Selling Your Own Home Today

Not too long ago, selling properties is the sole province of real estate agents. These days, however, there are hundreds of real estate sites with listings of thousands of actual homeowners selling their own properties. Are you into selling your own home today, too?

The number one reason given by people who do their own home selling is savings. This is the commission charged by real estate agents, which they all feel exorbitant.

Others cite additional reasons, but they are mostly variations of taking charge of the whole process itself. After all, they are the owners. The following are condensed insights from the veterans.

Planning and research

First, know the state of your local real estate market, the average length of stay of houses on the market, and how much they sold. Check the newspapers, the Internet and ask opinions around (agents, experts, house owners themselves).

This is for your minds market awareness data bank. (What homes are selling? Is it a buyer or a seller's market?) Visit open houses. Check out competition.

Pricing

Eavesdrop on market talks. You have to know the state of your local real estate market. For a buyer's market, overpricing your house is a big no-no. A sellers market can give you some elbow room in the negotiations.

Have your property appraised for an accurate fair market value by a professional appraiser. Websites only give ballpark figures.

Preparing

Fix everything broken before buyers visit your home. Re-paint, remove clutter, reposition furniture, etc. In short, do the requisite home staging. Perhaps, hire someone who can do it.

Don't spend too much on home staging, but make sure your property looks beautiful, elegant and classy in its own way. Put some extra emphasis on the front view. This is what the buyer sees first.

Marketing

After the research, the price-setting, and the home staging, bring in the buyers. If you want many of them, list the house in the Multiple Listing Service, the nationwide database used by real estate agents.

Some people create sites for their homes, pepper them with photos and information, and include all these in property flyers, yard signs and newspaper ads.

Negotiating

Plan first before you go into a negotiation. How much are you willing to give in on your asking price? Would you allow a compromise? Do you have any fall back?

Be prepared with data and figures. If pressed on, show them the appraiser's report and the sales data in your area. If your price is realistic, you might get an outright offer instead of a negotiation.

Of course, be open with negotiations but never let a buyer or an agent take advantage of you. If they are unrealistic, or might be wasting your time, you can dismiss them. It is not personal, just business.

One final word: Selling your own home today is not exactly a walk in the park. But once you get past the tricky parts, the satisfaction is heady, knowing that you earned some income in the sale and saved a hefty sum from going to another person's pocket.