Real Estate Blog Now

Generally people choose to sell their home by themselves for one of two reasons. First and foremost, nobody wants to pay the 6% fees charged by most real estate agents. Secondly, some people feel they could do a better job selling the property themselves and relish the challenge. Why not do it for both reasons?

It is a common misconception that agents do very little for the money. They show a few clients through the property and pocket thousands of dollars for their efforts. It is money for jam. In practice this is far from the truth.

Most sales representatives earn very little income and the industry relies on hopeful sales people who believe they are going to be successful. They work for next to nothing in the belief that they have what it takes to make it big and earn a huge income. Mind you, some agents do make very good money but they represent less than 5% of the sales reps. If the reps don’t get the money, where does it all go?

• Prospecting for new listings
• Servicing existing listings
• Office and systems overheads
• Commission splits to the office

To be successful the sales reps need maintain a steady stream of new properties to sell. They need to be economical with the costs of selling but more than anything else, they must be able to close the deal quickly and efficiently to provide a win-win deal for all parties.

The top agents treat the whole process as a numbers game. They want to earn a salary of $X. However the average net commission earned is $Y. Therefore they need to complete the sale of X divided by Y properties. They also have figures that show how many phone calls, letter drops, home inspections etc that are needed on average to complete one sale. They have assistants to help with the bulk tasks and are not interested in more difficult properties. They leave those properties to the more enthusiastic, but broke, novices. Making money in real estate sales is a statistical exercise and has little room for emotion or ‘belief in the property’.

Where the top agents do very well is in closing the deal. They help to take the emotion out of the situation and help the parties to make a good decision. It is not a situation where one party scores over the other, both should walk away pleased with the deal. This cannot be stressed enough. It is where novice agents fail and the situation is even harder for the person selling their own home.

Another serious consideration for the owner seller is the limited access to the most popular tools as the real estate websites. There are many web sites available to owner sellers but the reality is that very few people visit those sites whereas nearly all the buyers will visit the primary real estate managed websites. Therefore you are potentially locked out of the most effective means of advertising.

Never the less, the owner seller has some strengths to compete with the agents. While they want a straightforward sale, you will be prepared to go the extra mile to sell the property. You would be able to show all the benefits of the property and would be able to give detailed inspections as many times as it takes.

You would probably be more passionate than the competition. However this can be a double edged sword. While your passion could rub off on the buyers and make them more enthusiastic. It could also make you bitter and resentful when they criticise the property or make a low offer. In practice it is very hard to negotiate such a critical deal with a balanced sense of perspective. After all, we would all take the high option when given a range of appraisals for our property but a more sensible approach would probably be to aim for the mid point from the outset. But who does that? Remember, try to aim for a win-win deal.

Have a go and try selling by yourself but try to leverage your advantages as an owner seller e.g.:

• Take your time and provide the buyer with a better service
• Show the buyer why you love the property
• Be completely honest and open in your dealings, many people are suspicious of agents
• Share the financial benefits of selling by yourself with the buyer

Finally, it doesn’t have to be completely one way or the other. There will be services available for owner sellers by specialist companies competing with traditional agencies. Also it should be possible to negotiate a limited deal with an agency to use their websites etc but still sell by yourself.

Be realistic, unemotional and with the right attitude you could be highly successful. Give it a try.
For more information please take a look at www.AvroBooks.com

I hope now that the elections are over, there may be something done about this lousy economy. I am aware of effects being dreadful right now. Houses are being sold off for partially the price that they are worth. The economy does not seem like it is going to get better anytime soon. I hope that after reading what I have wrote, it will give you some kind of hope.

Selling your house cannot be a black and white thing. Such as you will list either your house for what you want to sell it for and then buyers will buy it at that price or they will not. The value is moreover too elevated or it isn’t. This is the mistaken position of intelligence to have. It is just a issue of receiving the ball in your court.

Yes, I am sure you are saying that the buyer has the advantages right now and you do not. How are you going to let the buyer know that he does not have this advantage and that he cannot just walk up and steal your home?

The trick is to bluff a lot of your way through the entire selling process. Make it seem like you can get the price you want for your house. Do not look desperate and panicky all the time. Have a little self-confidence.

Then the thing you would like to do is not to hire a realtor. You can perform every part of the effort yourself and save money in the process. When giving tours of your house, be sure that your house is spic and span before showing it. Walk buyers through with a big smile on your face. Bluff your way and tell the buyer that you have other people who have already made bids on the house.

If you’ve decided to put your home on the market as for sale by owner, it doesn’t mean you won’t need to have some help along the way. You will need at least two or three skilled people to help you; a mortgage company, a real estate attorney, and a title company. Here’s what these professionals can do for you.

A Mortgage Company
You can use a mortgage company or other type of lending institution to pre-qualify any prospective buyers for your home. That way you will know whether a buyer can even get a mortgage to purchase your house before you waste a lot of time and take your home off the market.

A good mortgage company or lender can provide many services to help you sell your home yourself. These services include a financial breakdown of how much money any buyer will need to purchase your home, calculation of the monthly payment and any other information the buyer will need.

Real Estate Attorney and Title Companies
A qualified real estate attorney or title company can help you prepare the sales agreement when you find a buyer for your home. They can also review any closing documents to make sure your interests are protected.

A real estate attorney or title company can be vital in helping you fill out a disclosure sheet that lists any problems with the house you sell. By completing this form correctly, you could be saving yourself from any possible lawsuits after the sale by fully disclosing any known problems or defects with the home.

Other Things to Consider
If you plan on selling your own home, you need to understand and research what houses have sold in your neighborhood, how long they were on the market, and what the amount they were sold for, not how much they were listed for. This will give you a good idea of the amount you can realistically price your home at, and how much money you can put into your pocket.

It’s a buyer’s market right now, and you will need to price your home accordingly and come up with advertising that points out the great features of your home. Keep in mind that when writing your ads you want to make your home stand out from the competition.

The quicker you need to sell your house, the less you can play around with the pricing of your home for sale. Price it to sell the first time and you can save yourself a lot of aggravation and stress.

You can sell your own home, but you need to be smart during the process, especially given the current market conditions. With a little research and planning you are well on your way to being a successful for sale by owner.

The process of selling your home and using a real estate agent is generally the same. The only difference is that you will most likely end up with cash in your pocket. The real estate agent takes a commission when selling your house. If you sell the home yourself, you do not have to give away money to the real estate agent.

If you are looking for a site, make sure you find one that will list your ad for a flat fee. Sometimes these sites are a front for real estate agents. You want to observe what you are doing before placing your ad. If the site says that they offer a referral fee to a real estate agency, then pass this one on because this is a front for real estate offices.

When you place your ads on this site, all the information is going to be the same as if a realtor had placed it. You will also need to get a mortgage survey, a search for a title, any inspections that need to be done, and make sure there are no liens on your house before closing on a deal.

Before putting all this information on the site, you might want to hire a lawyer to go over everything so you know everything is in order. You may even want your lawyer to be there when you close on the deal.

Selling your home on a advertising site does not cost a lot, but it will cost you a little. It is better than giving up the commission that the real estate agent would have received. The buyer is also to the advantage since they are buying a house that the seller knows everything about.

It really does not matter whether you are selling a house or trying to buy a house, the real estate agent will say that they are working for the seller. On the other hand, if they are trying to find a home for the buyer, then they will say they work for the buyer. No matter what works for them is what they will do. Keep reading if your interested in selling your own home.

In reality, the real estate agent works for themselves alone. They want to get their business built up and earn a good reputation. They need to get their name out there as much as they can, so they try to sell as many and list as many houses that they can get their hands on.

For Sale By Owner (FSBO) signs are vastly different from a real estate agent sign. The FSBO lists the listing ID and a phone number, or maybe even a website. This type of FSBO services keeps the focus on selling your home, which is exactly what you want to do. They will deal with the owner directly and not have to go through a real estate agent. All the real estate agent is concerned with is selling the homes with the larger commissions. If your home is not one of these, then you real estate agent will not try very hard.

If you will look at a sign from a real estate agent, you will notice their picture on the sign, their logo, and their business name. The agent really is not focused on the seller, they are more interested in building up their name and getting their business and picture out there for everyone to see.

The seller is going to have to pay a lot of money to get a big name agent. Many times the agent is so busy you will not even get to meet them face to face. They will most likely send out someone who works for them to get the job done. You really need to do your research and find out if it is worth it to you to hire a real estate agent so they can build up their name and business, or if you would rather sell your own home and save giving the commission away.

Between 10 and 15% of all home sales this year will be For Sale By Owner, without the aid of a Realtor. Of that percentage, it is estimated that 40% of all FSBOs will sell to someone they already know, meaning that they are effectively private transactions, and are not really a part of the open marketplace. That means that only 6 to 9% of the homes on the market at any given time are FSBOs, and not all of those are going to sell.

Why such lousy numbers? What is keeping FSBOs from achieving a greater percentage of the market? The simplest answer is a lack of knowledge. Most private sellers simply do not know the appropriate laws, necessary paperwork, local real estate customs or the most effective marketing skills.

While I continue to believe that a seller is almost always better off hiring a competent Realtor (notice I said competent!), there are some fairly simple steps a seller can take to greatly improve their odds of selling, and saving the listing commission charged by Realtors. What follows is a short list of the seven most cost effective methods of producing potential buyers for any home seller, whether or not they are FSBO. In fact, if you have hired a Realtor, and they are not utilizing these tools, I would seriously think about changing Realtors!

1) Professional Pictures and Virtual Tours – A must! Do not try to save a few bucks by believing that your pictures will be good enough. They won’t be. Remember what everyone says about first impressions? This is yours, so make it count. You are going to use these pictures over and over, and on most of the marketing you do for your house, so now is not the time to penny pinch. In most markets, you should be able to find a professional real estate photographer who can provide both pictures and virtual tours for between $100-$150.

2) Digital Floor Plans – This is a nice little tool that I like to use to weed out unqualified buyers and time wasters. Some buyers seem to think that it is their duty to view every home that is being sold FSBO, when there is actually very little chance of a purchase. If you have a digital floor plan, you can email it to interested parties, and make sure that they are actually looking for a home that has your layout. Why waste your time and show your three bedroom, 2 bath house, with the master bedroom upstairs, if the buyer is insisting on a first floor master? An appraiser should be able to provide this service for well under $100 in most markets.

3) Oversized Yard Sign – One of my favorites, but one where most FSBOs spend the least amount of time! Go ahead and locate a local sign company and order a big yard sign. Even bigger than most Realtors get! Make your home stand out. While you are at it, remember those pictures you paid for and that look great? Why not put one or two of those on the sign? And maybe a few bullet points about how great your house is. Make sure to include your property website (#5) so that people can get information on your home while you are at work. You should be able to get a customized sign for under $200 and it will look so much better than the ones that are available at the local hardware stores!

4) Toll Free Information Hot Line – Buyers are over six times as likely to call a toll free information line than they are to call an agent or home owner. If you want to capture those potential buyers, you need to have a way for them to call into a toll free number and access recorded information about your house. If the house is not a good fit for a potential buyer, you will never hear from them again, but if someone calls you directly, after listening to your recording, well now you have a qualified buyer! You can set up your own telephone line for 50-60$ a month, or you can probably find a Realtor or mortgage lender who will provide you with the use of their line in exchange for the information on the callers.

5) Dedicated Website – Hugely important, don’t skip this step. Over 80% of all real estate buyers start their search on the internet, and that is exactly where you want to be. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you need a website, with your street address as the URL would be great, to host all of the wonderful pictures and virtual tours that you have already paid for! Remember, put your home and website address on that big sign you ordered earlier. You will also want to make sure that buyers can make appointments to see your home while they are surfing your website. The cost for a website, including a domain name, should be well under $100, total. Even if it takes six months to sell.

6) Google AdWords – This may be a little bit more advanced for some sellers, but depending upon your location, it may be well worth the expense and effort. If you happen to live in a highly desirable neighborhood, or have a type of home that is in demand, this may be a great tool for you. For instance, if you have a “Luxury Home”, you can set up an ad campaign on Google that will funnel people who are looking for luxury homes in your city to your dedicated website! Pretty cool, huh? The best part is that you can spend as little or as much as you want to each month advertising your home.

7) For Sale Postcards – Neighbors are a great source of referrals! As such, it is a good idea to let all of your neighbors know that your house is for sale, just in case they know someone who they would like to move in! There are now numerous websites where you can pick a postcard design, enter your contact info, upload a few pictures of your house and automatically send out postcards to hundreds of your closest neighbors! Obviously, the cost of this tool depends upon the number of cards you send out, and the size of the postcard, but a few hundred printed and mailed should cost you no more than a few hundred dollars.

If you decide to sell your house without a Realtor, I wish you the best of luck. And if you use these seven tools, you will have greatly increased your odds of success, and you may not even need luck!

It has been proven to homeowners that if you can sell your own home, you will not lose as much money as if you let a real estate agent sell it for you. Realtots will add money to the price of the house just so they can earn more money or commission. The main things that homeowners like when using a real estate agent is the agent has MLS access, will do all the paperwork, and help with the pricing information. While this may be easier on the homeowner, it is not to their advantage.

At first, the real estate agent will take a standard commission to the bottom of the selling price of the house. After the commission, they will also charge for promotional services, negotiating the price assistance, and screening of the buyers. Before it is all said and done, the real estate agent will end up with large percentage of the selling price when all of this is added in.

Most real estate agents will try to persuade the seller to take the first offer. Studies have shown that most agents will move toward the actions that help with their own financial interest than the sellers. Most of the time the real estate agent is going to hike the price of your house so they will get more money.

Believe me when I say that the real estate agent is not your friend and does not have your best interest at heart. They are there for themselves and do everything they can to make more money. They will not tell the seller about all the things they will take from the price of the house for things that they did to sell it.

There are proven steps you can take that will allow you to sell your own home. Remember that nobody knows your home like you do.

The following article provides some useful tips as to how you can sell your own home regardless of the economic situation. The recession is here and you’re probably sick and tired of hearing all the negativity going around. You’re probably also wishing that you’d sold your home during the real estate boom of the early 2000s as you would have gotten double or triple the price you would get today. Forget it. Don’t think about the past. Think about the present because you can sell your home despite the economic gloom. Here’s how:

Positive Frame of Mind

There is a lot of truth to the idea that all dreams and goals start in the head. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you are not mentally prepared, that knowledge will be useless. So, to start off, you must adopt a positive frame of mind. Think about how other people have successfully sold their homes despite the economic situation. It would be a great idea to learn from such people.

Live & Learn

Once you are in a positive state, you can start to research the right people and the right information to sell in such a poor economic climate. You learn much better when you are in a positive state of mind. Challenge yourself to learn and apply what you learn to the best of your ability.

Good Vibes Are Contagious

If you interact with potential buyers, always approach them with a smile and with good vibes. Always hold your head up high and appear calm, not desperate. This way you can make them feel the same way and in the process increase the chances of selling your home.

These 3 simple steps discussed above will put you in good stead if you have ever wondered how to sell your own home in any economic climate.

Some For Sale By Owner sites, or FSBO (pronounced Fizz-Bo) as it’s called in the real estate world, love to show you how “easy” it is for you to sell your home yourself.  Hey, it’s their job, after all, to convince you to list with them (that’s what they’re doing, you know) vs. listing with a REALTOR®.  That’s the only way that they get paid is to get you to advertise with them.  However, the reasons that they give for someone to go FSBO vs. listing with a REALTOR® are flawed, at best.

1. Less hassles and frustrations

Somehow, having to maintain all the advertising (not to mention the cost of that advertising), schedule showings, preview buyers, show your property, getting your property ready to show, contacting attorneys, appraisers, contractors, inspectors, etc and a whole host of other “behind the scenes” things that go on when your property is on the market is supposed to be less hassle and frustrating than simply letting a professional, knowledgeable and experienced REALTOR® take care of it for you.  Of course, if you believe that you don’t have to keep your house clean and “ready to show” and that you can make appointments when it suits you, then they may have a point.

2. You can sell your home better than anyone else

The simple truth here is…it ain’t true. The fact is BECAUSE it’s your home, you’ll have a harder time selling it than a neutral third-party (that includes a REALTOR® or your next door neighbor). Why? Because you have an emotional attachment to the property. It is practically impossible for you to separate you from your home and “sell” it to a potential buyer. Even I, as a REALTOR® prefer to list my personal home with another agent because they will be better at selling it than I will.

3. Sell for a price on your terms; you’re in control

Well, you can choose to price your home for whatever you want.  However, it’s the market that will ultimately decide what that property sales for.  So, you can decide to price your home within the current market prices, or you can simply wait for the market to “catch up” to your price.  If you’re ready to sell, which would you prefer?  An agent can help you in setting an accurate price based on current market conditions, not simply guessing.

4. More $$$ in your pocket

This is “save the commission” argument. The facts are that, on average, agent-assisted home sell for 32% MORE than FSBO sales. Now, would you lose 32% in order to “save” 5 to 6%?  Furthermore, the majority of buyers that do seriously look at FSBOS (truth is, most are just “lookers”) are expecting a DISCOUNT on the purchase of a FSBO by the usual commission fee for your market.  Both buyer and seller can’t get the “savings.”  Guess who wins if you want to sell?

5. Sell your home fast

Supposedly, because you don’t “up” the price to include a commission, your home will sale faster.  Truth is, as stated above, buyers looking at your home will deduct the commission from your asking price, so if you’ve already reduced your price, you’re getting hit TWICE, (that’s assuming that it’s priced right in the first place).  Also, almost 90% of all home buyers use an agent to find property.  If yours isn’t listed, it’s not “on the market” to those buyers.  Can you really sell your home faster AND for more money by ONLY marketing it to 10% of the active buyers in the market?

6. Less uncertainty

You’ll have less uncertainty because you’ll get to interview the buyer and will know the “serious” ones.  I ask, how exactly?  Do you have a lot of experience dealing with home buyers to determine how serious they are?  How would you know if they are even qualified for the price of your home?  Sure, they’ll say they are, but what if they’re lying (buyers DO do that sometimes)?  Furthermore, for buyers who didn’t like the property, you’d like to know why.  However, most buyers wouldn’t be truthful with this either when dealing with the seller directly, as most don’t want to say anything negative about your home to you.  They will to an agent, though and you can use that to help you sell.  An experienced professional REALTOR® will have a system in place for you, as the seller, to get good feedback on showings.

7. It’s easy…as selling a car

Seriously, this is just a complete myth. That is the definition of comparing apples and oranges there. They say that a lender or an attorney will “take over” the process of the sale once you get a contract on the home. That, too, is simply not true. A lender is going to make sure that the buyer gets the loan (assuming that they’re qualified). They are not going to do anything about the sale other than that. An attorney is going to make sure that the documents provided to HIM (if you forget something, that’s your problem) are legal and valid for your state, that’s all. They’re not going to make sure everything is moving forward as it should and don’t care if it does. Furthermore, in many states (NC for example), the closing attorney works for the BUYER.

If you’d like more information on listing and selling your home, visit my website at www.RogerAJohnson.com

Recently, I wrote an article describing seven marketing tools that would allow FSBOs to greatly increase their chances of selling their home. However, even with those tools, I feel that most sellers would be wise to hire an experienced and aggressive Realtor. In only a few circumstances would I ever recommend a home owner try to sell their home themselves, such as not having any equity in the property or having such a unique home that no marketing is necessary.

In every other situation, when sellers hire a Realtor, studies show time and again, that they stand to sell their home for more money. In fact, some studies show that homes sold by Realtors sell for an average of 32% more than homes sold privately (NAR). Even the most conservative estimates supplied by a reputable source suggest that Realtors can generally bring a seller between 8-10% more, well above the commission charged by most agents.

There are many reasons why good Realtors bring so much value and why it pays to hire just such an agent. On the flip side, hiring a bad Realtor actually decreases value and should be avoided even more than selling on your own. Here are seven reasons why hiring well will pay you back in selling price and time on the market.

1) Most home sellers are cheap! – So are a lot of Realtors, so don’t take it too personally! Marketing your house should be one of your most important jobs, and good marketing doesn’t come inexpensively. If you aren’t ready to pay for all of the marketing tools that selling a house requires, maybe you aren’t ready to sell your house FSBO. To properly prepare and present a house, you should expect to pay somewhere around $1,000, maybe more if your home is in poor shape. If this is a dollar amount that you are not prepared to pay, you may be better off hiring a Realtor who will invest their own money to properly market your home.

2) Realtor cooperation – Most Realtors don’t like working with FSBO sellers, for a number of reasons, and won’t show the properties to their clients unless specifically requested. The most obvious reason they won’t show FSBOs is that Realtors aren’t sure they will get paid, and no one likes to work for free. In addition, there are legal liabilities when working with FSBOs that aren’t present with other Realtor listed properties. If Realtors sell over 85% of all homes on the market, and the huge majority of Realtors won’t show your home, you have effectively reduced the pool of prospective buyers by a huge percentage, and are less likely to find a qualified buyer willing to pay your price in the time frame you had hoped for.

3) Availability – If your home is for sale, and no one really knows about it, is your home really for sale? How are most people going to find out about a new listing on the market? They find out through the MLS and all of its affiliates through real estate companies websites. But if your home isn’t on the MLS, how are potential buyers going to find it. You are basically limiting yourself to a sign in the front yard and by word of mouth, again, greatly reducing the pool of potential buyers.

4) Value buyers – Another problem FSBOs run into is buyers who make ridiculously low offers. These are typically people who are attracted to homes sold FSBO and normally don’t view homes listed on the MLS. They are looking for a home where they think that they can save a lot of money, and don’t want to deal with a professional, and so won’t call Realtors. However, when they find homes not listed with a Realtor, they know they found someone who isn’t paying a Realtor’s commission, and then they think that commission is now up for grabs in the purchase price. The problem is, this is the same savings that the seller is looking for! Now we have two parties, each trying to save the same money. It can’t work! As a FSBO, you are generating buyers who are looking to pay as little as possible, the exact opposite of what you really want!

5) Lack of knowledge – There is more to selling your house than marketing and finding a buyer. What happens next? You have legal obligations as a seller, and many FSBOs are not aware of the necessary paperwork and their responsibilities. This is why FSBO homeowners are more likely to be sued after the transaction than the owners of homes sold by Realtors. Realtors are required by law to achieve a level of legal competency in order to obtain their license, and must attend continuing education in order to keep their license year after year. This training allows Realtors to fully understand changing laws and issues in a way most FSBOs simply are not in a position to understand.

6) Showings – Who is going to show your house? You? During lunch? Most viewings of property occurs during the normal workday each and every week. But most home sellers work, which means that you may be in the difficult position of speaking to someone who may be interested in seeing your house, but you can’t show it at time that is convenient to them. If the client is always right, as the saying goes, and you can’t open up your house on their schedule, how do you think that affects future showings or negotiations? In addition, who is that person coming through your house? What do you know about them? Without a licensed Realtor, and a computerized lock box with electronic records, you don’t know who you are opening your house for.

7) Emotional attachment – Most homesellers, FSBO or not, think their house is worth more than it actually is. That is why most people’s initial inclination is to price their home too high. Without a good Realtor’s guidance, most FBOs price their home too high, and set themselves up for long market times and very low offers. In addition, if you are lucky enough to find a decent buyer, the act of negotiation can be costly for most FSBOs. If you are negotiating on your own behalf, directly with the buyer, they may be able to sense some weakness, or willingness, to sell, and that tell could cost you thousands of dollars. Many FSBOs get emotionally connected with the potential buyer, and this connections almost always works to the benefit of the buyer, and not the seller.

There are more reasons that I have not detailed that make it more difficult to sell FSBO than hiring a Realtor, but these seven reasons ought to be enough! Make sure you hire a good Realtor, one who is willing to spend the necessary money to market your house aggressively, but make sure you hire a Realtor! It will save you thousands of dollars and months on the market, and you will be eternally thankful!