Selling a house takes a lot of work, but it can also get expensive if you work with a realtor. Their commissions are high, and with more people using online listing platforms, it hasn’t been easier to sell a house on your own.
If you want to go the FSBO route, there are some extra things you have to do. It’s your responsibility to list the property, show it to potential buyers, and close on a deal. This guide will cover some of the key details that go into selling a house without a realtor.
Marketing Your House
You have to take over the promotion if you want to avoid realtor commissions. Online listing sites have made it much easier to present your home to potential buyers. These are some of the top sites you can use to sell your house fast:
- Zillow: You don’t have to pay a listing fee.
- Forsalebyowner.com: You can list your home on this website if you aren’t using a realtor. Forsalebyowner.com makes it easy to price your home and field offers in a personalized dashboard.
- Realtor.com: You have to hire a flat-fee MLS company to list your property on the MLS site. The Realtor.com website only features listings that are submitted to the MLS.
- Facebook Marketplace: You don’t have to pay any listing fee, and since you probably won’t use Facebook’s payment system for real estate deals, there are no additional fees.
- Craigslist: You don’t have to pay a listing fee or a percentage of the sale.
Many listing platforms do not have any listing fees, and you don’t have to pay a percentage of the sale to the listing company. Some listing sites require that your property is already listed on the MLS.
It may be worth paying a flat fee broker to get your house listed on the MLS so you can tap into more marketing channels. You will have more certainty about how much you will have to pay if you sell the property, while you won’t know an agent’s commission until you sell the property. You can tell an agent how much you are willing to pay, but you still don’t have as much flexibility with the fee.
Flat-fee brokers also give you more control over the price and other factors surrounding your home. On the other hand, a real estate agent may underprice your house just to get a quick commission.
Property listing sites are a good start, but you will have to host several open houses. These events can bring more attention to your listing in your local area. You can get more people to show up for your open house with online ads, flyers, and signs in your area.
Tell Your Friends and Neighbors
Listing your house on online websites can give you an edge, but you can also find a potential buyer within your immediate network. Your neighbor may know a friend who wants to buy a house in the community. Someone on your block may also have a son or a daughter who wants to start a family in the same neighborhood.
While word-of-mouth works great, you can also send letters to your neighbors. This personalized touch may prompt them to be more supportive of your efforts and see if any of their friends are looking for a home.
Use Social Media to Put Your Home In Front of More People
Those are some of the reasons why it’s good to spread the word in your community, but you can also find great leads on social media if you post about your property being for sale. One of your friends who you haven’t spoken to for years may reach out and make an offer. One of your online connections may also know someone who is looking to buy a home in your area.
Posting pictures of your property on social media and using hashtags in the post can extend the listing’s reach beyond your immediate friends. If some of your friends like the post, some of their connections may see the post as well.
You can also use social media to reach people who aren’t in your immediate friend group. Some homeowners are turning to Facebook Marketplace to list their homes. You can also join local real estate Facebook groups and participate in buy/sell/trade social media communities.
Even though it’s been around for a while, Craigslist is also a great resource for attracting leads. You can post your home on Craigslist under “real estate for sale.”
How to Optimize Your Real Estate Listing
Listing your property on a bunch of sites isn’t enough to get a sale. The listing has to resonate with potential buyers and perform well on the listing sites. These are some of the strategies you can use to enhance your real estate listing.
Get Professional Photos Taken
Although you can sell a property without a realtor, it’s worth hiring a professional photographer to take some pictures of your property. These professionals know how to take the best shots. If you do decide to take photos yourself consider using something like BoxBrownie.com to retouch your photos so that they pop.
Before getting the photographer, you should declutter the property and do some staging to make it look nice. You can either do it yourself or hire someone who can make your house look welcoming. Hiring a cleaning company or a professional to do a deep clean can help the interior look better.
Price It Accordingly
If you make your house look nice, you will get more attention. However, buyers will want to make sure they are getting a good deal. They will visit other houses and see which one has the best price for what they are getting.
While buyers want the best deal, you can’t underprice yourself. Instead, you have to find your home’s value and set the right price. While it’s possible to do this alone, having professional help for this step can boost your windfall from the sale.
According to the National Association of Realtors, setting the price is easier for realtors than it is for homeowners. One of the NAR’s studies, although potentially biased, indicated that properties sell for substantially less when they are not represented by an agent.
Reviewing similar listings in your housing market can help you price your property competitively. You can check the selling prices of recent listings and look at current prices. Homeowners can see the average price per square foot in their area and use that as a gauge for their pricing.
Do Some Basic SEO
People will read your listing’s description when assessing your property. A good description can highlight your home’s qualities and why it would be a good fit for a potential buyer. You can look at descriptions for other properties or ask someone to write them for you.
However, there is another benefit to writing a good description. You can include words and phrases that trigger the Google algorithm to present your listing to the right people. For instance, if you include local keywords in your description (i.e., the name of the town or county), you can get more targeted visitors.
It doesn’t do much good if someone from San Francisco, California, sees your listing in Wichita, Kansas. However, if you use a phrase like “this house in Wichita, Kansas,” your search result may show up for people who are looking for a house in that area.
“Houses for sale in [your neighborhood]” is another great keyword phrase you can use to gain more traction. Using a bunch of local SEO keywords can turn your real estate listing into a steady traffic generator.
Social media posts are indexed in search engine results now too! Don’t be shy about calling out what school district you’re in, large local employers, etc.
How to Sell a House That Needs Repairs
Some homeowners have properties that are move-in ready. However, if your property needs some repairs, it will be more difficult to sell it on the open market. You’ll have to sell it at a discount, but the demand for fixer-uppers varies for each market. Depending on the competition in your housing market, you may have to make those repairs yourself before you can get a suitable buyer.
Repairing a property is expensive, and it also takes a lot of time. Some homeowners want to move on from their current property, especially if they recently closed on their new home. In these situations, it’s valuable to have a seller who will buy your property and give you the cash right away, even if it needs repairs.
If you want to sell your house quickly and receive a fair cash offer regardless of its condition, reach out to the SoldFast team. We have solutions for homeowners who are going through probate, foreclosure, and other events. If you’re a landlord who doesn’t want to deal with squatters anymore, we can also help.
You can contact us through this form to sell your house quickly. Just let us know some details about your property, and we will make an offer. There is no commitment to accepting an offer, but it’s good to know what you can get.