You DON’T need a Realtor to sell your property in the Real Estate Market. NO other real estate site will tell you but its true. Now to get the most for it and sell quicker? That we will save for the end. But consider this:
Look at it:
- The market has a huge inventory shortage
- Interest Rates are getting lower
- The dangerous weather we had last year shortened the housing market across the United States, thus adding to the shortage.
With Agents scouring the market for properties and the area and prices jumping Pennsylvania buyers NEED your house!
If you list a property you will get several offers in days STRICTLY off of putting your property in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).
So what do you do?
Well.. put it in the MLS of course! The catch? is the MLS is only available through a realtor. AHA! See how they get you? So what about the “help you sell” or “self sell”, THEY can list it for you. Well they want a commission of 2-3%. They supply you with fliers, a sign and will oversee the deal. Normally Real Estate agents would “snub” those type of listings and not show them to their clients (something they never tell you).
However, with the shortage of inventory they HAVE to show them because the average realtor (see this report) didn’t prepare for this type of market and is stuck between their clients going to a new home (which they don’t get a commission) or surrounding areas where they have a disadvantage.
So, JUST doing the basic things;
- Get your property ready to sell
- Get it listed in the MLS
- The perfect flyer that shows your property and the easy financing that makes it easier to buy. These things will make it super easy doing it yourself.
Sounds easy right? The “Help U Sell” or “For Sale by Owner” companies would convince you that its just that easy for everyone. Well…..There ARE a few things that no one tells you that you should know. You MUST KEEP an all encompassing perspective. “what is one person’s trash is another’s treasure.” way of thinking.
An example is a recent client in a retirement area had a large 3 br to sell where the area has mostly 2 br. He tried to sell it himself through “Help U Sell” and every few weeks would tell me he cant sell the property “because its too big.” We listened to him one day as he talked to clients and we noticed he argued on points he shouldn’t have and when the clients said the place was big he tried to play it down or offered to reduce the price. Because he is a family friend we created a Perfect Flyer for him and in it BOASTED about the largeness and it was perfect for a live in or hospice environment. We called a local live-in medical care company and within a week it went into escrow.
Apparently many younger people are looking for a larger place in order to have their parents in their own home rather than a facility or crammed in with their immediate family. With the price being only $185,000 payments came out to be $900 a month. Even with a caretaker it was MUCH cheaper than the alternatives. He was amazed, “because so many people commented on it I assumed it was a negative”, he said, “it wasn’t until I regained perspective from your efforts that I realized I was narrowing my perspective”
To save money doing it yourself your property can’t have any problems, otherwise you need the experience of contract writing and real estate law. You MUST have a neutral home so new owners don’t lower their opinion of your homes value because they may object to pink carpets and the waterfall statue of “FiFi” in the living room (We know your family and friends SAY they like it but do you ever wonder why no one ever spends the night?) You MUST be a people person. Studies show that buyers look at a house with a neutral feeling about the previous owners because they don’t see them. Their feelings change when they see things around the house like not being clean, ethnic or political symbols that contradict their beliefs. This can affect the seller too when he sees the buyers and judges them as the “person that will be living in MY house.”
It can get worse if the seller has too much emotion or sentiment and one innocent comment can be taken out of context and enrage the seller and not keep sight of selling the property.
Lastly, YOU MUST beware of predators.
With this same client he experienced a team of what we call predators. They “prey” on your inexperience as a self seller and try to get you to take a lower price. Here is one example (more are here as they come to us)
While the seller abovementioned was showing his Sun City home, they get a call from a Mr. William “Bill” Strom from Ga. and says he is looking for something for himself because he is moving back to Pennsylvania and offers $170K over the phone and says he will be in town soon “to look at it.” However, a man (Mr. D Peruch of Sun City) shows up the next day to look at it saying he is looking on behalf of a friend. (Mr. William “Bill” Strom of Georgia). In the midst of this we call the list of people the seller has shown the home to and because the seller is a family friend we called the list of people that looked at his house to see if his “perspective” was getting in the way.
When we got to talking with Mr. William “Bill” Strom he seemed sincere and forthright. “I have no problem paying a fair price” he said. “I’m a fair person and am looking for a fair deal.” He said he would be out in 10 or so days (where he told the seller he would be out in 3 days) Furthermore, after I got him to admit that he indeed offered $170K I told him that he was close to a deal. I explained the cheapest house in the area is $157K and THAT property was a 2 br and half the square feet. I also told him an appraisal was almost done and it will come in around $185k and with that he reconfirmed “if its what you say I have no problem paying what’s fair and will pay cash and have it fund in 7 days.” Well the next day Mr. Peruch shows up at the sellers home to ask questions about why they were selling and what they owed on their property (see this report of what’s relevant to answer when selling and what questions a predator will ask that you don’t need to answer ) then after he leaves Mr. Strom calls and gives them a NEW offer of $145K, EXACTLY what Dan Peruch found out the sellers owed, MUCH lower than the $170k offer he first made and 35K lower than what it sold for).
Needless to say they were temporarily crushed and if they had not had an offer considerably higher right it would have slighted their spirit in pursuing a better offer, which is exactly what the predators were hoping. Once we exposed them Mr. D Peruch went back to the sellers home to threaten bodily harm to us when we brought their tactics to light and found the sellers the sales price they should have gotten if Mr. Strom’s words were genuine. Most realtors can sniff out these types and shelter you from the highs and lows of these deceptive practices. Realtors also have techniques to get your house sold for more. They have credit and financing resources that buyer’s dont. So can you sell your home yourself? sure. Will you sell it for more and quicker? The statistics for the past 30 years say no.
So why do people tout it as a way to go? Because of the old addage “if you don’t know what you COULD have sold for then what you took as the best price WAS the best deal.” Stats show that “for sale by owner” sales sell for 27% less. Even subtracting 6% for commissions, that is 21% more than going it alone, leaving the transaction up to possible legal issues later down the road after the sale if they find problems and all your time showing and dealing with people. Believe me, if I thought it was a better way to go I would tell you. But I have years of experience and hundreds of clients that would tell you (which you can read their stories throughout my site)that having a licensed realtor on your side gives peace of mind, handles the liability of the sale, and has thousands of techniques to save the sale and/or sell it for more. I am #1 in my area for a reason, contact me now and put your trust in the right hands.