Over the years I have helped countless homeowners sell their homes without an agent ( FSBO) with the understanding that there is plenty of business for us all, and working with an agent is not for everyone.
That being said, I would love to share with you our approach to selling a house and what works best for us. If you end up selling the home quickly GREAT! On the other hand, if you find yourself a few weeks into this endeavor and need some help, we would love the opportunity to talk to you.
Here is our first word of advice… SAFETY!!!!!
- Please, be safe. Never show your home to a buyer alone. If the buyer is working with an agent, make sure they are a registered REALTOR in good standing AND they will BE THERE with their buyer. Otherwise, make sure someone else is with you.
- Never show at night or at dusk. Make sure there is plenty of light for all to see.
- Let a neighbor or family member know of a scheduled showing and have a text or word code that alerts someone of an emergency. Make sure you have people watching out for you.
- Lock up all medications and weapons. Do not give a criminal an opportunity to harm you or themselves. Recently there has been a wave of cases where people are stealing medications from homes. One trick they use is having you watch their kids while they “look around.” That’s a major red flag.
Vetting / Pre Qualifybuyers prior to scheduling. As a FSBO you will find the following types of buyers.
- Investors – Many will be looking for a deal. If your goal is to net the most money, they will surely disappoint. Careful of tricky terms!
- Out Of Town Buyers – We have a lot of people moving to the area. Inevitably, they will be working with an agent because they are on a tight timeline, or unfamiliar with the area. Either way be prepared to pay the agent a commission.
- First Time Buyers – They also will most likely be working with an agent because they need a little hand holding. Be prepared to pay an agent.
- Looky-loo’s – These are folks that are not real buyers. They are just out kicking tires and may not even have the means to buy. Be careful not to waste your time with these folks.
Our approach focuses on the following throughout the listing period. I have a series of videos that dives into each week that I’m happy to share. In the meantime feel free to CLICK HERE! for more info, or subscribe to our YouTube channel for great advice.
- Week 1 – Price is Right!
- Week 2 – Price and Condition
- Week 3 – Marketing
- Wood 4 – Re-evaluating Market and Price
For 20 years we have been servicing clients with their Real Estate needs in [market_area]. I have lots of information you may find helpful. If you happen to sell the house in short order Congrats! If later down the road, you determine that there is a lot more to selling a house than you thought, I would love the opportunity to compete for your business. Until then, I thought this may be helpful.
Week 1 is all about THE PRICE. Even in this crazy seller’s market, your list price and terms are critical in attracting qualified buyers and getting showings. Believe it or not, in today’s market we are finding many FSBOs are underpricing their properties! That’s because they are looking at “past” sales and not taking into consideration the appreciation that has occurred in the past 12 + months. You will know if you are underpriced if you have a line of people waiting to see the property.
If you would like an opinion of price from an Appraiser, you’re in luck! In addition to being a Realtor, I’m an appraiser and would love to give you my opinion.
Also, Click on the link to learn more about selling your own home. You can request an opinion of value from the site. CLICK HERE!
Still on the market after a week? Be on the lookout for our next email that tells you what we do if a home is still on the market after 1 week.
If you have not yet found a buyer for the home, here are a few tips we work through with our clients.
Week 2 is all about Price and Condition. Starting in week 2 we solicit feedback from EVERYONE that has viewed the home. If you haven’t had anyone view the home yet, then ask a neighbor or friend to give you some honest feedback. Then see if you have any common feedback concerns. This could be the price, of something with the condition of the property. We obviously are looking for things that we can fix. For example, if a common complaint is that the flooring is out of date, then we can fix that. We can fix the location of the property.
Once you have completed the updates, make sure you communicate back to all the buyers that had seen the property. Also, update your marketing material and let the world know of the recent updates.
For more information and helpful insights… CLICK HERE!
Still on the market after two weeks? Be on the lookout for our next email that tells you what we do if a home is still on the market after 2 weeks.
As promised, here is my week 3 video tip!
If you have not yet found a buyer for the home, here are a few tips we work through with our clients after being on the market for 2 weeks.
Week 3 is all about Marketing. By now you should have had at least 15 showings. If not, you will need to evaluate your marketing efforts. When we work with clients we are able to show clients exactly how many people have “seen” their home through various marketing channels we use. If you are not tracking, I would start looking at “paid” social media campaigns through Facebook, Google, and a few other services. If you are not familiar with how to build successful marketing campaigns through these technologies, you may want to reach out to someone that does. Using these channels of marketing will allow you to see just how many people are seeing your advertisement.
For more information and helpful insights… CLICK HERE!
Still on the market after 3 weeks? Be on the lookout for our next email that tells you what we do if a home is still on the market after 3 weeks.
As promised, here is my week 4 video tip!
If still on the market beginning in week 4, it’s time to re-evaluate the market and your pricing. We only interpret the market, we don’t make it.
If you are at the beginning of week 4 and still have no offers, it’s time to realize either the market has shifted towards the buyers market, OR you are simply overpriced. You will want to rely on experts to interpret exactly what is happening in the market before making any assumptions. If you determine that the market is still strong for sellers, then you need to realize, the house may simply be overpriced and an adjustment needs to be made. The good news is there is always a price at which a house will sell!
Our experience has shown that you will want to make a price adjustment that resets the property into a new price range. Otherwise, you are advertising to the same buyers at a slightly lower price. In order to reset the price point, we recommend adjusting 5% for a moderate adjustment, or 10% for an aggressive adjustment.
Continue to monitor activity and remember, after a price adjustment you are marketing to a new group of buyers so treat it as if it’s “Week 1”.
For more information and helpful insights… CLICK HERE!