What Are Some Tips for Selling Your Home “For Sale By Owner”?

If you’re looking to sell your house without forking over a fortune in realtor commissions, chances are you’ve considered taking the for-sale-by-owner route. But selling a house by yourself isn’t easy. It requires diligent work, real estate market knowledge, and in many cases, a small up-front investment.  

If you’re willing to put in the time and work to take on the market by yourself, more power to you! In this blog, the cash home buyers at We Buy Houses Oklahoma City share helpful tips for selling your home for-sale-by-owner (FSBO), so you can save thousands in realtor commissions. 

1. Get the Price Right

Just because you think your house is worth a specific amount, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re right. Think about it: You have an emotional attachment to the place — ultimately, that factors into your perception of its value. 

The first two weeks that your house is on the market are the most critical time for you since that’s when buyer interest will be highest. If you price your house too high and it doesn’t get much initial interest, you can just lower the price, right? Be careful with that thinking. Overall interest in the home may still be lower because it’s not a new listing. And the longer the home sits on the market, the more hesitant buyers are to take a look at it. The assumption is that there’s a reason nobody has purchased the house yet.

So how do you figure out the appropriate price range? You need to have market knowledge and an understanding of how to properly valuate your property. The timing of your listing, the state of your local real estate market, and even a little bit of intuition also factor into getting the price right. 

Bottom line? Do plenty of research before you list.  

2. Nail Down Your Marketing Strategy

If you want to sell your house FSBO, you must know how to market it effectively! When you work with a realtor, they handle all the marketing for you. Even though you don’t see the behind-the-scenes action or even have to lift a finger to get the listing “out there,” there are many marketing tools and tactics at work. 

You need to learn which tools are available to you and which are worth your time and monetary investment. Again, this is where research is critical. Nailing down an effective plan for marketing your for-sale house requires plenty of work on your part. Some things you should consider include:

• Taking high-quality photos of the property or hiring a professional real estate photographer to do it for you
• Listing your property (with the high-quality photos) on FSBO websites like Trulia, Zillow, and Redfin 
• Planning and marketing open houses
• Making information packets or brochures to distribute at your open houses
• Designing and creating advertising flyers
• Posting a for-sale-by-owner sign in your front yard
• Posting for-sale signs on the streets that lead toward your house

3. Prepare Your Home Properly

Taking the time to prepare your property for open houses is crucial. Prospective buyers need to be able to envision their lives in the house — you don’t want your life cluttering up their ability to do that. That’s where decluttering and cleaning come in. 

Furthermore, you need to impress prospective buyers from the moment they arrive out front and the minute they walk through the front door. That means that you’ll likely benefit from making a few cosmetic improvements to both the exterior and interior of your house (landscaping included). Things to seriously consider include:

• Pack away clutter. If you have tons of clutter in your home, pack it up and put it in storage before you schedule an open house. While your home might feel cozy and “lived-in” to you, viewers won’t see it that way. They’re looking to think about what their lives might be like if they decide to live there. Declutter so interested buyers can use their imagination. Don’t overwhelm them with all of your stuff. 
• Clean from top to bottom. We’re talking trim, molding, window sills, cabinets, curtains, upholstery — the whole nine. Prospective buyers are incredibly scrupulous. Don’t give them anything to criticize when it comes to cleanliness. If you don’t want to handle the cleaning on your own, hire a professional. Do not skimp here!
• Stage the place. When you go to a job interview, you dress to impress, right? The same idea applies to selling a house. But with a sale, your house is basically the interviewee. Make sure the interior design is cohesive and inviting. It’ll pay off. Nearly two-thirds of realtors say that good staging can significantly decrease the amount of time a house spends on the market.  

Ready to Sell Your Oklahoma City House?

If you’re ready to sell your house but aren’t looking to pay expensive realtor commission fees, FSBO isn’t your only option. You can also sell to a cash home buyer who will offer you fair market value for your home as-is. That means you don’t have to clean, declutter, stage, or make any improvements to the place before you sell it. 

Interested in learning how the cash-for-houses process works? Give us a call at (405) 757-2507 or contact us online to discover how much we can offer you for your Oklahoma City home.