Things to know about selling your house by yourself!

Looking to sell your home and maximize your return?

Of course, after all the market is much hotter than it was 5 years ago. Despite seeing a rise in inventory these past couple of months there is still plenty of demand for homes of all shapes and sizes. Everyone is able to sell their home by themselves just the same as everyone can work on their own car, or build their own coffee table. But in all of these examples it can be extremely difficult if you don’t know what you are doing. In this article I will cover a couple key points to know when selling your home “For Sale By Owner. These items will be in no particular order as each one is just as vital as the next one except for price. We can talk about that one later. 

Pictures: Today’s modern day everyone has a camera, and all of these companies brag about how high quality their respective cameras are, and that’s great. Save all those mega pixels for pictures of pretty mountain ranges, sunsets, or little Jonny jumping around the yard. Pictures are one of the first things people see, get it right and people will scroll through every single one picturing their couch in your living room or pulling up in your driveway after a hard day at work. Get it wrong, however, and the perfect buyer will just keep looking without giving, what could have been, the home of their dreams a second look. Hire a professional photographer, it could be as simple as a google search, but this is the only step that will cost you money out of all of my tips. A couple hundred dollars today could save or even make you thousands at the end of the day. Be sure that the home is picture ready by decluttering.

Declutter: Isn’t it amazing how we accrue so much stuff throughout the years. If you are anything like me things start to find “temporary homes” on my bookshelf or end table. Well, today is the day to find them more permanent housing. Dust off that old book, next to the watch, by the hammer, there, under that picture of Megan back in 8th grade, and either pack it to move with you, donate it, or throw it away. When a home has too much clutter, people can’t picture themselves in their new house. All they see is your house and trust me they are judging. Speaking of that picture of Megan.

Personal items: Diversity is the spice of life! Some people have kids, some don’t. Other people love the Dallas Cowboys, The Bible, and pull a little left. While there are people that prefer to live with a Bob Marley poster next to their MAGA hat for all to see. None of these things are inherently bad things. Just not things to be displayed while selling a house. A new buyer may be distracted by something that they just don’t vibe with and it will make it so they can’t focus on that amazing newly renovated screen porch that was a huge entertaining space and why you even bought the home to start with. The most important things to go ahead and pack for the next house are anything political or religious. 

Okay, we have all those things put up, we are decluttered and have great photos to attract a whole bunch of people. Now it’s time for our phone to start blowing up!

Responsiveness: Realtors have to tend to their phones all day long. It is the fundamentals of our business. Communication is key! Listing your house for sale is going to have prospects and realtors calling and texting you left and right. Also, it’s not always clear if a realtor has an interested client or is trying to solicit your business. Don’t be afraid to ask. I digress, back to responding. Set up your voicemail or an automatic response to let people know when to expect to hear back from you. If you have time throughout the day to respond, great, do so. Alternatively, if you work 7-3, 3-11, or 11-7 let people know when they can expect a response, no more than 24 hrs. The longer it takes you to respond the more likely a buyer will get distracted or find something else. Which takes us to availability.

Availability: Now it’s time for people to come see your home in person. Don’t be nervous, it is a little uncomfortable to have strangers in your home. Nevertheless the first week is crucial. Do your best to accommodate any showing requests you get despite it being inopportune times or a struggle to get everyone and the dog in the car so they can check it out free from all the craziness. If you’re planning to be out of town within the first month of it being on the market, make arrangements for someone to be able to unlock the door for people to tour the home or at the very least just delay putting it on the market all together until you’ve returned. 

Finally, it’s time to talk about the most critical part of all!

Price: Houses are not like candy or cars. Stay with me here. Candy is easy. You see some skittles for 2.99 and you pay 2.99 for skittles. Open and shut transaction. Cars on the other hand are oftentimes priced a bit higher than they are worth depending on where you are buying it from because they expect you to negotiate them down a bit. While houses are similar to a degree. It’s easy to overdo it and cause major damage to your bottom line. When pricing your house, go to low and you will leave money on the table, go to high and the home will sit. “Well, why can’t I just lower the price later if it doesn’t sell for what I initially asked for?” Great question, I’m so glad you asked. This is because of Days on Market (or DOM) and it is always looked at when a buyer is looking at a home regardless if people talk about it or not. Having your home on the market for a long period of time with multiple price drops is a huge yellow flag, if not a red one altogether. Say it took you two months to get the price right from when it should have been listed in the first place. Well, now you aren’t getting the interest you could have pulled in the beginning and the people looking now are going to be wondering, if this house is so good why didn’t it sell initially. Inevitably, they don’t offer full price, if even at all. Combine this with your reason to sell deadline and you will lose far more money than you are comfortable with. It’s all a recipe for disaster. 

Enough of the doom and gloom because you are going to do your homework and price it right, right? 

Let’s talk a little bit about when to get a realtor involved. We are the carpenters and mechanics of my first paragraph. Our job is to help you accomplish all of your goals and look out for your best interest. Putting hours back in your day and maximizing your bottom line. This is our fiduciary responsibility. The truth is selling your home by yourself statistically nets as low as 23% less than similar homes that are sold by agents. (https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/quick-real-estate-statistics) Even then, an agent could earn or cost you up to 10% in negotiations. All that being said. If you do “go at it alone” the first signs an agent could benefit you are:

1. If you don’t have the money for professional photography. Some agents may consider fronting the cost to make sure your home looks it’s best for its big debut. It’s that important. 
2. If you aren’t sure what items should be packed away and what items should stay for showings.
3. If you don’t have the time or energy to talk to a bunch of people for several hours everyday.
4. If you don’t have patience or you do have a short temper. You have to take emotions out of it and be able to negotiate with a clear headspace. 
5. If you aren’t going to be able to make sure the home is accessible for showings
6. If you aren’t 1,000% sure of the price to list the home for. Don’t assume and get it wrong!
7. Lastly of my list but most important. If your deadline is 2-6 months away. 

Don’t wait too long to realize it may not be what you wanted to do or you aren’t getting the results you want. Despite what my clients have told me, we can’t make miracles happen. We need time to coordinate, collaborate, and market to attract the best buyer. 

In closing, This is a full time job you are looking to take on, and you absolutely can do it, but don’t sell it short or do it half heartedly because it can very well cause more harm than good. If you do have any questions or have a specific concern. Reach out to my team with (   this form   ) and let’s see if we can get you across the finish line!

Written by: Jonathan Tiedman