The steps to ensure a successful sale if you are selling by yourself.
- Before you even start the process of selling decide on what you what to net from the sale. Also decide on the sale price you want to sell your house at, if you can sell at the price and net the amount you want then you can get started created a strategy plan for your home sale. If your numbers are not in line with the market then you would be better holding off till the market comes to you. This will require weekly or monthly monitoring of the market data to know when the market is where you need it to be to be successful with your numbers you want or need to get.
- Now you are ready to get started to sell, you must create a complete strategy of your selling. The strategy needs to include the complete numbers like a net sheet, the scope of repairs, improvements, or touch ups throughout the house, marketing plan, and any other ideas like open houses, videos or events. Make sure this strategy is very detailed, its your blue print and you will need to follow it as best you can. You will need to be flexible at times but its import to stay within your strategy. If you are missing parts of your plan they will show up when you are showing your house, have a buyer ready to buy, during the home inspection, or during the appraisal. Keep in mind buyers are very cautious and nervous and they will often not submit an offer if they find things not right or worse case they will cancel their escrow and you will need to go back on the market.
- The goal of preparing the house to sell is to make sure the house has no issues with items not working like appliances , fixtures, outlets, doors, etc. Make sure interior and exterior paint is clean or freshly painted, the front and backyard landscape is clean, trimmed, no weeds, and looks nice. Add color to the landscape with flowers and add trees or shrubs to take away any negative issues with neighbors or neighborhood conditions. You want to have great curb appeal for the front exterior and the backyard needs to be clean and ready for the buyers to start thinking of the fun things they can do in their backyards on the weekends. The interior of the home needs to “POP” in every room, rooms need to be clean and bright. The house needs to smell nice, add scented fragrance to some rooms, not every room. When you have completed everything and are ready for the pictures or videos get in your car and drive up to your house like you are a buyer. Then walk up to your house as buyer and view the inside like a buyer, if you would buy it then you are ready for photos.
- Its photo day, I recommend hiring a professional photographer to take to photos and videos, its worth the money. Don`t cut cost in this area, photos are the backbone to all your marketing. If you have bad photos or not enough photos its hard for a buyer to fall in love with your house. The professional photographer will also offer video and 3D tours that you can use for your marketing, it will cost more for each additional service.
- Got your photos and you are ready to list and market your home. The marketing is key to selling your house at top market value and in the quickest time. You need to get a lot of potential buyers and people looking at your listing and I mean a lot of people! Years ago they way you got your listings noticed was through print. Now days everything is done with digital marketing, you can still use print but it can get costly and make it hard to reach a lot of people without spending lots of money. Keep in mind the top Realtors have a complete digital marketing plans and services, these services are many third party companies they have already set up with and are huge important tools for their marketing. As a For Sale by Owner you will struggle to find all the market tools and companies that the top Realtors are using. Its ok for you as you are selling one house, no need to try and set yourself up with all these companies, they have monthly cost and it would not benefit you for one property. What you want to do is use all your current social media and internet options you have like the Zillows, Realtor.com, Redfin, etc. When you are daily or weekly managing or posting your house on these platforms make sure to mix it up with different photos, written descriptions, or messages for your post. Be creative with everything you do, like pictures, verbiage, post, and advertising.