Listing your home for sale by owner can be overwhelming, however some people are up for the challenge to do it themselves. I often get the question, “What can a real estate agent really do for me?” I will show you what I do for my clients so that you have the knowledge and tools to sell your home yourself. It takes a considerable amount of time, energy, finance, and expertise marketing your home to maximize satisfaction and minimize worry. The ultimate goal is to create a front of the store listing for you that will drive as much exposure as possible to your home with qualified buyers for an on time closing. Let me show you a list of all the things I do to make this happen:
PREPARE A CUSTOM, PROFESSIONAL, AND STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN TO SELL YOUR HOME YOURSELF
Tactical Pricing
Pricing your home is based on performing a competitive market analysis (CMA). A CMA consists of researching all sold like properties from the past 3 to 6 months in and around your area. I look for properties that have similar number of stories, bedrooms, baths, parking spots, and square footage among other factors.
Having a filtered list of only the most comparable homes with pictures and stats create a foundation for the pricing of your home.
Listing your home for sale at fair market value will help you drive exposure and reduce time on market.
Staging
You only get one chance to make a first impression online so it better be a phenomenal one. “Staging” your home to enhance its appeal will give you a competitive edge against all the other homes in the market. You can stage your home with physical items or virtually through photography to make your home shine online.
It is usually the $500 that you spend on the right paint, cleaning, and minor repairs that pays you back $5,000 in a higher sales price and faster sale.
Professional Cleaning
When buyers can feel a sense of pride in the home’s upkeep and cleanliness they can visualize themselves in the home much easier. If necessary, hire a professional cleaning service to attend to the details that will put your house over the top for prospective buyers.
Professional Pictures
The pictures people see on-line and in marketing material are crucial to increasing your chances of multiple showings. Hire a professional photographer to take and prepare premium digital pictures of your home.
Property Showings
This is one of the largest headaches in real estate transactions. Manage all the property showings through a centralized showing agency to coordinate the times on a day to day basis. Look for a flat fee MLS listing provider that offers a showing service as well. Invest in putting a lock box on your door so as to allow real estate agents and their clients to come and go freely so you don’t have to be home.
When communicating, be careful what you share with Realtors as they may use it as leverage when negotiating.
Multiple Listing Service (MLS) For Sale By Owner
Get listed on the MLS as a for sale by owner. There are brokers who will get your home listed on the MLS for a flat fee and syndicate with other sites such as Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com among others. Sit down and put together all the information needed to put your home on the MLS. Utilize the MLS remarks and extended remarks to write professional, strategic, and error free comments that will represent your home in the best light possible.
Open Houses
If you elect to, hold at least one open house on the first Saturday afternoon after your home goes live on the market and make sure to market the open house in the local newspaper and MLS.
INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF FINDING A QUALIFIED BUYER
Pre-qualify any buyers that present offers by insuring they provide a preapproval letter that covers the offer being presented. Stay in constant contact with their lender to avoid surprises.
WRITE A LEGALLY BINDING, WIN-WIN AGREEMENT THAT WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE PROCESS.
Obtain proper contract knowledge or enlist someone who does. This will help you avoid the many pitfalls people can make when dealing with the vast number of contract pages and details in real estate transactions.
Know the fees associated with the transaction and who customarily pays for what and how to possibly use a seller’s market to favor your side of the transaction as much as possible.
OBTAIN ALL THE NECESSARY FORMS AND DISCLOSURES THAT NEVADA LAW REQUIRES WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME.
HANDLE ALL NEGOTIATIONS OF THE SALES PROCESS AS A PROFESSIONAL.
Objectively evaluate every buyer’s proposal without compromising your marketing position.
The initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing – and a lot of possible pitfalls.
BE AT EVERY HOME INSPECTION AND HOME APPRAISAL TO MAKE SURE YOUR SIDE OF THE TRANSACTION IS REPRESENTED.
STAY UP-TO-DATE ON WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE MARKETPLACE AS WELL AS THE PRICE, FINANCING, TERMS AND CONDITION OF COMPETING PROPERTIES DURING THE PROCESS.
These are key factors in getting your property sold at the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle.
OPEN ESCROW WITH A RELIABLE AND CAPABLE TITLE COMPANY AND MAKE SURE THEY PROVIDE YOU WITH UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION FOR A TIMELY CLOSING.
AS A REALTOR® AND MEMBER OF THE RENO/SPARKS ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS I SUBSCRIBE TO A STRICT CODE OF ETHICS.
I am expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge of the process of selling real estate and so will be the case in my dealings with you.
I appreciate your time spent in reading over this material and hope you choose to meet with me. I look forward to helping you in any way possible and becoming your family’s life long real estate professional by providing the many services discussed in this document and beyond.
