you either accept or you counter offer. And so on and so forth until you come to an agreement.

The agent is really just a middleman simply passing information back and forth. They may have some experience in negotiating but it isn’t anything you can’t easily learn yourself. Just google it! Seriously, there are many places online you can learn the basics. Dozens of entire books have been written on the subject. I’ll teach you specific real estate negotiation tactics in our Sell Your Home Yourself course.

A buyer without an agent is the ideal situation. You both then work out a deal. With no agent there are no commissions, you keep your money and the buyer gets a great house.

What If The Buyer Has An Agent

But sometimes a potential buyer interested in your house will have a real estate agent and they’ll have an agency agreement with that real estate agent. The real estate agent gets paid when they have an agency agreement. It doesn’t matter if the home is a For Sale Owner or listed on the Multiple Listing Service.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to pay the agent. It’s simply the way it usually works. An agent is paid to sell a house by a seller then splits that commision with the other agent that brings a buyer. But in this case you are selling your home yourself? You are the “listing agent”.

Theoretically the buyer should pay their own agent since they signed the agreement. And that’s what the agreements say. The buyer shall pay the commision if the seller doesn’t.

But;

The buyer really has no need of an agent so won’t want to pay. You certainly don’t have need for an agent since your a For Sale By Owner. So what happens? The agent will try and steer the client away from you.

The benefit of having the agent is they will do all the paperwork for the transaction but you have to decide what that is worth to you, if anything.

If you decide that you will work with the buyers agent make sure your buyer is present during all and any negotiations. Insist on negotiating directly with the buyer. You may have to broach the subject when both buyer and agent are present.

Why?

Because the buyers agent is definitely not going to like that idea.

You want to know exactly what your buyer is thinking. Not what their agents interpretation of that is. The agent wants to be in control of the transaction and they won’t be if it’s a good ole fashion sit down and hash it out between a buyer and a seller.

How To Negotiate Directly

Since you have elected to work with an agent one on the things that can be negotiated is the agents pay. Say your buyer offers you less than what you want and you say OK but I’m only paying your agent this amount. Or you simply may not think the agent has earned a huge sum of money for doing paperwork.

After all you got the house ready for market. You marketed the house. You attracted the buyer. The buyer just brought an agent along that is costing you money. Does that make sense?

When you offer less of a commission the agent is not likely to bring that part of the negotiation up to the client if the client is not present. In this case the agent is more looking out for him/herself than the client. That’s one reason you want to negotiate directly with the buyer.

You can look them both in the eye and say, yep, it’s a really great house and I’ll accept that price but I’m only paying your agent 1.5%, or whatever.

Or you can figure out the agents commision before you even start on the house terms.

Most of all this is your house and your deal. You elected to go it alone to save money. You’ve studied, you’ve worked hard and you know what your doing. You should maintain control to make sure you get the best deal possible.

When you negotiate directly with your buyer you’ll be able to read the buyers facial expressions and body language. That can be huge. You’ll know the difference between “I’d take this house at this price” and “I love this house so much I just have to have it”.

Those are important things you’ll miss if you negotiate at a distance through a real estate agent.

Negotiate directly, make more money.

Joel

How This Crazy Real Estate Market Saves You Money

by Joel Weihe

High angle picture shot of suburban neighborhood.
How this crazy real estate market can save you money. — Crazy real estate market

I’m going to tell you how this crazy real estate market saves you money, or how it can save you money if you’re willing to listen. You could even call it making money.

It’s almost March 2019. This is the start of the spring real estate selling season and I have to wonder what’s going on with this market. It’s crazy. Prices are rising fast, maybe too fast. Inventory is at an all time low.
Homes are selling so fast it’s dizzying (if that’s even a word).

It’s so crazy that right now there are literally more real estate agents than homes for sale in the small midwestern city I live in.

Are they real estate agents? Or more like opportunists? It’s so easy to sell a house when the market is like this. It seems everyone and their brother are getting a real estate license as a means to separate you, the home seller, from your money.

I’m telling you to keep your money by selling your home yourself. If you’re fearful I can teach you how, but honestly, it’s not that difficult.

Picture this scenario. An unemployed person gets up in the morning, turns on the TV and sees a news story about a hot real estate market. 3 weeks later this person has a real estate license and is handling the biggest financial transaction you’ll ever make.

If that sounds scary, good, it’s meant to.

He’s not worried about how much money you’ll make. He’s not worried about the down payment or mortgage of your next house. His goal is to rake in as much cash as he can while this crazy market is “hot”.

No one cares more about your money than you do so keep it.

Do It Yourself in This Crazy Market

When the markets are like this it really makes no sense to hire someone to sell your house for you unless you just don’t have the time, and are already rich. That’s understandable. I’m not rich but I hire a guy to mow my lawn because I don’t have the time. The opportunity cost is so high it’s worth it. I pay him 25 bucks.

If I were to pay someone to sell my house it would be quite a bit more. Like thousands more.

This really is a crazy real estate market. Homes that are priced right, properly prepared for market and kept show ready are selling the day they hit the market. Overpriced homes are selling the day the price is dropped to where it should be.

That’s really easy money, but for whom? The typical real estate commission is 6%. If you sell your house for $300,000 that’s $18,000 your paying someone to do what you could easily do yourself. Even if you pay a buyer’s agent, that’s a whole different topic, you still save $9000.

Maybe more if your negotiating skills are there.

The point is if you haven’t realized it yet, if you can fog a mirror you can sell a house in this crazy real estate market. Yes, you can.

Joel

How To Not Lose Money Selling Your House

by Joel Weihe

Man sitting on lawn with hands on face very sad and frustrated.
For sale by owner having problem with selling their house — For sale by owner having problem with selling their house

How do you not lose money when selling your house? It’s all about the price. Seriously, more people selling their homes themselves lose money because of price. They overprice it and the house doesn’t sell.

It’s a well known fact among real estate agents that overpricing a house and letting it sit to long on the market loses money. Many For Sale By Owners don’t get this. They put the house up for sale at what they need to get or what they think it’s worth.

What they need to get means they need the money for something. Either a downpayment on the next house or sometimes just to break even. Whatever the reason it’s not the right way to price a house.

What they think it’s worth has nothing to do with what the house is actually worth. Even if you finished the basement yourself and did a $15000 remodel job on the kitchen the market is still what determines price. Not the homeowner.

When a home doesn’t sell potential buyers start to wonder why. As a result they automatically think something is wrong with the property. The only reason it isn’t selling is because of price. The only reason any house doesn’t sell is because of price and everything is relative to price. For instance location, condition, features and updating are all relative to price.

You may have a really nice and updated house in a neighborhood that does not support your price.

How To Tell When Your House Is Overpriced

I’ve seen many times homeowners selling their house themselves let it sit for months and months at the price they think it should be. Only the market knows what the price should be. The way to not lose money selling your house is to do the research, be objective and price it right.

Most of the time buyers won’t even bother with an offer. They see a house that is way overpriced and they bypass it. Sometimes they’ll call their real estate agent about it but the agent will convince them not to even bother. For instance a client may call me about an overpriced house and say maybe we can talk them down. My response is if they are willing to take less money they would have priced it right to begin with.

The way to tell your house is overpriced is simple. It’s not getting showings and it’s not selling. When I’m working with a homeowner and they insist on overpricing the house I have a prepared speech. It goes something like this:

“It’s ultimately your decision what we price your house at. I am here to advice you. I’ll put it on the market at this price but we need to agree that after 7 days if it hasn’t had at least _____ showings or has had _____ showings with no offers than we lower the price to what will sell it. The price I recommended.”

I put spaces where the numbers go because different situations such as location, market conditions, condition of property ect. determine how many days we wait or how many showings before an offer is not made..

We almost always end up lowering price. (or taking a lower offer if it one is made) The trick is to not let it sit to long. Even worse if it happens to be a strong sellers market. People will expect it to sell fast.

If Your Just Not Sure

If your just not sure and you don’t want to risk leaving money on the table it’s OK to go a little high but only for a very limited amount of time. Make a plan and stick to the plan. You’ll know if your overpriced. Make sure you don’t sit on the market to long. If no one is coming to look at your For Sale By Owner you’re probably priced to high.

That’s how to not lose money when selling your house. Even better the way to make the most money selling your house is to do it right the first time. Price your house right!

Joel

Can’t Afford to Sell Their House

by Joel Weihe

Well, it’s happened again. A past client can’t afford to sell their house and they can’t afford to keep it. At least they don’t think they can but I will show them how to sell it on their own and save money.

To many times I run into or hear of people whom for whatever reason have to sell a house shortly after they bought it. By shortly I mean anytime within a year or two maybe three.

Theoretically the longer you live in a house the better the investment it is. Time gives the real estate time to appreciate and you to build equity by paying down, or paying off, the mortgage.

When someone has to move after only owning it a short time they really can’t afford to sell their house. Sometimes they can’t afford to keep it either. It can put families in a bad place.

Can’t Afford to Keep Their House

In this situation a young family wanted to live in a neighborhood for the schools. The area also held a certain prestige. They found a house they loved, went through the loan process, closed on the property and moved in.

A little over a year later they contacted me and indicated that they had bitten off a little more than they could chew. The house was eating up to much of their money. Once the mortgage and bills were paid they were left with very little disposable income.

They came to me for help selling the place. We went over the numbers and what it would cost to list the house with me. Even with charging the very minimum and having to pay a buyers agent they would have had to bring money to closing. They would have been in the red which means that the real estate commissions would have to be paid out of pocket. Thousands of dollars they didn’t have.

I asked them what I ask everyone that asks me about listing their house. “Have you ever thought about selling your house yourself?” And I got the same answer I usually get, no. Even if a home seller isn’t “in the red” it still makes since to save thousands of dollars selling themselves. Sell the house without hiring a real estate agent.

They didn’t make a decision at that meeting. I offered to help by giving them our free home selling guide. They took it and said they would think it over.

This particular story is to be continued…

You Can Do This

It’s really not that difficult to sell your house yourself. Real estate agents don’t have to put forth much effort once they have the business. If a house is in good condition, properly made ready for market and priced right it will sell. I can tell you how to sell a house. You can find that information easily.

What excites me is teaching people how to squeeze every last dime out of their For Sale By Owner. How to create multiple offers and get thousands more dollars. How to get buyers really excited about buying your house. Literally fighting over it. Making more money for you. That’s what excites me. Because I know it’s possible.

How To Take Great FSBO Pictures

by Joel Weihe

Leveral cameras lying in the grass indicating the importance of FSBO pictures. — Taking great FSBO pictures

When selling a house pictures are important. Really important. Here we’ll learn how to take great FSBO pictures. You know the old saying, A picture is worth a thousand words?

That’s a true saying. When selling a house, a picture really is worth a thousand words. Anyone who has searched homes online have seen the pictures of dirty, messy and cluttered homes. Or pictures of one small corner of a room? Pictures like that don’t impress and certainly don’t inspire potential buyers to schedule showings.

Great pictures sell houses. Literally. For real estate agents and For Sale By Owner listings. When home shoppers are scrolling through real estate sites it’s the pictures that make them stop and further investigate. Home shoppers spend more time on listings with great pictures. That means they’re spending more time on your listing which makes them more likely to pick up the phone and schedule a viewing.

Your FSBO pictures are what is going to attract buyers to your home. Attracting potential buyers to view your home is what is going to get it sold. You may have already done all the hard work of preparing your house for market and pricing it right. The great fsbo pictures you take is what will bring the buyers to your door.

Most successful Realtors use professional photographers or own expensive technical equipment and software. You, as a For sale By owner, don’t necessarily have to own a bunch of expensive equipment. There are inexpensive accessories that can be had to use on your camera phone.

9 Important Factors to Consider

There are many important factors to consider when taking your FSBO pictures.

The lens. A wide angle works best so you can capture more of the room. We use a 10-22mm Canon because it takes in more of the space without distorting the size too much.
Natural lighting. Open all the drapes, curtains and/or blinds. Take pictures at a time of day when the light is at its best, usually when the sun is at its highest.
Interior lighting. Turn on all the lights in the house unless they are causing shadows. Use high wattage bulbs, which should be in place anyway.
Shadows, Take your pictures from angles that produce the least amount of shadows.
Positioning. Most of my pictures are taken from the corners of the room to capture more space. That’s not to say that’s always the best angle. Sometimes centering a focal point, like a fireplace or a window configuration, works better.
Honesty. Take pictures that are true representation of the property. Don’t just take good pictures of a crappy house to attract people. It’s a bad idea to over promise and under deliver.
Software. If you have and know how to use photography software such as Photoshop or Paint Shop use it, but use it only to remove shadows and brighten what needs to be brightened. Do not use it to remove defects of the property.
Tripod. Use a tripod. Always.
Flash. Use a flash when needed is darker rooms. A flash can also be used to reduce shadows.

A house living room showing great fsbo pictures.

Great Pictures Attract Home Buyers

You can probably get good quality pictures of your For Sale By Owner practically free if not completely free. What route you take depends on the value of your home, your own confidence in your ability and your time. One could hire a professional photographer if not so inclined to do the job themselves. It isn’t as expensive as you would think.

Whether you take your fsbo pictures yourself or hire it out make sure they are fantastic pictures. Great pictures is what will attract potential buyers to want to view your home. The more buyers you attract the more offers you potentially get. The more offers you get the higher the price is driven up. That’s how you sell your house fast and for the most money!