How to Sell Real Estate Without a Broker

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:41:14 EST

Real estate brokers vigorously negate the fact that you cansell your house yourself. Obviously, real estate brokering is their bread andbutter and they'd never want you to be independent of them when selling or buyinga house. They argue that, in fact, they are the ones who know true local homevalues and real estate laws.

They claim that they will ‘screen' potentialbuyers for you - saving your time, safety and money. In fact, if you understandhow to sell real estate on your own, you will laugh at their claims loudly andfeel that these people are actually creating a demand when in truth there is nodemand for them.

However, some owners think otherwise. Interestingly, onlyabout 7% of all home sellers decide to go solo according to a 2006 NationalAssociation of Realtors study. The fact is that you can save up to 5% in brokerfees by selling on your own - potentially with a hassle. In fact, you can saveas high as 7% for hard-to-sell properties. So it is important to know how tosell real estate on your own to save some money in broker fees.

So consider the following carefully. If you have decide totake the plunge, here's what you need to know if you're going to act as yourown broker and understand how to sell real estate for that matter:

Finding a Buyer

The most important step is pricing your house or property accordingly. There is a risk of loosing money if you charge too little. Asking for too much and you'll ‘go stale,' as real-estate agents put it, making buyers suspicious that something's dreadfully wrong orthatyou're simply an unreasonable person trying to coax out as much money for yourproperty as possible. So the point is to properly price your property. That'sthe first step in understanding how to sell real estate on your own.

How do you arrive at the right price? The short-cut is to hire an independent appraiser. Most of them charge $250 to $500 for the service. Most of the time they have information on any nearby home sales at their fingertips - they buy access to tax-record data bases andmultiple-listing information. They also personally inspect your house to takeinto account all the repairs you have done.

When you're ready to advertise your home, cast a wide net. Because yourhouse won't be included in the multiple-listing service (or MLS, where membersof the National Association of Realtors pool their real-estate listings tostimulate sales) you've got to generate traffic on your own. Buy classified adsin all your local papers, including shoppers and weekly alternativepublications. Many areas have freebie real-estate newspapers that cater topeople selling their own homes. You may also want to list your home online.

Your ad should list the basics such as location, price, number of bedrooms andany unique selling points such as a new kitchen or lake views, advises LarryLessin, owner of Save 6, a real-estate marketing firm based near Washington, D.C.For $899, the company offers clients selling their own home a display ad in amonthly giveaway, listings on 12 Web sites, including the National For Sale By Owner Network and a wooden sign. "The ads that get the most response have urgency aboutthem," says Lessin. Key words that jump off the page are "sellermotivated" or "priced below market." And buyers always seem tocircle ads that offer owner financing (when the seller holds the mortgage) orhelp with closing costs, he says.

Splurge on a sign for the front of your house. The cheap metal jobs from HomeDepot look, well, cheap. Visit a local sign company for a large wooden model(usually about $75). "At least half the calls on my house were from peopledriving by," says Bruce Buchanan, a CPA in Bowie, Md.,who sold his five-bedroom Colonial by himself. Try putting the asking price onyour sign to help cut down on the number of calls from buyers outside yourprice range.

And don't forget the original form of advertising: word of mouth. Talk upyour home at work, in the gym and at the grocery. Nearly half the sellers wetalked with made their deal with an acquaintance. George and Susan Wyper of Darien, Conn.,for example, sold their three-bedroom, two-bath home to a friend of a friendwho'd been looking in the neighborhood for some time. Meanwhile, another housenearby went unsold for weeks and was finally taken off the market. "Theconnection really helped because we found out pretty easily that he was aserious buyer," says George Wyper. "Before people rush into a listingagreement, they should definitely check with all their friends."

Independent sellers need to keep in mind that theymust comply with many fair-housing laws, which are designed to protect buyersfrom being discriminated against on account of race, religion, sex or nationalorigin. For more information on these laws call: HUD Housing Discrimination HotLine at 800-669-9777 or visit HUD's Website .

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How to Sell Real Estate Without a Broker