Six Ideas To Assist With Selling Your Own Home

There isn't any question that selling your own home will save you a lot of money. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that many people are attempting selling their own house without a realtor. It makes perfect sense...Home values have dropped so much in recent years that people selling their home just can't lower their price anymore than they already have and still manage to pay their agent the standard 6% fee.

A easy answer would seem to be to eliminate the middle man...the agent. In doing this you save thousands of dollars that you would have to spend in real estate fees and can therefore lower the price of your house so that it actually sells.

However, if you are selling your own home then you need to start behaving like a real estate agent. There is a reason why agents make their commission...because selling a house is work! Realtors work their butt off to generate a sale. So, if you're selling your own home then you must do the same thing.

Here are some recommendations on selling your own home:

1. Among the first things you have to do is educate yourself on various home selling strategies. Remember, knowledge is power. If you have friends or colleagues that are successful agents then talk with them. Ask them what methods have worked well for them and what methods were a waste of time and money. Additionally, become knowledgeable about real estate advertising. Make it a daily practice of looking at real estate ads. Get an idea of how the ads are worded. Try to find the keyword phrases which caught your attention.

2. Be realistic. Don't price your home too high. Play detective and go look at the other houses being sold in your neighborhood. What are those houses priced at? How do they compare to your own house? These days, the house that sells is going to be the best home at the best price. Additionally, you need to research what houses have already sold close to you. What did those houses sell for and how do those houses compare to yours?

3. Be prepared to do open houses every weekend. Realtors work weekends and you are now your own real estate agent so get accustomed to working weekends.

4. Keep your house clean! You may even need to hire a cleaning service. Since you must show your home on a moments notice it will need to be clean all the time. The last thing you want to do in today's housing market is turn someone away or put them off until another day. Have your house in "showable" condition everyday.

5. Make good use of the internet. Nowadays many people look for homes using the internet so make sure you are using websites like Craigslist, Realtor.com, YouTube and many others to assist you in selling your own home.

6. Get listed in your local MLS. One of the biggest disadvantages of selling your own home is that licensed realtors are the only people who are able to place your house in your local MLS. This remains the primary method houses are sold in the nation. It's estimated that 90% of home sales are a direct result from being listed in MLS. Thus, if you are selling your own home you'll want to utilize a flat fee MLS service where you pay a one-time flat price to have your home listed in MLS. These flat rate services vary in price and in what they offer so be sure to do your research as not all flat rate MLS services are created equal. Some only list your house while others provide lockboxes, "for sale" signs, contract forms, and may even do virual tours and open houses.

As you have seen selling your own home is not easy. It is work...this is exactly why agents earn a commission. Additionally, while selling your own home can save you thousands of dollars, some of that money will be necessary for advertising costs, cleaning and maintenance, and of course listing you house with a flat rate MLS service. In the long run though, if you're ready to put in the time you will still save yourself thousands of dollars which may allow you to reduce your asking price which will get you more visitors and inevitably improve your chances of selling your own home.