When you are up for the big task of selling a home, the first thing that you need to consider is whether to choose an experienced full-service realtor or go with the “sale by owner” approach. Well, most people choose the former for the convenience of transaction and receive round-the-clock support in the tedious process of home selling. But if you aim to generate significant savings by avoiding the heavy realtor commission, then it is imperative for you to “do it yourself”.

If you have a good understanding of the real estate market and feel that have the time to pull through various steps of the home selling process, then FSBO or For Sale By Owner seems to be the best approach. Though you may find it exciting and lucrative selling your home all by yourself is not an easy task.  There is a lot to be wary of if you want to make your home sale a profitable deal. There are lots of steps involved and you need to remain careful for an efficient and successful sale.

Here in the article, we will focus on the step-by-step approach to follow to know how to sell a house by owner, pros of the selling the home by yourself, as well as its cons.

Steps to selling your house by owner

Below are some of the things that you must know before you start to sell your house as an owner.

Step 1: Set the price of your home

After all, it is all about the money! Before anything else such as creating the listing of your house, hunting for the buyer, and preparing your home for sale, the first thing that needs to be done is to determine the right price and worth of the house. The price must be good enough to attract the potential buyer and not so less that it results in a loss for you.

Do not just go with any arbitrary number for your home price because you cannot afford to undervalue or overvalue it. When you work with a real estate agent, the agent can get the CMA or competitive market analysis was done on your behalf and get you the information that can help you set the right price for the home. But the good part is that some of the best Sale by Owner websites can help you with conducting the competitive market analysis. At a flat fee, they analyze the recent home sales in your locality, market sentiments, how much was the price at which the comparable houses were sold, and more to help you with an appropriate value.

You can also do the CMA yourself. To do the CMA, you’ll want to look at a few things including:

• Look for the recent houses sold in your neighbourhood
• The houses or comps in your area must have the same features as your home
• Study market trends and find whether the local sales are increasing or decreasing in value and volume.
• To get information on recent sales, visit sites such as Zillow and get public records databases. You will get the data on the homes that have been sold and their price.
• You can also consider getting the home appraisal done. A home appraiser may cost you around $400 and in return, they will do a walk-through of your home, examine comps, recent sales, and market trends, and offer the best price for your listing.

Step 2: Click the best images

Now, one of the important things to do is to click professional-looking photos before creating a listing of your home sale. It is worth all your time and money. Most of the buyers on the MLS get attracted by the high-resolution pictures of the property. It impacts hugely on the final sale price of the home. Before clicking photos, ensure to spruce the space. This includes the things like:

• Making the house look clean.
• Declutter the junk from the house.
• Consider getting some minor home repairs that the buyers may notice.
• Throw a new coat of paint in the rooms. Replace a few outdated and broken fixtures. It is worth the investment.
• Take photos on a bright sunny day with ample lighting and curtains open.
• Dry clean the carpets and dust surfaces. You can do this by yourself or use a professional cleaning service provider.

Step 3: Stage the home

While half of the things would have been covered at the time of the photoshoot, consider the rest of the improvement in the interior and exterior décor for home staging. This step needs you to make things picture-perfect. Here is what you can do:

• Buy some new plants for the outside of the home. Put some at the coffee table and bookshelf too. This is a low-cost but high-return investment.
• As mentioned earlier, if there is anything broken and you think it may invite the attention of the potential buyer, get the same repaired.
• Make your house well-lit at the time of showing. On a sunny day when the blinds and curtains are open and all the lights are on, the home looks cleaner and wider.

Step 4: Choose MLS listing service

Sign-up for the real estate listing website and gets your home listed on the MLS. MLS listing website can help you by showing up your property not just on the MLS but on other popular real estate websites too such as Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia, and many other famous websites. While some sites are free, some charge a flat fee for the listing.

Step 5: Check paperwork

One of the essential parts of how to sell a house by owner is to know that there is a lot of legal paperwork involved in the home sale. The paperwork is a daunting task for many. But when you are doing it “For Sale by owner” you need to do extra work and check if all the papers are valid and up to the mark. You can also have a real estate attorney help you with the final document.

Benefits of selling a house by owner

Here are the best benefits of selling a house by owner:

• You have to pay a lesser commission and hence, make more profit on your home deal.
• You can have more control over your listing as well as other home sale processes like showing times
• You have more personal interactions with potential buyers

Downsides of Sale by Owner

Here are the cons of selling a house by owner:

• It is a process that is time-consuming and needs effort.
• Due to inexperience, you may not have a profitable home sale deal.
• Lack of real estate info may make you end up committing mistakes.

 

With the advent of real estate listing websites like Houzeo, now selling a house by owner is worth considering more than ever before. They make you aware of how to sell a house by owner and offer comprehensive packages too.