Sell Your Home Without a Broker : Insider's Advice to Selling Smart, Fast and for Top Dollar

by Di Blasi, Joseph P.

• ISBN13: 9781572485297
• ISBN10: 1572485299
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-01
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc

Summary

Tens of thousands of for-sale-by-owner homes go on the market every year. Those who do it right make top dollar and save thousands of dollars in real estate commissions. You, too, can sell your own home for a greater profit and on your own terms. Sell Your Home Without a Broker takes you through each step in the home-selling process. It cuts through the confusion and addresses the important issues of selling your own home. Armed with the essential information provided, you can sell your home quickly, make a greater profit and do it all at your own pace. Written by a seasoned real estate attorney, Sell Your Home Without a Broker teaches you how to: use the Internet to your advantage, write a powerful advertisement, save money at closing, dodge pitfalls in the home-selling process, host an effective open house, and make moving day a breeze.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
Frequently Asked Questions	xv
Why Sell By Owner?	1	(8)
We Can Handle New Ideas
Extinction of the Middleman
A Little (Too Much) Off the Top
Best Candidates for Selling Their Own Homes
Before the For Sale Sign Goes Up	9	(6)
Planning the Sale of Your Home
Buying a New Home
Getting Your Home Ready for the Marketplace	15	(12)
Start Outside
Move Inside
Time for a Yard Sale
Working with an Attorney
Marketing Your Home	27	(18)
Determine Your Price
Design Your Listing Sheet
Advertising	45	(24)
Describing Your Home
Legally Promoting Your Home
Publishing Your Advertisement
Showing Your Home	69	(22)
The Open House
Advertising Your Open House
Setting the Time of Your Open House
Prepare for the Showing
Conducting the Tour
Duty to Disclose
Following Up
Arranging the Deal	91	(44)
Purchase and Sale Agreement
Executing the Purchase and Sale Agreement
Preparing for a Smooth Closing	135	(22)
Home Inspection
Buyer Asks for Help with Financing
Buyer Asks for Extensions
Buyer Wants to Move In Before Closing
Handling Title Defects
Final Walk-Through
The Closing	157	(16)
Necessary Closing Documents
At the Closing Table
The Move	173	(10)
Timing Your Move
Avoid Back-to-Back Closings and Moving
Hiring a Mover
Dealing with the Hard-to-Sell Home	183	(16)
Reasons a Home Does not Sell Quickly
Proactive Selling Tips
Selecting a Full-Commission Broker
Make the Listing Agreement in Your Best Interest
Tax Planning for Home Sellers	199	(14)
The 1099-S
1031 Exchanges
Conclusion	213	(2)
Glossary	215	(8)
Internet Resources	223	(2)
Index	225	(9)
About the Author	234

Excerpts

Determine Your Home's Market Value Excerpted from Sell Your Home Without a Broker by Joseph P. DiBlasi ©2005 One common problem affecting FSBO sellers is their inability to objectively view their home and price it fairly. Many believe that their home is unique or extra-special, and consequently attempt to sell it at an unreasonable price. People in the home-buying market are not impulsive buyers. They take their time-an average of seven to eight weeks according to www.realtor.org-to compare an average of ten homes before buying one. Therefore, they are somewhat sophisticated and will be able to sense when a home is overpriced. A home that is overpriced will sit. A home that sits for a while will become stale and lose the appeal of being new to the market. Unlike new-to-the-market or just-listed homes, stale homes do not entice interested buyers to quickly make an offer before the home is snatched by someone else. Instead, the perception with buyers is that they have plenty of time to compare other homes before seriously considering yours. Similarly, I have encountered some people who have completely undervalued their home and sold it for much less than what they could have gotten using a broker. Typically, this occurs with elderly people who have not bought or sold a home in many years and who are not in tune with the market. I recently had an older gentleman in my office whose wife had recently died. He was contemplating selling his home and told me that he thought he could get $200,000 for it. Being familiar with his town and his street, I was happy to advise him that he could sell it for nearly double that price. Unless you are a keen observer of the local real estate market, you will not know the fair market value of your home. Indeed, many professional real estate agents who use comparison methods to estimate the fair market value of a home are often off considerably and are surprised by the actual selling price. Real estate is not a commodity. It is, almost by definition, unique. Consequently, the comparison process only provides a very superficial basis for price estimation. There are many characteristics of a home to compare, such as: - age; - style; - size of the house; - size of the lot; - size of the rooms; - location within the town; - location of the house on the street; - location of the house on the lot; - exterior view; - vicinity of services and conveniences; - reputation of the town or city and the school system; - number of bedrooms; - number of bathrooms; - number of levels; - quality of construction; - reputation of the builder; - condition of home; - beauty of the landscaping; - architectural layout; - size of driveway; - exterior of home; - interior design; - special interior features (such as central air-conditioning and alarm system); - special outside amenities (such as pool, sprinkler system, deck, and shed); and, - topography of the lot (usable flat lot or steeply sloped). Fair Market Value Fair market value is defined as the price a willing buyer pays to a willing seller. The fair market value of your home is a function of many variables. Most of the characteristics of your home as set forth in the preceding section are variables that are beyond your control. For example, you cannot change the location of your home or the topography of the land. Therefore, if the location of your home becomes more desirable (for example, as a result of its vicinity to a development of newer and more expensive homes), with all else being unchanged, the value of your home will increase. Some variables that affect your home's price are beyond your control, but have little or nothing to do with your home. The condition of the local economy, the level of interest rates, and the amount of similar homes on the market are all good examples of this type of va