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How to Sell a House by Owner | FSBO Tips for Selling a House The in Denver Area
Looking to sell your home and want to try to sell the home without a Realtor or Real Estate Agent? It is possible to do a "For Sale By Owner" in the Denver area. Another term you may see is FSBO. If successful you may save as much a 7% of the sale price that your Denver real estate listing agent and the buyer's agent will split as their commission to sell the home, you might want to try to sell your home yourself and try a FSBO. (For Sale By Owner) You may also want to get an instant offer on your home for sale by owner.
Here's how to Sell the Home without an Agent:
Get the Home Ready To Hit the Competitive Real Estate Market
You are now entering the fast changing home selling game and because of the high home price in the Colorado Real Estate Market today's Home Buyers are looking for turn key ready to move in homes to buy. Having to save more money for down payment and because they are paying high rental prices money needed for down payment is harder to come buy. Making sure the home is ready to show to home buyers very important to get you top dollar for your home and with the high price of homes these days buyers expect to get what they are paying for.
Here are some questions when you consider a FSBO. How are you going to show the house once you may have attracted some home buyers that want to see the home you listed FSBO? Remember that most home buyers will have a buyers's agent representing them in the FSBO transaction. When an licensed real estate agent is with a home buyer they are with the client and make sure the showing is under control and home is locked up after the closing. You can't just let total strangers wander around inside your home unattended, checking in cabinets and closets for storage space. Even if you do end up listing with the home Realtor you still want to make sure all personal items and put away.
So what can you do with the things you have in places potential buyers will want to consider for their own things? Get a storage unit to house the things you won't need while your home is on the market. A place to hide all those things currently sitting in your garage, your attic, your basement, in closets, or even in a crawlspace. At Kenna Real Estate, we recommend removing up to about a third of such cluttering things from your home for sale- anything you don't use every day. And if you store the items in your garage if needed or store it in a portable pod unit until it can all be brought to your new home.
Sometimes removing personal collections, memorabilia and excessive amounts of personal photographs helps to allow prospective home buyers to imagine themselves living in your house, making it easier to focus on your house's highlighted features. Make sure the home is decorated well. Decorating or "staging" the home for sale by owner will help sell the home and make it attractive to home buyers. Homes staged well sell for more money and less time on the market. By the same token, make sure you don't distract from the house itself with funky art, as your taste may not be the same as a buyer's.
Beware of a clean home free of bad smells! Being Clean is the almost most important thing you can do for almost no money. Deep-clean the your house you are selling by yourself - scrub down the tile floors, kitchen counters and appliances, dust the blinds, clean and shampoo the carpets, clean tile or linoleum floors, and dust the lights, ceiling fans, and items on shelves.
Dark or poorly lit homes for sale feel depressing. Homebuyers want homes that are light and bright, open floor plans are most sought after. If your home is not open make sure you use natural and artificial light, and even perhaps a fresh coat of white paint, to brighten up the interior of your home for sale. Make sure all blinds are open and all lights are on when showing your FSBO.
Curb Appeal is a must! Do not forget the front outside of your home, This is the first thing buyers will see when they pull up to the home. Make sure you trim and shape trees and hedges, cut the edge the lawn, refresh mulch beds and ad much as needed. If your brick or siding is older, consider pressure-washing it or even a coat of paint my help get you top dollar Clean your sidewalk and driveway. You could even put a fresh coat of paint on your trim, front door and or shutters for a pop of color. Everything matters to buyers, even something like the door bell, brass on the front doorknob or knocker.
Remove all cobwebs from front door area and we all know that flowers near the entrance, add color and make a home appear inviting. This is the first chance to make a great impression and show the buyer what to expect on the inside.
Find the Right Price then Price Your Home Competitively, to Sell
Try Using the internet to get a ball park idea of recent sales prices for comparable homes active, Sold and Under Contract 3 Months back. You want locate and compare other home for sale and sold houses in your subdivision or neighborhood and price yours accordingly. That's what Realtors and real estate agents do everyday. Since you are on your own you will have to acess some websites to find the home values.
KennaRealEstate.com is a huge asset for folks trying to sell with out an agent because you can access information by searching for sold homes, under contract home and home for sale in your neighborhood. Don't forget, your main goal is to sell your home for top dollar and net the most amount of money so you can buy your next home. Remember selling your home is a business and bottom line matters most. not to price it out of a desire to keep it.
Market Your Property to the internet and Local Home Buyers
Because you can not list the home for sale by owner on the MLS and now the DORA states that Realtors must be full service and not charge a fee for entry only. You can advertise using some "for sale" signs, flyers and brochures, internet and craigslist advertising online, and depending on your skills building a web site to market your house on FSBO.com or any sites that offer the FSBO service. The 'For Sale By Owner' (FSBO) website FSBO.com offers you some home-selling packages for homeowners selling without an Agent. This FSBO package includes helpful items like yard signs and flyers. There are some costs involved in advertising the sale of your home on these sites, but they will be a fraction of an agent's commission.
Try Holding an Open House
Most folks selling a home with out an agent does not know that you don't need a real estate agent to hold an open house to help get exposure advertise the sale of your home. You can do it yourself. Advertise your FSBO open house like any real estate agent would, by posting it online and placing signs in your neighborhood. Even let the neighbors know in case they have some friends looking to move into the area. They may know someone.
HOT TIP: Print up some flyers and take them to work, the gym, school functions, and make sure your sphere knows your selling your house buy yourself, They may know someone looking to Buy a Home!
Get some bottled waters and try to provide some sort light refreshments and set out home brochures around the house that visitors and home buyers can take with them. Recent studies have shown that the scent of baking cookies does help sell a home. Buyers like a home looking good and smelling good. Other recognizable scents such as citrus, cedar, vanilla mints, and cinnamon have been found the most desirable by buyers.
Know the Selling Points of Your Property
Before you start writing your advertisements for websites, post cards, flyers, and or brochures, make sure you include all basic information about the house: the listing price, the number of bedrooms, the number of bathrooms and half bathrooms, the lot size, benifits of the homes location, and any and all specific details that will make you house for sale stand out and is more special to potential buyers - What about the Home's age, upgrades and kitchen description, flooring materials, condition, type of appliances, building materials, does the yard have something cool like a garden or trees, patio or deck, what about views? Home buyers from other states besides Colorado and the Denver area live to have views. These are just a few items to consider before trying to sell a home by yourself. Remember your home sale is one of the biggest transactions and investments of a persons life. With hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line and most likely the home buyer will be represented buy a Real Estate Professional and you want to make sure you know what you are doing.
Look at all the other listings on Kenna Real Estate, Craigslist, or other sites to get an idea of the informative details other sellers and local real estate agents are including in the homes they are listing for sale. For a good example, the agents might mention some things that you may have not thought to include in the marketing plan.Just stop and think about, like oversized windows, sexy stainless steel appliances, and quartz counter tops. What about the cool back splash in the kitchen or an upgraded master bath-spa area?
Be Careful When You Go to Negotiate With the Buyer Yourself
You've found a buyer. Now what? A buyer will submit a contract to the seller. The seller can accept the offer, or revise the contract with the seller's preferences and resubmit it to the buyer. Until both parties agree and sign a contract, the process continues. Most states have a standard contract for real estate purchases. If you are not familiar with the contract, as with any contract, you should have it reviewed by an attorney. Click here for Colorado Contracts
Pick the Right Time to Sell Your Home for the Most Amount of Money
Most sellers believe the best time to sell a home is usually early summer. That is no longer the case in the Denver area Real Estate Market the best time to sell the last few years in January, through March. During this time of the year a seller may be able to get full price or more. Once the year progresses starting in May the inventory goes up and the days on the market also go up. Home buyers can be pickier these days with the price of homes being very high.
What Does a Real Estate Agent Actually Do?
The answer is A LOT! Licensed FULL TIME Real estate agents like the Realtors at Kenna Real Estate are working 24-7 showing homes and living the real estate market in Denver. The market these days changes by the month and you need an trusted real estate advisor on your side making sure you are protected and that your not leaving money on the table. A real estate agent not only lists your house on the local MLS, Trulia, Zillow, Homes.com, Craigslist, networking websites, other agents, social media, new outlets and all the other tasks needed to market your house for sale with full color fliers, professional brochures, paid for ads and a our a website like KennaRealEstate.com that attracts hundreds of active home buyers looking to move to the Denver area.
Not only does a realtor arrange the showings to buyers of your house for sale. Some Agents may host open house events; and act as an intermediary when negotiations between a buyer and seller are entered, and accompanies you at the closing. These are just a few of the tasks needed to sell your home by yourself. We are experts on selling homes because its our business.
Professional Agents don't get paid until they close a transaction by selling a home so it is in their best interest to close your transaction. That is how we get paid and its our job. We are in it together, we receive a Fee to get you the best price for your home, protect your interests and more importantly Realtors are responsable for one of the biggest purchases of a persons life.
IMPORTANT! Be Sure to Comply With All Colorado Real Estate Laws
Real Estate laws apply to the sale of your home no matter where you live, there are many regulations and laws you may not know about like the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act stipulates that home sellers (even FSBO) cannot discriminate against home buyers for reasons many reasons including race, religion, and sex. While you can find Colorado contracts and other real estate agreements online, they may not specific to your unique situation or filled out properly, so it would be a very good idea to have a real estate attorney review all documents and contracts related to your home's sale. Real estate attorneys are not cheap and sometime may take a while to review real estate documents related to the sale of your home. Real estate transactions move fast and are very time sensitive.
5 Hot Insider FSBO Tips for Selling Your Denver Area Home:
- Work and prepare your house to be marketed. Remember, you're looking to make your house appealing to a new buyer, not just a comfortable place to visit like a guest.
- Price your house competitively, especially during the spring and summer when most homes are sold.
- Get a flat fee listing on your local MLS, so that your home can be searchable online by agents as well as prospective buyers, nationwide.
- Market your house by listing it online, with a website, photographs, and even yard signs and curb appeal as well as by "staging" it as a potential home for buyers inside.
- Know your home's best selling points. You know your home better than anyone else, so you know what you like about the home and what inspired you to buy it in the first place and what you've done to it that might inspire someone else to want to buy it.
If You have any questions or need assistance in your home for sale we are here to help. We can also sell the home for you and most likely you will net the same amount since statistics show that selling with a professional Realtor like one at Kenna Real Estate may help you get the same amount for your home or even more without the stress, efforts, and headaches of trying a for sale by owner.
Do the CEO's of FSBO websites really FSBO?
Here are some more Resources if you want to Sell a Denver area Home and Cash in on the Bidding Wars.
- How to Sell your House
- Sell Your House Fast For Cash
- Professional Listing Agents
- Seller Advantage Program
- Free Home Value Report
- Price Your House right to Sell
- Marketing Your House to Sell
- Showing Your House when Selling
- Adding Value to your House when Selling
- Kenna Real Estate
- How Much is Your House Worth?
- Crucial Factors that Effect the Value of Your House
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- Selling Denver Metro homes fast and stress free from some of Denver's top Realtors and real estate professionals
- Home Value Matrix
- Seller Articles, Tips and Tricks for Selling a House
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