First and foremost, if you are selling your own home without a Realtor in Hendersonville, North Carolina or anywhere, you need a written contract, a blank contract. You need a contract form for the buyer and you to sign. I spend a lot of time chatting with people that are selling their own house without a Realtor. Exactly half of those people do NOT have a contract ready to be signed. This seems to me like going fishing with no fishhooks. " We will get some fishhooks after we find some fish.", they tell me. If you are selling your own house, get yourself a contract. When the buyer says," I love it I want it.", get them to sign the contract and get a deposit. That how it starts. Here is a good idea. Read the contract. If the contract says," Seller to pay North Carolina excise tax", find out how much that tax is . Get a contract. You will never get to the closing table without one. You can't catch fish without fishhooks. If a person has decided to sell their own house without the aid of a Realtor, a little preparation will help a lot. Get prepared to give potential buyers directions to your home. Every one does not have GPS. Get prepared to get the transaction closed. Call an attorney or title insurance company. Ask them what they need from you when you get a buyer. Learn a little about buyer closing costs so you can tell the potential buyer. Mr. Buyer will not buy your house until he knows how much cash he is going to need to get to closing. You could contact a mortgage company to get this information for your potential buyer or you can hope you will find a buyer that already understands how financing works and what it costs.
Another thing you need to know about is marketing. If all you have is a little paper sign in the yard with your phone number, that is probably not enough marketing. You do need a sign, a nice sign. A sign down at the main road with an arrow is a big help also. Here is a tip. Put your area code on the sign. Many people that are looking to buy a house in Hendersonville are not from Hendersonville. They don't know that the area code is 828 for Hendersonville, North Carolina.
If you go to Lowes to buy your sign, for a few shekels more, you can also get a little information tube to put flyers in. It bolts to the sign. You fill it up with flyers that tell potential customers about the property. These are especially beneficial to for sale by owners because if your price is five hundred thousand and they can only afford a three hundred thousand dollar house, they won't waste their time or yours calling you. When you make your information flyers, put lots of pictures and all the information that you can think of. Tell them the taxes, schools, grocery store, HOA dues. Put the price on the flyer. If you advertise on Craigslist or any other internet sites, put lots of pictures. Potential buyers love pictures.
The more knowledge you have, the easier your transaction will go. Even though North Carolina is a caveat emptor state, most Realtors encourage their seller clients to use a written disclosure form as an addendum to the contract. This is not required but it diminishes the likelihood of some aggravating legal action after closing. Maybe, as a for sale by owner, it would be a good idea to use a "latent defect" disclosure form letting Mr. Buyer know about any problems that you know about. If your house was built before 1978, a lead base paint disclosure is required by federal law. If you fail to disclose the existence of lead base paint, Mr. Buyer can come back after closing and bring a lawsuit when his kids can't memorize the times tables. http://www2.epa.gov/lead/real-estate-disclosure Pardon my sense of humor. Here is a link to give you the real details.
Knowledge of financing will help you get a buyer. You don't have to be a financial expert. It would certainly help if you can tell Mr. Buyer how much he needs down and how much are his monthly payments if he buys your house. He will need this information before he makes a final decision. Maaaaaaaybe you will find a buyer that already knows about financing. You only need to know for your price. Call any mortgage company . Tell them your price and ask them how much down and how much per month. They will tell you. Call me Ron Climer. I will tell you. (828 290 1000) .
Knowledge of things about your property like where kids go to school, how much are your taxes and HOA dues and electric bill etc. is something that most buyers want to know. Have this information available. Most buyers want to know this information before they make a final decision.
Another thing you need to get your house sold is patience. You need patience and forgiveness with people. Often buyers are slightly inconsiderate of your time . Don't get mad if a buyer makes an appointment to look at your house at 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon, then NOT show up. Here is a tip from an old experienced Realtor. Call that potential buyer at 9 AM on Saturday and confirm that appointment. Save yourself some aggravation. You need patience and forgiveness when buyers say things that that you may find offensive. Don't get mad when they tell you your kitchen is "dated". What does that mean anyway? Don't get mad if it becomes obvious that Mr. Buyer is wasting his time and your time by looking at your house. That is just the way things are in the world of selling real estate. I don't know why people spend their time looking at houses that they can not or will not buy. But, they do. Realtors spend a lot of time learning how to adios the ones that can not buy. http://ronclimer.blogspot.com/2011/04/when-in-doubt-blow-em-out.html As a for sale by owner, just smile, be patient and say good bye. It seems to me to be almost impossible for a for sale by owner to pre qualify buyers. It would be OK to just bluntly ask them. "Can you folks afford a $$$$$$$ ( your price) house?" They might lie to you but they might fess up and tell you no and leave. Feel free to give them my name and number as they go. They can afford something, just not your house. Patience and tolerance is necessary for your mental health.
One last thing that I must address is your personal safety. The North Carolina Real Estate Commission has added a personal safety session to the North Carolina real estate license course that real estate brokers have to take to get their real estate license. Be safe. Put away any valuables and weapons when you are showing the house. Be extremely aware that you have a total stranger walking through your home. Please recognize that this is a dangerous situation. Treat it as such. I can and I will write an entire article about this subject. For now, just be aware and be careful. Be safe.
If you try for sale by owner for what seems to be an appropriate time and it doesn't work as well as you hoped, consider listing your house with a Realtor. I would welcome an opportunity to talk with you and show you what we at Keller Williams Realty Mountain Partners do www.hendersonvillekw.com to get houses sold faster and usually for more money and always with less hassle. Call me, Ron Climer at 828 290 1245 or www.ronclimer.com if I can help you get your house sold. Also, after it is sold, call me if you want to buy another house in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
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