ForSaleByOwner.com Business Manager Matt Brown fielded many of the questions, referring those requiring specialized expertise to the panel of financing, credit, staging and title professionals who comprised the panel. Got questions of your own? If you live in the Ft. Lauderdale area, you can bring yourself and your questions to the June 25 Real Estate Realities seminar.
1. What’s the best way to get exposure on the internet without paying a real estate agent?
It seems that pretty much everybody realizes that the best way to sell a house is to get it online – where it will be found by potential buyers. The fastest, simplest, cheapest way to sow a listing across the broad field of listing websites is through ForSaleByOwner.com’s Realtor.com listing service. Realtor.com listings are automatically sent to Zillow.com, Trulia, Yahoo! Real Estate and dozens of other websites. For $539, your listing can get onto Realtor.com through ForSaleByOwner.com.
2. Will my home renovations pay for themselves?
Maybe, maybe not, say appraisers. If your bathrooms and kitchen are badly outdated, a renovation might be necessary for you to sell the house. Today’s buyers simply don’t want to take on your postponed projects. You probably will not get back all the money you put in to a renovation, but you likely will shave weeks from the selling time, and your house will be chosen over unimproved neighbors.
3. If a buyer is going to get an appraisal, why should I pay for one, too?
An appraisal gives you the market value of the property so that you can set the price accordingly. Guessing at the market value is not a a strategy – it’s a stab in the dark. If you can’t back up your asking price with evidence of the worth of the house, then your buyer has the upper hand in negotiations. Arm yourself with an appraisal to set a reasonable, current, fact-based price that will be verified by the buyer’s appraisal.
4. Should I consult a stager before or after I get an appraisal?
While appraisers are trained to look past decorating to the core value of a house, the right staging can make it much easier for them to do so. Stage first so that your house is seen by the appraiser Just as it will be seen by buyers.
5. How do I get the attention of local buyers’ agents? Will they work with an owner?
For $689, you can get your house on the local multiple listing service, exactly where it will ‘be found’ by local buyers. Buyers’ agents can be wary of ‘by owner’ listings because they want to be reimbursed for working with their buyer. It’s fair – and smart – to offer a buyer’s commission. How much to offer depends on the strength of your market, explained Matt Brown, business manager for ForSaleByOwner.com. In a buyer’s market, you need to make sure buyer’s agents have enough incentive to bring your house to the attention of their buyers, so offer 2% to 3%. In a seller’s market, you can trim that back to 1% or 1.5%, because chances are that eager buyers will find your house regardless.
Got questions of your own? If you live in the Ft. Lauderdale area, you can bring yourself and your questions to the June 25 Real Estate Realities seminar.
Image courtesy of Morguefile contributor Alvimann.
1 comment:
Good blog post. I like your point of view and i want to thank you for interesting and helpful information. Thank you!
Dan Statlander
http://www.statelandbrown.com
(Real estate experts in Boca Raton Florida)
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