Real estate markets have always been cyclicalâ¦subject to ups and downs. A plant closing in a small town means a lot of people are leaving and selling homes for whatever they can get. Itâs tough because more people are leaving than moving in to small places. Farming towns all over the US have shrinking populations. Midwestern cities like Cleveland, Dayton and Detroit are losing population every day because there is no work for residents.
But it is possible to sell a home in this situation. Iâve done it and you can, too.
The first thing you need to do is to start cleaning, painting and polishing your house to make it look as good as possible. This is very important. You want your house to look inviting, light, pleasant and uncluttered.
You also want to make your house look as good as possible from the street. Curb appeal is more important than anything in a competitive real estate market.
But, do NOT remodel! Do NOT invest in granite counter tops or stainless steel appliances. Most people who sell houses take their washer and dryer and refrigerator with them when they leave. In a competitive real estate market every penny will count. Itâs more important for you to price your house competitively than for you to try to remodel your way to a sale. Some things will never pay out. They will just cost you money you canât afford.
Ask an appraiser what a good competitive price would be for your neighborhood. An appraiser can check recent sales in your area and give you an actual average market price for homes near you that have sold and closed. Every homeowner needs these facts, especially if they have lived in a house for many years. You want to set your price near market. Real Estate agents will often estimate a home value higher than it really is to get a listing. But the first days a house is for sale are the days it will get the most attention. Donât waste that time by overpricing your house.
Have your house inspected and fix whatever the inspector suggests. Have copies of the cleared inspection report available for lookers to see.
Get the word out that your house is for sale. Tell everyone you know. Tell everyone at work, at church and in your neighborhood. Advertise everywhere you can afford to place an advertisement. Real estate companies have really cut back on their advertising budgets. There are about 100 houses currently for sale in my neighborhood, but only about 30 of them are advertised anywhere each month by the pros.
Then let people start looking at your house. Do this very carefully. You want to be safe. When you talk with someone who wants to look at your house ask a lot of snoopy questions. You want qualified buyers not recreational lookers. Ask them if they would have to sell a house to buy yours. Ask them if they have been pre-approved for a loan. Ask them where they work and even how much money they make. This is not the time to be reticent. Ask them if they have a family. Ask them if the wife likes the neighborhood. Get their contact information: name, address, phone, work and E-Mail.
Have an open house and have several friends help you with it. You can station someone in every room to answer questions and watch over things for you. But tell them to let the lookers do the talking. It will give you data on problems you may need to fix or what shoppers like about your property. You want that data.
But what may happen, and often happens in desirable neighborhoods is that one of YOUR neighbors will sell your house for you to one of their friends. They have the real incentive to find themselves a good neighbor. Thatâs what happened to us in Dayton. Word of mouth sold our house in less than a month. We only had to fix our house for a few showings.
Our neighbor across the street had his filthy house for sale for the entire 18 months we lived there. It was a great neighborhood but his house was the dirtiest house you have ever seen. Houses need to be clean to sell or REALLY CHEAP compared to market.
In Atlanta a newspaper ad (1) sold our house. The one couple we showed it to bought it for the asking price.
Ask a lawyer to help you with contracts and closings. All lawyers may do these things and they will charge less than a combo of real estate agents, closing attorneys and title companies, etc.
Notice that this process is a considerable amount of work. But it is DIY work you would have to do anyway, whether or not you hired and had to pay a pro. Real estate agents charge for people they have cleaning and staging your home. Itâs not free. Selling a home your self is a lot of work, but itâs all doable and relatively cheap so you walk away with much more cash in your pocket.
One final note, if you can offer owner financing you will dramatically increase the number of prospects and get top dollar for your home. Donât dismiss this possibility because you want all cash. You can sell the private mortgage note to a private note buyer. While they will purchase the note at a discount, you should be able to offset most of this discount by 1) Selling much faster thus saving interest, taxes, insurance, etc., 2) Get top dollar for the home, 3) Not have to give concessions such as a credit for closing costs as there will be very little, and 4) Incur no real estate sales commissions.
Paula works with her husband Ron in his note buying business. Learn more about mortgage note buying and selling at their websites at Mortgage Buyer and Note Buyer