How To Get The Highest Price When Selling My Home?

Picture of the "Gingerbread House" in Essex, Connecticut, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many people are looking around for ways to sell a house while ensuring that they make the maximum amount of profit from the sale. The problem is that most people who ask themselves, “How do I sell my house?” are only aware of the most common method for selling a house, and that is to go through a real estate agent. The problem with real estate agents is that they typically charge very high commission fees, which will take a big chunk out of the profit, you would otherwise be making from the sale of your home.

However, there are other ways to sell your home, and by following the steps listed below, you will be able to sell your house yourself and ensure that you keep all of the proceeds.

Renovate Property

If you are looking to sell your home for the highest possible price, the first thing you need to consider is the shape your home is in. If your home is rundown or not in the best possible shape, then this will significantly affect how much you are able to sell it for. Therefore, the first step before you even consider listing your home for sale is to renovate your property.

Now this doesn’t mean that you need to completely remodel the entire house, and the actual amount of renovation you will need to do depends on just what shape your home is in. If the home itself is fairly modern and in good shape, you may want to just think about doing some work to the property itself. Make sure the yard and garden are in good shape, as well as any other buildings such as a garage or shed. If the paint on your walls is faded or stained, you should think about repainting, as well as fixing any cracks or holes in your walls. Even doing a little bit of work to make the home more presentable will go a long way towards increasing the value of your home.

List Online

Once you have your home in the best possible shape, then you can finally start thinking about listing it for sale. Most people simply choose a real estate agent to sell their home for them, but if you are serious about getting the most money from the sale, then you need to consider listing your home for sale online on one of the many for sale by owner real estate websites and portals, such as ForSaleForLease.com.au. These sites charge very small fees for listing your property, and they could end up saving you thousands of dollars by avoiding the high commission fees charged by real estate agents.

Setting up a listing on these sites is also incredibly easy. Just make sure that you spend some time writing a high quality, accurate description of the property. You should also have good quality pictures of the different rooms in the house to let people see exactly how your home looks. By listing your home on one of the most popular for sale by owner websites, you should be able to quickly sell your home and make a large profit from it.

Sell Privately

After listing your property online, you can sit back and wait for people to show interest. If you have interested buyers, you will then need to invite them over to inspect the property. At this point you will probably start receiving offers for your home, and then you can negotiate the sale directly with the potential buyers. This will allow you to have total control over the final sale price, so you can ensure that you sell your house for the highest price possible.

To sell your home privately, all you need to do is find a buyer online, negotiate the sale with them, and then have a lawyer draw up the contracts and paperwork for you to ensure the sale is done completely in line with the law. Overall, selling your home privately through an online real estate portal or website is definitely the best way to ensure that your house sells for the highest price, and also to ensure that you see the highest percentage of profit from the sale.

Contributor Profile: Written in behalf of ForSaleForLease.com.au – a Sell My House Real Estate Agency that services the greater part of Australia.

So You Want to Be a Self-Taught Home Seller?

Summer is your best bet if you’re on the fence about when to sell something prospective buyers would have to travel to see - case in point: your house. It’s during these months that your open house will get the most foot traffic, more so than later in the year, so, yes, your vacation plans will have to wait. But you knew all that, seeing that you’re planning on going it alone and striking it big with the sell, right? In case you’re not sure whether this renegade free-agent path is the right fit for you, here are some pointers that can shed some light along the way to closing the deal and will ideally help make up your mind.

Make Sure You Crunch the Numbers

Putting your house on the market, being as important a decision as it is, also usually comes with huge, paralyzing jitters, which is why most people prefer to use a real-estate agent. Alternatively, some choose to take the road less traveled, which, if done right, might be more rewarding, financially speaking - at the end of the day you’ll be just as well pocketing the 6% from the sale that would have otherwise gone to the agent. To make the leap from wishing it so to actually getting your wish, the first thing you’ll need to do is zoom in on the exact sum you’re expecting to get from the sale.

• If you intend on using the money from the sale for the purchase of a new home, do your homework on what your current home should fetch you in order to achieve that switch. You can use online tools to calculate the mortgage rate on the house you have in your sights, then apply for a bridge loan, against the equity in your current dwelling, for the downpayment.
• In order to list your house on the Multiple Listing Service, you’ll need to come up with the right asking price, which you should set 1) in accordance with the price tags on some other houses in the area which you’ve previously checked, and 2) a tad higher than the sum you have in mind - this will leave some wiggle room for negotiations. Remember that, while not using an agent will definitely save you money, the buyer’s agent commission will still shave some off the final bounty. 

Roll Up Your Sleeves for Some Heavy Lifting

Aside from the legwork entailed by comparing and contrasting your house with others in the neighborhood, which will give you a better idea of what yours is worth, there are other small details to consider - and, all counted, these will demand some effort on your part.

• Advertise the right way - the For Sale sign is one of the best “weapons” at your disposal, as it’s putting out there the asking price and contact details, in plain sight for every prospective buyer or agent to lock on to. Buyer’s agents will also pounce on the opportunity of a commission if you hint at it with a well-worded, brief invitation on the sign. 
• Your arsenal should also include quality photos of both the exterior and the interior of your house - you can use these for your flyers and / or post them on real-estate websites. Instead of relying on old snapshots, take new ones, using a top-notch camera, and only show the best, most current version of your home. Before playing the shutterbug, get your house spick and span, with all the clutter either removed or relocated around the existing space for a better, more attractive use of it, with an eye to showing the place in just the right light.

All that’s left for you to do at this point is get ready for visits - but not before insuring your house, in case of any mishap - and brush up on your knowledge of the law, as, like with any purchase of this magnitude, you’ll be required to sign some papers that you won’t want to just leaf through. Take your time, get a handle on the situation and some understanding of the market, and you’ll not only reach your goal, but also that feeling of fulfillment that comes from knowing you made it happen yourself.

How Do I Sell My House Without A Real Estate Agent?

If you are thinking about selling your home, then you may be asking yourself, "how do I sell my home for the most possible money?". Well, the answer to that is incredibly simple...Sell it yourself without using a real estate agent.

When most people think, "I want to sell my house", they immediately think that they will need to hire a real estate agent to sell the home for them. While this might have been true in the past, technology and the internet has made it quite easy to sell a home on your own. If you follow the steps listed below, you should quickly be able to close the deal and sell your home for the maximum amount of profit.

List Your House Online With FSBO Websites

The first step to selling a house without a real estate agent is to list the property on one of the many for sale by owner real estate websites. The majority of these sites charge quite small fees to list your property, which can save you a lot of money compared to the very high commission rates charged by real estate agencies.

Creating a listing on these sites is quite easy, and only requires that you sign up, choose how to pay for the listing, and then upload pictures, a description, and any other relevant information.

You can then just sit back and wait for people to start to show interest in buying your home.

Receive Enquiries & Talk to Potential Buyers

After creating your listing, you will most likely start to receive enquiries from potential buyers quite quickly. At this point, you can start a dialogue with them and eventually invite them over to tour and inspect your home to see if it's right for them. You will most likely start getting offers from at least some of the people who came to look at your house, and if you do not get any offers immediately, don't worry. Still, if you have many people come to look but none that wants to make an offer, then you may need to lower your asking price.

Negotiate A Deal with Interested Parties

Once you have received a few offers, then you can start negotiating directly with the potential buyers. This step is vital, as you can try to play the offers against one another in order to get the highest possible price for your home. You should not just take the first offer that comes in (unless it is really good), but instead you should be patient and wait to see just what kind of a deal you can negotiate.

Have Contracts Drawn Up By Your Local Solicitor

Once you have negotiated a price with the buyer and come to an agreement, you will then need to hire a lawyer or a solicitor to draw up the contracts. Under no circumstances should you attempt this step yourself. A solicitor will have experience in these contracts and will be able to make sure that the sale is done completely within the framework of the law. This will help you to avoid any potential problems or headaches that could arise down the road.

Settle Your Property in No Time & For Half of the Cost

One thing that is constantly heard from people who have sold their homes using a for sale by owner website is that the entire process went very quickly. If you are truly motivated to sell your home, then you could complete the entire deal within a matter of days. As soon as you have come to an agreement with a buyer, all you need to do is have the contracts drawn up and signed, making the process quick and easy. In addition, you can feel happy knowing that you made the maximum amount of profit possible by not having to pay the incredibly high commission fees charged by most real estate agents. So why not try to sell your home online and see just how easy it is and just how much extra money you can make by avoiding real estate agents and selling your home privately.

Contributor Profile: Contributed by http://www.nocommissionrealestate.biz – a no commission real estate agency in serving the greater part of Australia.