5 Tips for FSBO Homeowners Still Trying to Sell Their Homes

Selling your home by yourself can be a difficult endeavor to undertake, and it isn't one that many people opt to do the majority of the time. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) only 13% of homeowners opt to go the FSBO route annually in the U.S. By cutting out the realtor you can save a lot of money, but selling your home by yourself will have a lot of work involved! The following tips really can make a huge difference in selling your home by yourself. 

1. Hold Open Houses with Refreshments 

Selling your home by yourself always involves interacting with lots of strangers, so you might as well try to consolidate the social expenditure by holding open houses frequently. Offering beverages (preferably clear liquids) and small snacks like cookies, help people associate a positive memory with your home.   

2. Let Everyone Know Your are Selling Your Home by Yourself 

According the NAR around 45% of FSBO sales were between two parties that knew each other. If you are selling your home let everyone around you know. Put up statuses on social media, post fliers at work, and tell everyone you run into to make sure if anyone is in the market for home, they may consider buying your home.  

3. De-clutter the House with Self Storage 

One of the best things you can do is keep your house as empty and clean as possible when you are selling your home by yourself. This allows the buyers to envision what they could do with the space. You can utilize self storage to stow away anything you don't need at the moment. Also, throw away, donate or sell any items that you don't plan on moving to your next home before potential buyers start seeing your home. 

4. Professional Photos 

If you look at online home listing sites like realtor.com, you'll notice that a lot of pictures are of low quality, if there is even a picture at all. Modern media has made it so people are very used to accessing images to what they want to see, when they want to see it. Even in the olden days of real estate, it was common to at least have on picture of homes for sale. 

Hiring a professional photographer to get high quality images to put on our fliers and online listings really can make a huge difference when it comes to selling your home by yourself. A picture taken with an iPhone looks a lot less appealing than a picture taken by a professional photographer. Usually this service will run for only around 50-100 dollars, so consider making the investment for your FSBO process. 

5. Make all Minor Repairs 

Loose knobs, hanging cabinets, broken screens, burnt out light bulbs and tiny little repairs really can be an eye sore. What is worse is that they can knock off thousands of dollars when your buyer makes an offer. Make sure that before you show your home you make any minor repairs that you can. People tend to remember more readily what was wrong with a place rather than what they like about it, so make sure they don't remember your home for something like the light bulb being burnt out in the basement.  

How to Get Your House Ready to Sell without Spending a Dime

Putting your house on the market can be a nerve wrecking experience. It seems like the list of things that need to be done is endless, and it can be hard to know where to start. Here are some of the things that should be done before your sell that don't cost any money, but really can make all the difference on the appearance of the property. Not everyone has the money or time to dedicate to making a home like brand new before moving out of it, so don't feel bad if these are all the things you can afford to do right now. Instead take joy in the fact these little, free steps will indeed help you sell your homes. 


Make Your Yard Sparkle

• Keep the lawn mowed, edged and cut on a regular basis. Also, water any brown spots if needed. 
• Prune branches of trees and shrubs that make the yard appear in disarray. 
• Remove all weeds from flowerbeds and the lawn. 
• Clear any fallen branches, small sticks and ugly rocks off the lawn. 
• If there is snow and ice, make sure to clear it from your driveway, sidewalks and walkways. Do a thorough job, because a half-cleared walkway is ugly and dangerous. If you have a walkout porch, it is probably a good idea to at least partially clear it off in case the buyer wants to check it out. 
• If you have a shed or any other outdoor storage space, make sure to organize everything in it. Buyers do peek in storage spaces, and finding a messy one can be alarming. This includes trying to clear out any critters or spiders that may be hanging out in there.  
• Make sure your welcome mat looks welcoming. Clean it by beating it or rinsing it.
• Sweep decks, porches and all other surfaces. Make sure to dispose of the leaves, lawn trimmings, etc. 
• If you have a bird feeder and/or bird bath, make sure they are kept fresh and clean. 
• Make sure any children's toys are neatly put away and organized. If there are old, unused children's toys in the yard consider disposing or donating them. 

Make the Inside Seem as Vacant as Possible 

• De-clutter everything. The more empty a house seems, the easier it is for buyers to envision themselves living inside of it in the future. 
• Pack-up anything you do not need like knickknacks, books, toys, small kitchen appliances, etc. 
• Thoroughly clean everything. Make sure you dust, scrub, vacuum everywhere physically possible. 
• Regularly re-clean areas that are high traffic. 
• Keep bathrooms extremely clean. If you know someone is going to come view the house, it is a good idea to give each bathroom a quick scrub before they come. No one wants to look at a stinky and/or dirty bathroom.
• If the weather is nice, air out the house whenever possible. This keeps the house fresh smelling.  
• Make sure all your window curtains and blinds are neatly arranged.
• Bleach everything. Well, not everything, but all tiles, sinks, bathrooms, etc. This will help things have an extra shiny appearance, and it helps get rid of odors. 
• Shine all water fixtures. A little extra elbow grease to make metal faucets shine really can make a bathroom look like new. 
• Organize closets, shelves, drawers, cabinets, etc. People looking at your home will more than likely take a peak in your private storage spaces. Make sure that when they look where they have no business looking  that they will be pleasantly surprised how organized you can be. 

Don't Forget the Unfinished Attic, Basement and/or Garage 

• Do not neglect cleaning, organizing and primping unfinished spaces. 
• For the garage, empty everything out then hose down the floor. 
• When you put everything back in the garage organize and condense as much as possible. 
• Make sure to clean off any dirty shelves. 
• Throw away anything you don't need in the garage, attic and basement. 
• Clean and dust everything thoroughly. 
• If you find any mice nests or droppings, dispose of the evidence. 
• Consider parking your car out in the street if you have a garage if at all possible. This lets the buy more thoroughly view how much space the garage offers. 
• If you store any boxes, furniture, etc in the basement or attic, try to make sure this storage is condensed all into one area. 

Consider Renting a Cheap Self Storage Unit 

• Alright, we know that renting a storage unit is not free, but you can get self storage units cheap if you shop around. 
• The great thing about renting self storage during a move is that you can store all of your extra stuff in the unit, so that buyers can view your home more effectively. 
• It will also save you time when it comes time for moving day, because most extra items will already be packed and ready to move. 
• Temporary self storage is actually quite cheap for how much it contributes to the move, so make sure to price around before counting  it out as a viable option. 

Are We Heading for Another Housing Bubble?

The U.S. housing market increased 18.4 percent from March 2012 to July 2013 according to this article from the New York Times. I highly recommend reading the article to gain some insight into housing market trends in the United States. If you don't have time, here are the main points of the article:

• When corrected for inflation, all house values eventually go down over time.
• Despite things like limited land, the aging of a houses almost always leads to a drop in value. Who is going to want a 30 year old house when they can get a new house from the development down the road?
• Real-Estate is not always the best investment for long-term holders.
• The type of thinking that housing is the best investment is ultimately what leads to the housing market bubbles. 
• Conditions of rapidly increasing home values like we are seeing now are similar to the previous housing bubble in 2008. This could or could not lead to another housing bubble.  

When deciding whether to move or not, many people look to the housing market to decide if it is a good to move onto something else. Since the market is on the rise now, it may be a good idea to sell and call the moving company before the bubble bursts again. This true especially if your house is around the ten-fifteen year old mark, because if the bubble burst your house is going to be older with more problems. It also will become outdated as new houses designed in different styles begin to enter your area.  

It is important to put this on all in perspective though. Frequently, economist predictions more often than not are actually wrong even though they are supposed to be the experts. It is just too hard to forecast all of the factors that contribute to our markets even if it is your job. Ultimately you should do what is best for you and your family. There is nothing wrong with getting while the getting is good by trying to sell your home when the market is up. 

Predicting the economy is sort of like trying to finish a jigsaw puzzle when a lot of the pieces are missing. 

  

Tricks and Tips to Selling Your Home When You Have Children

Wish You Could Pack up the Kids Too? 

Getting your home ready to sell and showing it becomes complicated when you have children. Kids have this magical way of making messes everywhere that they shouldn't when are trying to move, and often it can be an up hill battle for parents to keep their sanity while trying to successfully sell their homes. 

The one consolation you can have is that people with kids will get any messes your little monster may have created. The problem is people without kids may not. The following are some simple ways to try to reduce the kid-related chaos in your home long enough to sell it. 

1) Pack up all the toys you can get away with. Toys are a lovely way of distracting the children, but you don't want them to distract the eye of your buyers. An excess of toys can make buyers feel like the space is a lot smaller than it actually is. Go with the goal of packing up half the toys, and see if you can get away with a little more. If you have the space, put them in the basement, the shed or self storage. You'll be surprised how much more spacious and less cluttered your home looks like without all the Fischer Price, action figures, etc. You may even find yourself whimsically daydreaming of the day that your child grows out of the toys, but for now just enjoy the lack of plastic piles while you can. 

2) The Toilet Problem. Kids are messy, smelly and just plain gross, especially when it comes to hygiene. Before the house is going to be shown make sure to check all of the toilets in the house, and to dispose of any stink diapers. Make sure all cleaning supplies, bathtub toys, diapers, etc. are stored away out of sight. The last thing you want a potential buyer to think about when considering your home is unsanitary smelling and cluttered bathrooms.  

3) Put Your Kid to Work. Selling your home can be a team effort. Give your kids small tasks to take care of. Washing windows, cleaning tables, keeping their room clean, dusting, etc. can all be tasks that make the house look more nice. Try to motivate your child to help sell the house by putting the move in a positive light. 

4) Put Your Kids Away. When you are showing your house, if at all possible have the kids out of the house. Send them to grandma's, a friend's or just outside to play. If you are using a realtor, it is best to take your whole family outside of the house. People like to browse their potential new home in privacy and quite. Two things that kids, and even you, can be quite disruptive of. 

5) Eat out. Spend the least amount of time as possible in the kitchen. This avoids any unwanted messes. If you do cook at home, keep it to simple meals that won't leave a mess. Make sure your kids know not to eat or make food when someone is viewing the house. 

6) Put away the kid stuff. Cradles, potty stools, high chairs, cribs, etc. should all be put away when someone is coming to view the house. These serve as visual and physical barriers to people who want to take a good look at the house.