How to Sell Your House Privately

Is it time to sell your house privately?

If you're trying to sell your house in this economic downturn, you may want to sell your house privately. Perhaps you've had your home listed with a realtor with no results. Perhaps you'd just rather save the cost of paying a realtor's commission which could could be $18,000 on a $300,000 home. So if you've decided you want to sell your house privately, then there are some things you need to do.

1) To sell your house privately, first clean it up!

That may seem obvious but it goes beyond just giving it a good cleaning. You want the prospective buyer to be able to visualize themselves living in the house so first go through and take down all personal family pictures. You also want the rooms to look spacious so remove furniture that you don't need to use. Keep only what helps to "stage" the home for a buyer. You might want to rent a storage space to store these items till you make your final move. Don't go to the expense of any major renovation or redecoration but, if you have your walls painted purple, you should paint the walls with a neutral color. There are magazines and online material to help advise you on staging your home for quick sell. If you want to sell your house privately, you'll need all the help you can get.

2) To sell your house privately and quickly, price it to sell!

Do some research of houses similar to yours in your area that have sold. What did they sell for. If the owner sold their house privately and you know them, ask them how they did it and what it sold for. You can also approach a couple real estate agents or investors to evaluate your property for you. They have tools that will compare other house prices in your area to give you some idea what to price it if you decide to sell your house privately. You want to price it competitively and keep your emotions out of it; this is a business transaction. It's not easy but you must be neutral to sell your house privately and not let your emotions overwhelm you.

3) To sell your house privately you must advertise!

There are a number of ways to advertise if you want to sell your house privately. You can put real estate yard signs around the area. These should have basic info like your address, size of house and contact info. Don't forget your local newspaper. They will typically have a special section on the weekend for sale buy owner to hep you if you want to sell your house privately. Try a classified ad and also a small display ad. It may cost a little more but remember, you're saving the cost of the realtor's commission. There are also online sources like zillow.com and others that are inexpensive ways to sell your house privately.

4) To sell your house privately you need to offer open houses.

While your running your ads, don't forget to schedule and advertise times for people to walk through your house. Be hospitable! Have some refreshments. Walk them through personally and show them all the special features. It goes without saying that you should have the outside cleaned up, the garage or shed organized, yard manicured, cobwebs off outdoor light fixtures and entry ways, windows cleaned and the list could go on. You want it sparkling! Remember, whether you sell your house privately or use a realtor or investor, it's your responsibility to get things ready.

5) To sell your house privately, line up a mortgage broker and/or a Real Estate Atto
ey or Title company.

Be prepared to take offer and have the paper work lined up ahead of time. You'll find some documents online or just find a good Real Estate Atto
ey to help. It may cost a couple hundred dollars but it's still cheaper than the commissions you'd pay an agent. You can also have a mortgage broker pre-qualify the prospective buyer. In lieu of a Real Estate Atto
ey, a Title company may suffice. You just want to be sure your interests are protected.

6) If you are unable to sell your house privately you need to have alte
atives.

It's always nice to save money when you can but if you run into a brick wall and just can't get it sold you can get some help and still save some money going to forsalebyowner.com or americashoicehomes.com. These services will post your house on local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for a few hundred dollars. If you're still unable to sell your house privately and need to sell your house fast, you can also work with an investor who may have cash buyers just waiting for a good buy to come along.