How to Sell a Home By Owner

Are you thinking of selling your home, but think the commissions that realtors charge are just too much? Well, you can bite the bullet, hire them, and make life easier for you at the cost of making less money at sale. Or you can sell it yourself and keep the money which would have otherwise gone to the realtor. 

We’ll talk about how to sell a house by owner, when you should do it, and its pros and cons. Plus, we’ll reveal a much better way of selling your home so you can skip all the hassles. 

What Does It Mean to Sell a House by Owner?

Selling a house as the owner simply means you attempt to sell the property by yourself, without the help of a licensed real estate broker or firm. That means you, the homeowner, will have to prepare, list, and sell (or negotiate, more like) the house yourself. 

So why would you want to sell your own home by yourself? Well, it all boils down to cost. Getting the services of a licensed real estate broker is costly. And remember, as the seller, you are responsible for paying your broker and the buyer’s broker. 

Commissions can sometimes run up to 6%, which might seem small. But if you’re selling a $500,000 home, that’s $30,000 of your profit being lost! So either you raise your listing price to compensate, or just bite the bullet and accept the profit loss.

For some homeowners, that’s simply unacceptable.

Selling the “easy” way (that is, using an agent) also has its share of frustrations. You’ll have to put on open houses that are a hassle to prepare for. Not to mention all that time spent waiting for offers.

While selling a home as the owner is financially attractive and entirely possible, it’s not for everyone. It takes a savvy homeowner to pull it off. Remember that you have to take the role of a trained real estate broker and agent, handling everything from marketing the house to making sure it’s legally compliant. If you don’t know what you’re doing, selling your home by yourself can end up taking more time, energy, AND money than if you had just hired outside help.

But if you already have an interested buyer or are currently in a very hot real estate market, then selling a house for sale by owner is the smarter choice.

How to Sell a Home as the Owner

If you’re a determined homeowner who wants to do it yourself, here are five steps for how to sell a home as the owner.

Competitively Price Your Home

Pricing is arguably the most critical step in selling your own home. Price it too high and you might scare away potential buyers. But if you price it too low, then you’ll have less profit at the end of the process. 

There are many ways to estimate the value of your property, ranging from free to paid. At the cheap end, you can use real estate valuation websites. However, these are a computer’s best guess of your homes worth and could be off by several thousand dollars.

The most accurate way to determine the value of your house is by hiring a professional appraiser. The only downside is the cost: most will charge you around $500 for their services.  Some real estate brokers can also value your property for free, but be prepared to sit through a sales pitch and persistent calls afterwards.

Ready the Home for Sale

Your goal here is to make the house as presentable as possible to potential buyers. At the minimum, that means doing minor repairs like fixing squeaky hinges, loose floorboards, faulty lights, and leaky pipes.

Then you should consider jazzing up the property to make it even more attractive. Try repainting the walls (hint: neutral colors work best) and decluttering the house. You want them to visualize living there as much as possible, and they can’t do that with stuff lying around! If this sounds like too much work, you can hire a home staging agency to do it for you (at a cost, of course).

Market the Home

Marketing is a crucial, yet often overlooked, part of selling a house. After all, how can people buy if they don’t know you’re selling?

Luckily, marketing is more accessible now, thanks to the Internet, and most of it is free. You can post your house for sale on your Facebook page or at a classifieds website like Craigslist. There are also websites dedicated to selling property, so you might want to look into those.

You can invest in offline marketing tactics like sending out brochures, putting up an ad with the local newspaper, or hosting an open house.

Negotiate

Negotiating is something that most house sellers dread, but it simply comes with the territory. If you haven’t sold something before, realize that buyers will always try to ask for an amount that’s lower than your selling price.

Most of your negotiations will be verbal, but it’s vital to put everything down in a contract once you’ve come to an agreement.

Close the Sale

How do you complete the for sale by owner transaction? That happens when the deal is closed, and the contract is signed. This is one area where getting the services of a closing lawyer or agent is beneficial. There are too many legal loopholes that can be dangerous if you don’t know how to deal with them.

For Sale by Owner Pros

One of the most attractive things about selling a home by yourself is the potentially bigger payday. You get to avoid the hefty 5 – 6% commissions most agents charge to help sell your house (remember, a 6% commission is $15,000 on a $250k home!). The extra profit is reason enough for some homeowners to decide to sell their home this way.

Selling the house yourself gives you much more control over the process. You have the freedom to choose where, when, and how you list your home. You can also schedule home tours on  your own time, so you’ll never be inconvenienced by a realtor wanting to schedule a tour at the last minute.

More importantly, you’ll have complete control over the selling price of your house and can adjust it as you see fit..

For Sale by Owner Cons

The biggest roadblock to selling your own home is the considerable expertise, time and money needed to pull it off. You’ll need to handle renovations, listing your property for sale, marketing it online, negotiating with buyers, and closing the deal. All of these steps will cost money, eating into your profits.

A study also reveals that selling a house on your own will lead to a lower selling price on average versus when done with a realtor. This has to do with expertise more than anything. A professional agent will have the network, experience, and skills needed to get the best price possible for your property.

All of these factors point to one thing: you’ll most likely make mistakes, especially if you haven’t done this before. And these mistakes will cost you money, which can beat the purpose of selling it yourself in the first place.

A Simpler Way of Selling Your Own Home

If selling a house by yourself is too hard, yet you can’t accept the lower profits of getting a real estate broker, don’t worry—there’s a better way.

Looking to sell as an owner can be faster and easier! That’s where the House Buyers of America comes in. We offer a stress-free and simple way to sell your house fast and hassle-free. You’ll get a fair cash offer from us within minutes, and we’ll buy the property from you as is. We buy houses, it’s just that simple!

Here’s how to sell your house by owner, our way:

• It starts when you give us a call. We’ll give you a fair cash offer in 10 minutes or less. Or, if you prefer requesting an offer online, you can also use our convenient 
  online form.
• After this initial call, we’ll schedule a visit to your house to review our cash offer. We buy properties as is, so there’s no need to worry about your house’s condition. We’ll review the paperwork with you on-site, and explain all the details of our cash offer. 
• Finally, if you agree to the terms, we can sign the appropriate documentation and get you paid in a matter of days. And that’s it! No need to market your home, or clean it up, or even prepare for an open house. House Buyers of America will buy any house, as is, right then and there.

If you’re looking to sell your house for cash and hassle-free, contact the House Buyers of America today. We’ll close the deal, get you paid, and let you move on in a matter of days. Call today or fill out our 
online form to get your cash offer in as fast as 10 minutes!