Real Estate Agents Alternatives

While most owners when considering selling a house would opt directly to hire a real estate agent, there are alternatives to the conventional method. These options can save you money but with a little effort on your part since you will be doing more of the work yourself – home selling online and private home selling.

Property Sale Websites

The introduction of the Internet makes marketing easier. There are many private property sale websites nowadays that will allow you to reach a wider audience. Property sale websites function as the local classifieds; the main distinction is that your listing will be virtually available anywhere.

Since you will be doing this on your own, be prepared to write description of your house, take photos that will go with your ad, facilitate viewings, and negotiate with potential buyers. If you are willing to do this and if you have time, you can have big savings selling your house this way.

Aside from these websites which purpose is to list properties for sale, there are also agents who are only available online. Unlike traditional agents, they provide services virtually. They are capable of handling negotiations and proceed to sale completion via online mode. The difference between property sale websites and online estate agents is that the latter handles queries from potential buyers and pass on to the seller. A property sale website can also be an agent if it acts in such a way.

Private Home Selling

Another alternative is to sell your house to a private investor. With private investors, there is no need for home viewings, home staging, and home listing. Private investors even buy houses as is so you can go directly with the sale without preparing your home.

Lucas Properties is a private investor which buys houses in any condition with cash. If you want a quick and guaranteed sale, contact Lucas Properties now and be prepared to receive a cash offer.

Do’s and Don’ts of Home Selling

Home selling is a complex process regardless of the market condition. However, it does not have to be. You can sell you’re your home efficiently if you know these do’s and don’ts.

Don’t overprice. Your house is worth what the market is willing to pay you. The sum that you paid for your house does not necessarily means it is still worth that amount.

Do a market research. Get a feel of how much your house could sell for. You can run a comparable study by searching online for houses sold near your area. Check for home similarities and prices. Your asking price should not go over the sold houses with similar features as yours otherwise; your house could sit for months.

Don’t show your house with broken things. Buyers will always notice the things in your house that are broken or need repair. Chipped paint, leaking water system, and broken windows are some of the things that you need to fix before you let the prospects in.

Do a clean-up. You don’t have to stage your house lavishly. A simple cleaning will do. Remove personal items such as family pictures and memorabilia. Apply a new paint which is neutral in color. Make your house as ‘anonymous’ as possible so buyers can picture themselves in your house.

Don’t sell your house by yourself…unless you know what you’re doing. Unless you've sold a house several times within a couple of years, do not go for FSBO. Real estate rules and disclosures change over time, if you are on your own you are accepting that you deal with the complexities by yourself.

Do hire a Realtor.  Realtors perform real estate transactions all year round. They know the ways around buying and selling houses. They are on top of their game and they will be able to help you sell your house.

If you do not want to work with a realtor, do sell your house to private investors. Private investors like Lucas Properties buy houses in any condition any time. Receive cash for your house and move on.

Get Your House Ready to Sell

When you buy a house the first time, you think of it as your future home. A home is where you live in, build your dreams, raise your children, and make memories with family and friends. But when you find the need to sell your home, the first thing that you should do is disconnect your emotions. Why? You need to make buyers think that is their future home and not yours. You may not realize it but in real estate business, your home can be anybody’s house so treat is as a saleable property.

Oftentimes, the first step is the hardest. As soon as you get through it, it will be easier to de-personalize your house. Note that I already used the term ‘house.’ Since your goal is to make your house somebody else’s home, remove your personal items such as photos, trophies, personal memento, and other collectible items. When buyers see personal items during showings, they break their daydreams of being in your house themselves. Do not store them in the garage or attic but place them somewhere else. Removing them from your house will help you too. It will give you the sense of certainty; that you are finally letting the house go.

Now, it’s time to put your house up for sale. How are you going to do it? Will you sell it on your own? Are you going to hire a broker? Will you try selling it at an auction? Your choice should be based on whether you have the time and experience to sell it on your own, how much are you willing to spend, and how fast do you need it to sell.

If you want a quick sale without spending another dollar than necessary, sell your house to Lucas Properties. Sell your house for cash in as short as seven days.

Home Selling: Types of Home Listing

Home Selling

Home listing is part of a marketing strategy for home selling. It is one of the ways to reach potential buyers. There are several types of listing but only a few are commonly used.

Open Listing

This is commonly used by home owners who have chosen FSBO (For Sale By Owner.) As the name suggests, this is a non-exclusive listing. As the seller, you can have a listing to as many brokers as you want and you only pay commission to whoever finds a buyer first. That also means you need not pay any commission if you found your own buyer. Most brokers do not want to work an open listing unless the home inventory is low.

One-Time Show

This is somehow similar to an open listing. Sometimes, a broker will show a FSBO to one of his clients. The seller signs a one-time agreement which guarantees that the broker gets a commission should the specified potential buyer closes the deal. This prevents the seller from negotiating to the buyer directly after the showing and avoids paying the agent’s commission.

Multiple Listing

This is the very core of home listing. The goal of marketing is to reach as many potential buyers as possible; with MLS (Multiple Listing System) you can achieve this goal. MLS has a huge network of agents and these agents have access to clients looking to buy a home. This type of network will sell your home. Without MLS, for sale by owners are at a disadvantage.

Sellers with FSBO do not necessarily need to list their homes to sell. The presence of private property investors makes FSBO easier. The seller needs only to work with a decent property investor and he is guaranteed to have a close deal within a few days.

Private investors, such as Lucas Properties, have a list of buyers who are qualified to purchase a home but unlike brokers, they do not ask for commission. The biggest benefit that private investors have to offer is they provide for sale by owners an option to beat the time and expense of selling their homes the traditional way.

Advantages and Disadvantages of FSBO

FSBO also known as For Sale By Owner has definite advantages in certain situations. What made it popular to home owners is the cost they save on realtors’ or brokers’ fees. At most, home owners save up to 6% of the asking price when they opt for FSBO. At times, this amount can be tempting enough to forego the realtor’s services. But before you make a decision, let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of going the FSBO route.

Marketing

Realtors have marketing leverage. They can list your home in MLS plus they have contact with other agents through their network which gives you the advantage because you are sure to reach wider prospects. On the other hand, since realtors handle multiple clients at once, you cannot expect them to devote their time on your property alone. It is true that realtors can list your home in MLS but it will only become as one of their many listings.

Property Showing

When you hire a realtor, he will take care of showing your property to prospective buyers. He will help you prepare or stage your house before the showings. He will answer questions from buyers, set up open houses and handle financing and closing issues. With FSBO, you will be doing all these work by yourself.

Money

With FSBO, you can save up to 6% of the asking price. Let’s examine this further by taking a look at these situations:

• You will be paying your own advertising – online listing, local papers, making of signage, flyers, posters, and print ads.
•  You will be paying for an attorney who will be handling the legal issues and drawing up of contracts.
•   If you don’t know how, you will be paying for a consultant who will do the comparative analysis of your home.

Do you think you can still make the most money after examining these costs? Do not forget that when you choose FSBO, you will also invest time and effort in the selling process.

Are you still decided to go with FSBO? You can skip the marketing and property showing and still save on the realtor’s fee by selling your house to private cash investors.

Sell your house for cash to Lucas Properties LLC. Unlike realtors, they do not ask for commission. They take away the strain by taking care of the closing documents making every transaction hassle free.

Common Reasons Why Your House is Not Selling

Why the house has been sitting on the market for months can be attributed to several reasons. As an owner, it is wise to know the things that push buyers away so you can create actions to prevent them.

Lack of curb appeal. First impressions last – this much is true in every real estate transactions. You need to capture a buyer’s attention and make sure to leave a lasting impression otherwise, he will simply move on to the next listings. But what kind of impressions should you make? The kind that will make any buyer think that your house is what he needs.

External maintenance is as important as the house maintenance. If a buyer is turned off by a lack of exterior maintenance (bad fence, cluttered pathways, and overgrown grass) then most likely he will have a bad impression of the house itself. It is no wonder that he may not even take the time to see the house.

Unreasonable expectations. Overpricing is the most common reason why buyers stay away from your property. Although it is typical that as an owner, you will think that your house is above all the others, this is not always the case. To attract buyers, you have to think like a buyer.

• Pretend that you are shopping for a new house and compare yours to others. 
• Is your house beautifully staged?
•  Is it located in a more desirable area of the subdivision?
•  Does it have all the modern amenities?
•  Is it built by highly regarded home builders?

Does your house compare? If your answer is NO, then you have a work to do.

Lack of proper marketing. You have the most beautiful house in the area but do buyers know about it? Aggressive marketing plays an important function in getting potential buyers. Whether you are selling the house on your own or you are working with an agent, you have to make sure that your property has the maximum exposure. Make use of the social media, create a personalized website, list in multiple listings, distribute flyers, and ask for referrals.

If you need help in selling your house, contact Lucas Properties. They have been in the industry for many years and have helped many home owners who find it difficult to sell their homes.