How To Sell Your House Yourself

Save thousands of Dollars

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High Fees and Costs Are Hurting The Housing Market

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The housing market is very low on inventory all across the country. While there are still plenty of buyers looking for homes the housing market itself is slowing. More people, especially millennial’s, are forgoing home ownership for now. Part of that is because of high fees and costs that are hurting the housing market. Some of that decline is simply because of the inventory. There are not enough homes to go around. Some of that decline is due to the high cost of buying a home.

According to Investopedia Millennial’s aren’t buying homes at the rate of previous generations. Millennial’s compose the largest segment of the U.S. population, nearly one forth, and if they’re not buying homes that could create a problem for the housing market.

Affordability is a big issue. There has been a considerable rise in housing prices the last few years. That increase has put home ownership out of reach for many when you include the high cost of buying and selling a house.

Transaction Fees When Selling A House

The Cost of Selling a House with a real Estate agent can be expensive. If a brokerage charges 6% of the contract price when listing a home that is a substantial cut into profits for the home seller. For example for a $250,000 price tag the home seller loses a full $15000.

Think of what you could do with $15000.

Some potential home sellers simply can’t afford to sell their house. People are staying put for longer periods of time which means less people selling and moving. Many homeowners would like to move up, or downsize or move to a different area. High transaction fees often prevent that from happening.

Closing Costs When Buying A House

High Fees and Costs Are Hurting The Housing Market through the buyer too. Closing costs and prepaid are expensive and the responsibility of the buyer to pay. These costs cannot be rolled into the financing and have to be paid out of pocket.

After saving for a down-payment a buyer also needs to have thousands more on top of that to cover closing costs and prepaids.

What are closing costs? Closing costs are all of the banks and government fees and taxes. Closing costs can include, but not limited to:

  • Loan origination fee
  • credit report
  • Appraisal fee
  • Title insurance
  • Closing fee paid to closer company. Could be a title company or a bank.
  • Recording fees
  • Underwriting fee
  • Food certification

Prepaids are taxes and insurance. A mortgage payment consist of principle & interest (the money you borrow and what you pay the bank to do so) taxes and insurance. When a real estate transaction closes there is a certain amount of money that needs to be escrowed for those taxes and insurance. That comes out of the buyers pocket.

All Together

All together the radical increase in housing prices the last few years, the shortage of inventory and the high fees and costs are hurting the housing market. The American Dream of home-ownership seems to be slipping from the grasp of a lot of Americans.

You as a home seller have the power to help fix that. One solution to this national problem is for home sellers to forego the huge transaction costs, real estate commissions, and sell their homes themselves.

Why You Should Sell Your House Yourself

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It’s pretty obvious why you should sell your house yourself. To save lots of money! A really lot! And who doesn’t want to do that?

The real question is why don’t more people do it? It used to be, before the internet, remember waaaayyyy back then, you really did need a real estate agent to help you. Mostly because there was no way to market your house other than the classifieds in the newspaper. Again, remember those? Newspapers?

It required a real estate agent to post your “listing” in the real estate books that only other real estate agents had access to. So you would you need to list your home with an agent so they could show it to other agents who would show to their client. Did you follow that?

The only way to get your house shown was to hire an agent to show it to other agents. The real estate industry held all the information so they held all of the control.

Why You Can Sell Your Home Yourself

And then came Zillow. There were other sites before but Zillow was the 800 pound gorilla that changed everything. Zillow and other modern websites post online all the information that used to be held close by the real estate industry. Today all that information is available for free to the public.

That’s where the buyers are. Their online looking at homes for sale. They can see what the home sold for in the past. They can see what the real value is. They can see pictures and descriptions. They can contact the homes owner directly when a for sale by owner.

Many of these buyers have their own agents but the point is your house can be found. You really don’t need to pay someone to list it for you.

So do it yourself and save thousands of dollars.

That’s why you should sell your house yourself.

Why a Pre-Inspection is a Good Idea

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When I list homes for people they often ask me about the inspection process. I always tell them why pre-inspection is a good idea.

Picture of home inspector standing in front of house inspecting.
Home inspector in front of a house

Most real estate contracts include a clause making the contract contingent on home inspections. Contingent is defined as “occurring or existing only if (certain circumstances) are the case; dependent on”. The buyer has the right to have the home inspected. When major problems are uncovered during inspections there’s a good possibility a contract can fall apart. Every state has different contracts.

For instance in Kansas, as well as most other states, after the inspection the buyer can ask the seller to do repairs. Most contracts are specific as to serious defects. This prevents buyers asking for frivolous or cosmetic repairs. If the buyer and seller can’t come to an agreement on those requested repairs the buyer can terminate the contract and have his earnest money returned.

That’s why having a pre-inspection is a good idea. Having an inspection before you put your house up for sale can head off any potential problems.

When a buyer asks for repairs often they ask for their own contractors or for licensed contractors to do simple jobs. Simple jobs you could easily do yourself. Repairing defects before the home goes up for sale can save money.

Sometimes selling your house “as is” in a strong sellers market is a good idea. That way no surprises and no stress over inspections. If you have already had a pre-inspection you’ll know what to expect. If you have completed repairs before putting the house on the market you’ll have a smother transaction.

The inspection process is where I notice the most stress from sellers. It can get very emotional when repair requests are submitted. personally i dislike the process. I’ve seen deals fall apart over pure pride.

Getting Something

Sometimes buyers, or their agents, will use the inspection process to get something. I’ve had them give a list of repairs and then actually demand money in lieu of or in place of doing the repairs. The repairs are often minor defects sometimes not even real defects at all.

The deal could be held hostage by a buyer, or their agent, threatening to back out if their demands are not met. Yes, it sounds like a crappy thing to do, but it happens.

Buyers could have the mentality that they “want” something in return for the money they spent on the inspector. Even if the house is in perfect condition they may want something done to make themselves feel better.

This is what you avoid by doing a pre-inspection. Know the condition of your house. Take care of any problems before you put it up for sale.

Make it a smooth transaction.

Joel

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell In A Sellers Market

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Getting your home ready to sell in a sellers market is where you make the big money. The nation is experiencing a sellers market which tempts sellers to put their house on the market before it’s ready. If priced right it will sell. But…

By putting forth some effort and minimal expense you can possibly earn thousands more dollars. Properly preparing your home for market gets you more money, period!

Start with curb appeal to get potential buyers inside. Start off on the right foot by getting buyers excited about a house as they approach. People are forming opinions as they walk up to the front door. These first opinions are crucial.

  • Keep grass cut, trimmed and looking good at all times.
  • Trim bushes and hedges to keep them neat and from blocking windows.
  • Add some potted plants during spring and summer to the front porch.
  • Powerwash the house but especially the front porch area.
  • Check the exterior caulk and paint and improve as needed.
  • Check the front door hardware to make sure it functions smoothly and is in good condition.

By now the your buyers have a really good feeling as they enter the house. Keep that good feeling going throughout the rest of the tour by ensuring the house is clean, really clean.

The small defects may be overlooked by buyers because there aren’t enough homes on the market but you still want the house to be clean. Carpets and floors should still be clean. Paint walls if needed or a least make sure they’re mark free.

More than likely unless the house is drastically overpriced you’ll get showings and offers. Just as in any market the better the house looks, and “feels”, the more excited buyers will be. The more excited buyers are the more money they’re willing to offer you.

Get More Money

While there may be a shortage of homes in a sellers market that doesn’t mean a seller should slack off. Buyers may be desperate but they will still pay more for a house that is in excellent condition. The more impressive a house is the more people will want it. That means more people making offers, big offers.

When getting your home ready to sell little things like sprucing up the kitchen by clearing everything off the counters make a big difference. Polish all the appliances and clear the refrigerator of notes, pictures, calendars and anything else. Make sure the cabinets are all clean and in good working order. The kitchen is a big deal.

The rest of the house, like the living room, dining room, bathrooms and bedrooms should all be, yes, clean, clutter free and in good repair.

  • Make sure all doors are working smoothly.
  • Repair any holes in the walls.
  • Closets should not be crowded.
  • All the toilets should flush properly and be clean.
  • Check all plumbing under sinks for leaks.
  • Pack up as much stuff as you can before the sale.

The big take away is don’t be tempted to take the easy way out by simply throwing your house on the market. Take the time to get it ready. Make more money. After all, that’s the reason you’re selling your home yourself. To save money. Might as well make some while you’re at it.

Joel

How to Pay 1/2 the Real Estate Commission Without Negotiating

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Real estate buyers agent shaking hands with seller.

Want to know how to pay 1/2 the real estate commission without negotiating? Easy. Sell your home yourself. Really.

Get your home ready to sell and price it right then list it yourself on internet sites like Zillow and Trulia. Then sit back and wait for a buyer that has an agent.

The worst scenario for the real estate industry is when the public, home sellers, figure out how easy it is to sell a home. Real estate agents should love, and probably do, internet sites like Zillow, Trulia and realtor.com because they do all the work. Sure, Realtors have the multiple listing service but consumers use the internet sites to search and gather information on their own.

Those real estate sites can also help you sell your home on your own, as a For Sale By Owner.

There is really no need for a “listing agent” anymore. Home sellers can easily perform all the tasks the agent does for you. The work of getting your home ready to sell (which you actually do anyway), pricing it right and marketing you do yourself. All of the tools needed are available for little or very little cost. And you’ll save thousands of dollars.

It’s happening more and more that people just like you are selling their homes themselves successfully. That’s not to say all are successful. It does take a certain amount of knowledge all of which is available outside of the real estate industry. There is some work involved but the rewards are substantial.

You can get an actual real estate agent to price your home for you or you can use the internet to find comparables and do it yourself.

So now that you know that get your house ready and get it listed For Sale By Owner. Market it all over the internet, to friends, neighbors and co-workers.

The Real Estate Commision

If you’ve done everything right getting ready for the sale you will get potential buyers wanting to see your home. It doesn’t matter if it’s a “sellers market” or a “buyers market” you’ll get traffic. How much relates to the type of market we’re in and the overall health of the economy.

Some of those buyers may have a signed buyers agency agreement with a real estate agent. An agency agreement is a contract between a real estate agent and a buyer that guarantees the agent will get paid. It is assumed, wrongly or rightly but we’re not debating that today, that the seller pays all real estate commissions.

If you accept an offer from one of these buyers their agent will do all the work. You’ll only be paying half the real estate commission. If you like the agent they may even be able to help you find your next home, at no cost to you.

Do not let the agent charge you more because they’re doing all the work. It’s actually easier for an agent to handle both sides of the deal. Remember, you have control. You’ve gotten your house ready, priced it right and it’s in demand. If the buyers agent won’t work with you then find another.

If your buyer doesn’t have a buyers agent you can ask them to get one or even suggest one you may know.

Remember, listing your house yourself on the internet is not difficult. If you’ve done everything right getting ready, attracting buyers will be a breeze.

Having a buyer with a real estate agent enables you to have all the paperwork done for you with only paying half the real estate commission.

Now go sell your house and save thousands of dollars.

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