Real Estate Investing Blog

It’s official: you’re selling your house, and the time is now. Let me tell you a secret: staging a home for sale starts in the kitchen, the heart of the home. It doesn’t matter that you’re more likely to have the pizza delivery service on your speed dial and the last time you cooked an honest-to-goodness home cooked meal was….it’s okay, you don’t have to give a time or a date! It’s really okay!

Yet you want your kitchen to welcome any potential gourmet or gourmand who’s a strong potential buyer. Let’s face it: even if we’ve never zested a lemon or pressed a clove of garlic, we all like to think that given the opportunity, we could whip up a meal that would make Julia Child proud. The fantasy is that the right kitchen could propel any one of us to culinary genius. You can stage your home to create and literally sell such a fantasy.

Here are a few easy steps a motivated seller like you can take to stage your house to sell by transforming your kitchen into a deal closer:

1. Think fresh…paint that is. It’s cheap, and it can totally change the mood of a room. A kitchen that’s light, bright and airy invites folks to come in and sit a spell. The wheels in the mind of your potential buyer are starting to turn and plan. She’s starting to envision her table in your highly marketable space.

2. De-clutter. We all have refrigerator doors full of kids’ art, school pictures, and reminders for the next dental appointment. The truth is we’ve seen that door so often that we don’t see it as junky any more. To a buyer, the sight is jarring and reminds him he’s in someone else’s house. You want each person to be able to envision himself in this house and begin to see it as all theirs!

3. Clear the Counters. Think long and gleaming. Get as many appliances and crockery off your counter tops as possible. Spic and span surfaces shine! A vase of fresh flowers is a nice touch.

4. Smells like home. A Mrs. Smith apple pie in the oven makes your whole house smell like your grandmother’s on a harvest day. I won’t tell them it’s from your grocer’s freezer if you don’t.

5. Pantry Shelves, spice racks and spaces, oh my! We like to think the right kitchen would organize itself, and one with well-thought out storage spaces can certainly give that impression. Look in the most recent editions of home magazines for organizational ideas. Avoid Discount Club shopping and keep your pantry, cabinet and other storage places minimally stocked. Spaces will look larger. And you’ll be moving soon anyway!

Staging your home to sell is part science and part artistry. A clean, creatively presented kitchen can cut through the clutter of “buyer overload” and stage your house to sell quickly. A few easy steps can lead a motivated seller like you to the sale you’ve been waiting for.

Within these tough economic times and the ever increasing fees demanded by Estate agents to sell your property whilst reducing their advertising activity, it is no wonder that people are seeking alternative methods of property selling such as FSBO.

When selling your property on an FSBO (For Sale By Owner) basis visibility is crucial, not only just in terms of the particular FSBO website you choose to advertise your property with but also with the aid of a quality sale board displayed outside of your property.

Sale boards are by far one of the most effective ways of generating sales inquiries for your property. If you don’t have a board prominently displayed, you could be missing out on an unbelievable amount of opportunities to sell your home. Remember, it is still very common for buyers to scout the areas they are interested in for any ‘For Sale’ boards. If you haven’t got a board outside, how will they have any idea that your property is for sale?

Even if you live in a small cul-de-sac within a small village, you should not under estimate the possibly of any of your neighbours connections, or a chance drive-by potential buyer who is looking for a property in your area.
It may even be somebody walking their dog past your home in the morning, they may not be interested in it themselves but there is chance they may know somebody that might be.

Sale boards vary greatly in quality, size and price. Always go for the best you can afford – after all, it is an advertisement for you. Using the proven format of Estate and Letting Agents boards, try to acquire a board that is 800mm x 600mm and constructed from Correx board and has been professionally printed.

Expect to pay anything from 40 (EUR $ £) to 125 (EUR $ £). You can receive a FREE sale board to the above quality and specification when you list your property with Ocean Wave Properties.

http://www.OceanWaveProperties.com

Home owners trying to sell their home often have their guard up against real estate agents trying to get their business. The initial contact is important in gaining the business of the owners as you do not want to be one of those “other agents.” When making the initial contact your ultimate goal is to contact the FSBO seller using a low-pressure, trust-building tactic and secure an appointment to tour the home. You want to make the seller believe that you potentially have a buyer but you want to check out the house for yourself before you bring in your client. During your initial call, if the seller responds with, “We don’t want to list with a real estate agent.” You might say something like, “It is not my intention to list your home. I would simply like to put your home on my FSBO inventory list. If that is ok with you, may I come and view your home?” The initial contact is a friendly, no-pressure contact where your ultimate goal is for the seller to allow you into their home.

Once you have gained face to face access to the FSBO seller your next step is to tour the home, build trust, and ask for any possible referrals the FSBO may have. During your tour of the home you want to build a connection with the seller. This can be done by giving advice on how to better show the home, perhaps offering advice on how to stage the house, or how to add warmth to a room. By doing so you build a connection with the owner and show them that you are not in it to gain a listing. Upon leaving the tour, you should have some sort of marketing packet prepared. You can slip it in by saying something like, “Thank you so much for showing me your home, I wish you the best of luck in your sale. I have prepared one of my reports that might help you sell your home.” This packet can contain information on marketing strategies, neighborhood data, or simple real estate facts, but most importantly your contact information. This packet with your contact information is your slick way of making a name for yourself and potentially gaining other clients. Finish off your tour with a statement like, “Well Mr./Ms. Homeseller, I’m hoping for a win-win here. I can provide you with information to help you sell your home, and I hope that in return you will refer any buyers not interest in your home to me. Is there anything else I can do to help you?” With a statement like that you leave the lines of communication open and in return the FSBO may market your name.

Your third step in the process is dropping off an item of value. In this step you are dropping off some sort of incentive or a small token of appreciation to the FSBO seller to build trust and maintain contact. These days people responds to incentives, gain the trust and business of someone by offering them something like a gift certificate to dinner or even a free vacation. By you offering something of value, you keep the line of communication alive. “Good morning, Mr./Ms. FSBO. I thought you might be able to use this. How are things going?” No matter what response you get you want to ask the seller if there is anything you can do to help get their house sold. Most likely the FSBO hasn’t been having much traffic through the house and some consideration of hiring you is going through their mind. The item of value is your way to show the client you value their time, and you are willing to do what it takes to help them move the house. Even if you don’t get the listing right away you are maintaining lines of communication and even possible leads. There is a great resource widely used for Marketing Incentives listed at the bottom of this article.

Your last step in the process is touching base with the homeowner. The objective is simple, “touch base”. At this point in they are starting to feel the pressure of selling a home without an agent, and it’s your job to make another contact to see how things are going. Offer them your help once more. With an 80% failure rate, with all the other three steps successfully completed you might be getting their business soon. Contact them saying “Good morning, Mr./Ms. FSBO. I was just calling to see how things were going? Is there anything I can do to help you?” If you get a “no” make sure to say something along the lines of, “Ok, well, thanks again for your willingness to send me your referrals. Good luck!” If you feel a little more aggressive you could also say, “I’ll be in the area next week. Would you like some information on…” If the FSBO has not moved their house by now, keep the pressure on them. Continue making the contacts and offer them your help. With continued perseverance you main gain the listing on your next call.

If you’re desiring to sell a house, it’s a usual idea that in doing it on your own is cheaper. There is no need to have an agent, ergo there’s no agent fees. At times, however, it may be learned that it is still more convenient to have an agent close by. Their knowledge is vaster and probably more utile. However, not most individuals can pay for a broker. As such if it can’t be evaded, below are means to profitably sell your asset by yourself.

What Add-Ons Can Do
If planning to put your house on the market, you must be knowledgeable of the features you can set up to your property which can help make the price go higher. However, you should also make wise decisions on this aspect. Not every add-ons are best ideas. For instance a landscaped garden with a mini pond may cost thousands to install yet will just put in only less than half that price to the possible market price. This is not a great decision. The costs are much greater than probable earnings. Thus, it is better to find things that can help increase the market price while not costing too much.

Look with The Buyer’s Eyes
Because you are the owner of the home, you are already used to all things in the house. A window under repair may mean not even a thing to you because it’s been existing all the while. Yet, for home shoppers, this is not the case. But, when trying to put your house on the market on your own, try to see with the eyes of the buyer. This doesn’t mean you need to remove all private things in the home. These stuff give a feeling of comfort to the property. You only have to maintain everything clean and welcoming for a home shopper. All that is broken should be fixed and the things that necessitate restoration should be paid due tending.

Study How to List Your Property
Not hiring your own broker means that all things, from the smallest part to the biggest possible aspect should be attended to by you. This indicates you will have to put your house on list on your own also. However, before doing that you must learn how to successfully list your property. Check all possible websites where you can advertise your property without any fee or for an agreeable value. Also, inquire publishing houses of periodicals about their advertisement prices. If you can pay for it, have your property listed as soon as possible.

Aesthetics is Essential
Just like the way a woman applies make up on her face, your property should be made pretty not just internally but also outside. No home shopper would ever look inside a property donning an ugly façade. Ergo, clean the outer parts of the house. If there’s a garden, make it beautiful with shrubbery and a small lanai. If there is a veranda with chipped paint, repaint it. Furthermore, if there is a broken car in front take it somewhere else it or park it somewhere else in the mean time.

Honesty is the Best Policy
The final tip that house owners who want to put their property in the market must know is that there is nothing that attracts a shopper more than an honest marketer. Ergo, it is good to be truthful regarding all information|| on the property. If the buyer asks a question, tell everything there is. It is better than having the terrible truth exposed a few minutes before the closure of the sale. Be frank.

For sale by owner or FSBO listings have one key problem and one solid answer; sell. Every FSBO seller knows that they need to sell their house, hence the home depot, do it yourself sign out front. The owner by no means despises real estate agents who can solve such a problem, only the agent who promises everything and delivers nothing. FSBO sellers do not know the ins and outs of the real estate business, and are therefore disadvantaged when it comes to selling homes fast. The key to approaching a FSBO seller is to keep in mind the solution you have for their previously identified problem, each time you contact them.

Consider this, FSBO sellers are overwhelmed, under qualified and often times flat out wrong when it comes to selling homes. If it were so incredibly do it yourself easy to sell homes, there wouldn’t be the need to prove how experienced an agent you are, or how valuable your high success record is. The fact of the matter is that selling a home is a skill, one that all homeowners looking to sell should seek and only find in one place, you!

Solving a problem is never easy, nor is it simple to convince someone else you’ve solved the issue either. This is because most seem to have the exact same approach, never separating themselves and certainly not being innovative or forward thinking. The solution presented to the seller must be one that no other agent is willing to offer, yet guaranteed by you.

By guaranteeing success and making the risk taken by sellers hassle free, you send the idea that your marketing message is so bold and elaborate, yet believable, that you will do everything you say and deliver, once they’ve agreed to follow your rules. Any agent making such confident claims must certainly have the knowledge in addition to the nerve in order to produce.

Now I invite you to discover the FSBO Training [http://www.fsbotrainingsystem.com], proven techniques, sure to have you listing more FSBO homes than ever!

Not using a realtor, and trying to sell your house by owner, is going to be significantly more work. However, the benefits would be that you can sell your house much quicker, and that you don’t have to pay any commission on the sale.

Obviously the big selling point for the realtor is the MLS system. They are strictly selling the house by yourself, you won’t have access to listing your house on this network. This is a definite disadvantage to you, but certainly not an insurmountable one.

You do realize you are responsible for advertising your own house for sale. The Sunday edition of a large local newspaper is a good choice. However it can be a little pricey. Don’t overlook the online classifieds, as they can be a great source of interested buyers. Three that you want to look at are Craigslist, adpost, and USFreeAds.

Obviously, a sign that the house is for sale in the front yard is a good thing to do as well. Also the closest heavily trafficked road should have a sign on it. Just post a sign at the house for sale address and phone number.

Getting people to your house is just the first step. Once they’re there you have to get them to buy. The cleaner and neater your house is the easier it going to be to sell. You can focus on just three areas and do well. Make sure the kitchen is very clean. The bathroom is very clean. Lastly make sure the front of the house is clean, neat, and in order.

Typically anything finished by a home owner is usually heading in order to spend less cash including the sale belonging to the property. Any time the property owner takes on the task toward selling the house, thousands of dollars are generally saved in commissions which have been ordinarily compensated to a real estate agent chiefly when making use of an FSBO MLS listing. This is a “For Sale By Owner” notice on a universally recognised Multiple Listing Program.

Operating as Your “Agent”: Success is usually measured in terms of not only the quantity of time one applies into a venture but furthermore the quality of that time. When it comes to offering your residence, you need the actual correct volume of time devoted towards work but real estate sales tips as well along the lines of understanding what the property industry is, exactly what the demand is and what are usually the going current market rates with regard to properties like yours.

Placing Your Listing: One of the benefits of executing an FSBO is saving the 6 % or so normally paid to an agent that are usually your negotiating area when it comes to coming to producing a deal within the cost for your property. Just about all you have to complete is solicit the support of a low cost Realtor that provides access to putting property announcements within the multiple listing within an location that has been chosen as ‘FOR Sale By Owner.” This kind of advertisement should get your residence exposed to many way more potential buyers than conducting a individually led marketing program because of community newspaper classifieds. The particular cost for obtaining your own residence listed inside the Multiple Listing Service is significantly less compared to all the expenses received through using a traditional strategy towards selling your household that is generally recouped by the selling agent within the fee paid as soon as the property is sold. Your little fee for finding listed delivers you a fantastic return of providing you with coverage on the biggest real estate databases ever made.

Some other FSBO MLS Benefits: You will discover other advantages you could obtain from an FSBO MLS listing such as maximum exposure not restricted to say, for illustration, a nearby newspaper coverage area. The MLS on the net is practically accessible all through the world providing optimum property exposure. Furthermore, you have the capacity to switch pricing as well as control any and all images from the property which were uploaded towards World wide web. Furthermore, statistics prove that MLS properties market in quicker time than others that do not list on the service. Due to the savings you might realize not having to pay high real estate broker commissions, you can experience excellent wiggle room negotiating a price to seal the deal with severe buyers who use the MLS program. Agents and brokers for buyers use the program since it is quick and efficient to search their client’s “requirement” list for potential new properties.

Ensure of Your Commitment: Committing to applying FSBO MLS also signifies you’ll want to do self education and be prepared to put in a good deal of time creating the sale happen. Unlike hiring an agent to handle all aspects, you might need to be available for showings, answering inquiries and additional if you hope to become flourishing.

As you may have noticed, there are a lot of people who are selling their homes today. This is amidst the advice of experts that now is not a good time to do it. There are various reasons why it is not ideal to sell a property today. For one, the competition is tough. There are a lot of sellers in the market today. Many are forced to do it because of foreclosure. Another reason is the lack of buyers. Although there are still those who are willing to shell out money, they are very few. Moreover, the values of the properties are low. This is brought by all the factors affecting the real estate industry today.

Since the industry is down, the proceeds for selling a property is low. This is one of the reasons why many are attempting the FSBO or for sale by owner. Many owners think that they could save more, thus earning more because they do not need to pay sales commission. However, this is not a good idea especially if it is your first time to sell a house. This is also not a good choice in this type of economy either.

There are several reasons why FSBO is not a good idea. One of them is the tough competition in the real estate market today. As mentioned earlier, there are more sellers than buyers. The sellers will surely be on their best game to attract the few buyers. If you really need to sell the house, you will be willing to price your house at a very low value and accept a very low offer.

There are more experienced players in the market. This is because some owners still prefer to work with a real estate agent. Agents are more equipped than inexperienced homeowner who is selling his house. He has more marketing strategies that work because of his experience. The agent will be working harder as well because of the type of industry he is in.

This is why it is still best to work with an agent. You will benefit from his expertise and you can be sure that he will protect your interest. One of the advantages of having an agent is that he will help you reach more buyers. This is because of the network he has. Aside from posting a for sale sign in front of your house, your agent can include it in the different list. He can also post ads on the local papers and sites. In addition to that, he knows other real estate professionals that will direct buyers to your home.

You will also have a better value for your property. You do not have to accept an offer lower than the market value of your property today. Your agent can convince a buyer to do that especially if there are several buyers who want to purchase your house. Bear in mind that your agent knows how to negotiate with the buyer. He will surely be able to get a better price for your property.

With this type of industry, FSBO is seldom successful. You would definitely be able to earn more if you have an agent because you will attract more buyers and receive better offers for your house.

In today’s real estate environment you need a lot of things to go right if you are to sell your home quickly at a decent price. One thing you don’t want to leave to chance is your internet marketing strategy for your property.

My research tells me that a FSBO home seller is able to make up for the lack of a Realtor marketing plan fairly easily by finding someone else to to it. This can usually be done for a fee (not a commission) that ends up being between 1% and 1.5% of the purchase price.

What you get is a customized state-of-the art internet marketing plan from a specialist, while Realtors give you the same marketing plan as everyone else, and put your property listing on the same website as all their other properties.

What most impresses me about customized home marketing plans are the following things:

• Because they are customized, they are optimized for Google and receive a lot of traffic.
• The traffic you receive from Google is free, and usually better quality traffic.
• The independent plan from an online real estate marketing expert will include more things.
• The internet marketing expert will know the latest internet marketing techniques for properties.
• By being customized the plan can be modified at any time.
• Your property has its own website, which makes a huge difference for internet traffic volume.

It seems to me that if you do this correctly you can spend a lot less money on an internet marketing strategy than with a Realtor, yet end up with a more effective marketing plan. Now you just have to decide the best answer for you.

When you are selling your home there are few things that you will agonize over more than the price. You will be plagued by questions about whether you are priced to high, or if you are leaving money on the table. The sad part is very rarely will you be at that PERFECT price. If it sells quick it means that you were probably under priced, but if it was a price that you were comfortable with then it was just right.

On the other side if you price it to high, it can leave your home on the market for to long waiting for that great offer. The sad part is that if it is on the market for more than a couple of months, it will start to make buyers nervous about why no one else has bought it. When this becomes the case it can actually result in your home selling for less than it would have if it had been properly priced.

So a real estate agent can at least help you with this right?!? Yes and no. They are going to put together a list of recent sales or homes that are currently for sale near your home called a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Then they will use variables such as square footage and number of bedrooms to normalize the price of these other homes compared to yours. In the end though, they are not taking any of the risk associated with the number and will often come in with a high price, that after a few weeks they recommend you bring down. So all of a sudden that value that we saw when they were telling us about how great their service was quickly evaporates and you find yourself thinking “… and I am going to pay this person more than my brain surgeon.”

If you want an idea about how much your house is worth, there are different ways to find out. The easiest, but not limited is to use services such as www.Zillow.com These sites monitor sales prices and home characteristics in your neighborhood. It will give you a range of what that home is worth when compared to the other houses in the area with similar characteristics. It will also let you update details and and refine the price of your home. It will also show the homes that it is using to make your CMA and let you decide if they are good “comps” (comparable homes).

Another alternative to determine value is to have an appraisal done. These ARE the professionals who actually are willing to put their name to the numbers and will use similar details as the CMA, but also include adjustments for a homes that do or don’t have certain features (i.e. Air conditioning, garages, storage buildings, etc). When it comes time to complete the mortgage, you will notice that the bank requires an appraisal, not a CMA, to ensure that the home is adequately valued.

Once you have a price established, then you need to move on to listing.