Selling a house involves many costs, from home staging to capital gains tax. That said, the biggest fee a seller pays is the real estate commission.
In most cases, this commission is 5% to 6% of the house’s price. If you sell a home for $250,000, $12,500 to $15,000 of that sum will go towards the commission fee. If you want to save that money, consider selling your house yourself.
Interested in the idea of selling a house without a realtor? Check out these five tips to learn more about how to approach this situation.
1. Price Competitively
The fastest way to sell a house is to price it competitively. Of course, a lot of it depends on your home’s condition. Buyers tend to shy away from houses that seem like projects unless the upkeep cost is part of the sale price.
If you’re not sure what a good market price is, look at the housing market in your area. Check out the asking prices of homes sold in your neighborhood and compare them to the final offer.
2. Be Ready to Negotiate
In an ideal world, you’d get a good offer for your home as soon as you list it. More often than not, though, the offers you’ll get will be lower than you’d like. You can either accept or counter those, but you should always be ready to negotiate.
Negotiating a house price is all about being flexible to the buyer’s demands and concerns. If you accept their offer, keep in mind you’ll need to work with their financing options as well.
3. Market Your Home
Selling a house without a real estate agent means you’re in charge of marketing. Fortunately, all you need to do is add your listing on sites like Zillow, Realtor, and Trulia. Some sellers have even found success on Craigslist!
Before you list the house, though, you’ll want to stage it. Use neutral furnishings, clean up the clutter, and remove family portraits. The goal is to help potential buyers imagine themselves in the space.
4. Host an Open House
Showing your home to buyers is one of those house selling tips every agent swears by. Schedule the event at least a week in advance and try to spread the word about it as much as you can.
Don’t get discouraged if nobody makes an offer right after an open house. First, follow up with a short email to ensure they’re not interested. Even if they’re moving on, they may still tell others about your sale.
5. Consider Selling As-Is
Want to avoid all this hassle we described above? If so, your best option is to sell your house as-is in a quick cash sale. This allows you to sell your home without having to make any repairs or updates.
Here’s how this works: you contact the company, and they send an agent to look at your home. If it meets their criteria, they’ll make you an offer. If you were wondering, “What’s the fastest way to sell my house?”, there’s your answer.
More on Selling a House Without a Realtor
As you can see, selling a house without a realtor is as easy as you make it. If you have time to spare, you can wait for a good deal while you’re sprucing the house up. If you’re looking for quick cash, you can get the deal done in a few days.
Want to know more about how to sell your house without a realtor? Keep reading our Home section!
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