Tips for your Open House: - Clean up the inside of your home. Try and remove the clutter and make your home open and welcoming, people coming through will want to pen every closed and look behind every door. Turn on all the lights and replace any low watt bulbs with higher watt bulbs. You may want to consider a fresh coat of paint.
- Bake some cookies or get a sweet smelling candle (they do have cookie scented candles). Have fresh flowers in your kitchen and/or dining room.
- See if you can get some free flyers, recently sold properties in your area and the price, loan comparison forms based on your property and asking price. A mortgage broker can help you with some of these forms. Have your own flyers ready with your home’s information (look online at another home’s listing and make sure you covered all the bases). Check and see what your state required disclosures are and have them available, Home owners disclosure, lead based paint disclosure, property condition reports, etc.
- Freshen up any landscaping; a fresh layer of mulch can make a huge improvement in appearance. Sweep up walk ways and your drive way, and remove any eye sores or clutter.
- Put on your best. It is time for your best outfit, even if it is football Sunday sweat pants and your favorite team’s jersey is not appropriate. Put on your best smile and be friendly, pretend every person you meet just offered you 25% over your asking price as a cash offer.
- Ask questions. Some people will want the grand tour and some people will just want to be left alone to poke around. Be accommodating and help those who want it.
Always answer any questions honestly. If there is an ugly patch of carpet where your dog chewed up an ink pen, let the prospective buyers know. If the roof leaks in the spring, but it's now summer and you've painted over the stain, tell the prospect. Anything you misrepresent can and probably will be used against you. And of course, you would want the same honesty when you purchase.
Remember to be willing to show your home a lot. In the end its well worth it.
Lots of Mortgage Brokers have a call capture number that comes along with an attention getting sign like 100 Percent Financing. Call for 24 hour Recorded Message that they can lend you to help manage and up the traffic on calls. They automatically capture the number of the caller like caller ID and can have it sent real time by email and text message to the seller and broker for quick prequalification.
Probably the most critical component to the success or failure of a For Sale By Owner is the asking price. It must be high enough so the seller doesn't do all the work for nothing, yet pricing too high will make it hard to generate interest in the property. Many Realtors will perform a Comparative Market Analysis even though they are not going to be listing the home for sale. They do this because they feel the seller may let the Realtor represent them on the purchase of the seller's next home. The CMA can prove very valuable in helping the seller determine a proper asking price.
One way to prevent potential litigation for a problem you were unaware of is to hire an inspector to go through your home before you list it. That way, there will be no nasty surprises years later when the new owners discover something that began while you owned it--but didn't disclose.
You don't have necessarily have to fix the problems, but you do have to disclose their existence.
Teenagers' rooms can be a special challenge. They often leave piles of dirty laundry on top of plates of half-eaten food. Make sure these rooms get the top-to-bottom scrutiny they need--and for heaven's sake, use some kind of air-freshener.
The same goes for the bathroom or baby's room. Bad odors can be deal killers. How would the buyer know if its permanent or not?
Most important...make sure your house is CLEAN! Potential buyers don't want to see an inch of dust on the baseboards. If your house looks dirty, who's to say the upkeep and necessary maintenance have been done.
The kitchen is the single most important room that sells the house. Create a spacious feeling in the kitchen by putting away small appliances, such as microwave oven, toaster, and blender. Also be sure the kitchen counter is free of personal mails, magazines and newspapers.
A mortgage professional can often times help you sell your home faster, by providing free marketing, and even potential qualified buyers.
Work with a qualified mortgage professional. It cost you nothing, yet they will help you tremendously. A mortgage professional working for the seller should prequalify anyone who shows an interest in your home - even those who say they are already pre-qualified.
This can save you countless hours of frustration dealing with people who are not qualified to purchase your home.
Finding a mortgage professional to work with in your for sale by owner listing can help you alot. They can make flyers for your home giving different payments and scenarios for potential buyers.
Remember less is more and that also means the furniture in your home, areas that have to much furniture will appear smaller in size than reality.
Remove to many personal items so potential buyers can see there own stuff fiting right in.
Burn a candle to make your home smell fresh and inviting.
