For Sale By Owner HELP


 

    Helpful Hints from Professional Realtors

    to Help you Sell your Home Yourself!

     "We Bring The Office To You!"

   www.KenSnyderTeam.com 

       







     Rick Ross




Hello, my name is Rick Ross, and I am a Realtor with ERA Evergreen Real Estate. I created this section to help owners that are trying to sell their home themselves.

In some cases selling your home on your own can end up saving you money, however, selling your home without the help of a professional Realtor can often prove to be very challenging.

Unfortunately the statistics show most homeowners that try to sell their own home without a Professional Realtor are unsuccessful, and eventually hire a Realtor. Some studies claim up to 90% of FSBO properties eventually list with Realtors after they are unable to sell their home themselves.

Even though those statistics are not very encouraging, you still can be successful selling your home. The key is to avoid some of the common mistakes made by homeowners trying to sell their own home.



     




Well, let’s get started!

I am sure you have heard about the changing real estate market in Hilton Head, Bluffton, and in the nation in general. With rising available home inventory on the market, we have shifted from a sellers market to a buyers market. This means you may be competing with more homes for sale in your area, and have less potential buyers looking for homes. You may of heard people saying that the real estate market is very slow, that homes will sit on the market for long periods of time, and that selling a home right now is very difficult. That simply is not always true!






                 



Homes that are priced properly AND have good marketing and exposure are selling! You must have both proper pricing and excellent exposure to sell a home in this market.

I cannot emphasize that enough. If you are overpriced and well advertised, buyers will be detracted by the price. If you are properly priced, and not well marketed, buyers will never know your home is for sale.











The first step in selling your home is determining the proper asking price. How do you do that? Well, there are several ways.

First, look at your competition. Find out what other similar homes in your area are selling for. You can look in the local newspapers and real estate magazines to see how similar homes are priced. Compare the features of those homes with the features of your home, and adjust the pricing of your home accordingly.

You could go to your county government website and search property tax records in your neighborhood. This information will give you sales price and date, and general features of the home. Be aware however some tax information may not be recently updated.

 






You could also get an independent appraisal on your home. Generally an appraisal cost a few hundred dollars, and is well worth the investment. Not only can this give you a guideline to what your home is worth, the results can be given to your potential buyers. In many cases, an independent appraisal makes buyers feel more comfortable. Third party opinions on what your homes worth, can go a long way when it comes to reassuring buyers that you are not overpricing your home. If you need the names of some local appraisers, please give me a call, and I would be happy to e-mail you a list of appraisers for you to choose from.


 




The absolute best way to help determine the proper asking price for your home is by obtaining a comparative market analysis, or CMA, from a professional Realtor that has access to recent sales activity in your neighborhood. Either Ken or I would be glad to come to your home, and provide you a free market analysis. 

Please visit www.BlufftonFSBOhomes.com or www.HiltonHeadFSBOhomes.com, and then click on the link "FREE Home Market Analysis" to have a custom report e-mailed to you!










Ken and I operate a mobile real estate office. We have onboard computers, printer, fax machine, and wireless Internet and MLS access in our automobile. Just give us a call, and we can generate a free custom Comparative market analysis report right from your driveway. We have included information on our mobile real estate office at the end of this discussion.








Once you are armed with all this information, you can determine your asking price. I would recommend taking the price you found similar homes selling for in your area, and adding 3 to 5 percent. This way you have room to negotiate with a buyer. Buyers like to feel like they got a good deal, and you as a seller will look flexible if you have left some room to move in your asking price. If you advertise a rock bottom firm price, buyers may view you as inflexible.










Beware of the temptation to overprice your home in an attempt to make a larger than realistic profit. Most buyers do their homework before their house hunting. Buyers are generally very educated on the local market, and are aware of what similar homes are selling for. Generally most buyers are represented by real estate agents. These agents may advise their buyer clients not to pursue your overpriced property.

You don’t want to get the reputation of the overpriced home for sale in the neighborhood. Chances are you will probably end up reducing your price due to lack of buyer activity. This too can look bad. Unnecessary dramatic price reductions in asking prices can also look unfavorable to buyers. This could send a message to buyers that you are desperate to sell, or that your home was unable to sell for some unknown reason.






On the flip side, don’t under price your home. If you are going though all this hard work yourself to sell your home, strive to get the highest and most realistic price possible for your home! I know this can be a difficult balance that requires a tough decision. If you have any difficulties formulating a proper asking price, give me a call, and I would be glad to give you some free advice.








Well, you have just completed the most critical and difficult step in selling your home. You now have the proper price, and now you only need one more thing. Proper exposure! Proper pricing combined with proper exposure dramatically increases your chances of a successful and timely home sale.

Proper exposure through proven marketing techniques will let buyers know that your home is for sale. So lets talk about how you can market your home.









In many cases, the easiest form of marketing is the simple yard sign. Check with you local homeowners association or local city codes to see if this is permitted where you home is located. Signage can be purchased at your local hardware store. Some neighborhoods prohibit yard signs, however, allow small flyer tubes to be attached to your mailbox. Potential buyers driving through your neighborhood will be able to identify your home for sale and obtain an informational flyer about your home.







Flyers – You need to make good quality flyers describing your home. You can use a simple word processor at home to create and print your flyers. You should use a good quality (2 mega pixels or better) digital camera to take pictures of your home.

 Get one main picture of the front of the home, and 4 or 5 interior shots. When you take marketing photos of your home, before you snap the picture, review the scene, and ask yourself what you can do to make the photo more appealing.



First, make sure you have proper lighting. Take exterior pictures mid-day with the sun high in the sky. This will help to alleviate shadows and bright spots. When taking interior shots, turn on all the available lighting in the room, open window blinds, and don’t take interior photos at night. Make sure the rooms are clean. No dog toys and laundry lying around everywhere. Sometimes standing on a stool and looking down on the room can add a good effect to your interior pictures.










On your front exterior shot, put your cars in the garage. Cars detract from the home pictures, and no cars in the driveway give a cleaner look to the property. Also make sure you have recently mowed the lawn and properly manicured the landscaping. 

Make sure toys and basketball hoops are removed from the photo area. You may want to consider power washing away some of those ugly oil stains in the driveway, and adding some fresh mulch to the flowerbeds. 

Placing a new potted flower near the front door also adds a nice touch with minimal investment. These are a few very inexpensive ways to add real curb appeal to your home.













Once you have your color photos, include them on your flyers. Walk through your home, room by room, and jot down appealing features of your home that add value or are unique. Included these features somewhere on your flyer.

Here is an example of a flyer with a very effective layout. Your flyer is like a resume for your home. First, keep it to one page. Make sure the front picture of the home is large and prominently displayed in the top center of the flyer. 

List your features in an easy to read format. Remember to include the most important information on the flyer. Your full address, the name of your neighborhood, your contact information, the price, the year built if less than 10 years old, approximate square footage, yearly homeowners dues, and number of bedrooms and baths, who built your home, and what the floor plan was called if known. These items are some of the most commonly asked questions from buyers.

These flyers can be attached to your for sale signs, and can be handed out during your open houses and showings. Remember that buyers general look at several homes in a short period of time. After looking at 8 homes in one day, buyers can start to loose track of the homes they liked and their locations. Your flyer needs to stand out, and remind them of their visit to your property.

We can design and e-mail you a free custom home flyer. Visit www.BlufftonFSBOhomes.com or www.HiltonHeadFSBOhomes.com, and then click on the link, "Free Custom Home Flyer", to have a custom home flyer designed and e-mailed to you!






Print media is another effective way to advertise your home. Now that you have a photo, and a list of features in your home, construct a 2-3-line ad for local newspapers. Including a photo or adding extra lines in your ad may cost more, however, you may get a more favorable response from readers.








The Internet is another way to increase your advertising. Setting up a website with a copy of your flyer is not very difficult and generally inexpensive. Contact your Internet service provider. The plan you are on may provide you with space for a personal website in which you can advertise your home. Statistics show that 70 percent of homebuyers search the Internet for homes before hiring a realtor. There are also some websites that cater to FSBO homes which can be found through simple searches on the Internet.

I would recommend that you advertise on www.BlufftonFSBOhomes.com or www.HiltonHeadFSBOhomes.com. Both websites are sponsored by the Ken Snyder Team, and are FREE of charge. This website allows you to advertise your home at no charge. 

We also provide a link from www.KenSnyderTeam.com to both of the above FSBO websites. This means homebuyers visiting the Ken Snyder Team website, have the opportunity to view your home! ERA.com receives over 6 million visitors every month. I recommend you include you home on these free FSBO sites as soon as possible.





Networking. Think of all the people you come in contact with every day. Remember to let everyone know your home is for sale. Sometimes you will be surprised at who actually buys your home. A neighbor may like your floor plan better, and consider moving down the street. A friend might be interested in living closer to you. A co-worker might enjoy being closer to work. You never know who may show interest in your home, so let the word out wherever you go.






     

Another effective means of advertising is promoting an open house. This can be done by placing an ad in the local newspaper, and using proper signage on your property. Weekends, specifically Sundays are generally the most popular times. Check with your local homeowner association to see if any specific restrictions are placed on open house activities in your neighborhood. A key to putting on a good open house is proper preparation on your part. Lets now talk about preparing your home for an open house, and how to show your home when potential buyers arrive.

   

It’s a good idea to prepare for your open house the day before instead of the morning of your open house. Your goal is to make your home look livable and inviting to potential buyers. Here are some tips to help you achieve that goal.

   

Cleanliness- Make sure your home is clean. A messy home will not look good to potential buyers. Strive to make your home look like a builders model home. A clean home presents very well.







Remove Clutter – Don’t leave too many things scattered everywhere. A kitchen counter cluttered with penholders and post it notes detracts from the beauty of the kitchen itself. 

Try to go through your home room by room and remove any clutter that will be distracting to homebuyers. If you have been considering donating unwanted clothes or furniture, now may be a good time. Donating to charity is a worthy cause, and at the same time will help you eliminate clutter in your home.





Excess furniture as well as lack of furniture can be a problem. If your rooms have excess furniture, the rooms will look smaller than they really are. You may want to consider removing oversized furniture to open up your rooms. Place the excess furniture in the attic, garage, or even a neighbor’s house.






Lacking furniture in some rooms is not as bad as too much furniture. Lack of furniture may make a room look sterile and make a homeowner imagine what the room will be used for. 

If you have an empty dining room, you could always pick some furniture from other rooms and try your best to fill the room to some degree. 

You could also consider the possibility of renting a piece of furniture to decorate an empty room for the period your home is for sale. One last option would to be to purchase some inexpensive used furniture or possibly borrow some furniture from a friend.








Flooring- I think of the flooring in a home the same way I think of an odometer in a car. It gives you an indication of how used the house is. I always think it is worth the investment to have your carpets professionally cleaned prior to showing your home for sale. You can also consider cleaning your own carpets with a rental machine from your local hardware store. This is a small investment that can provide a large return. You should specifically consider this if your home has an undesirable odor from pets or smoking.




As far as odors in a home are concerned. An abundance of air fresheners in a home can be detractive to buyers. Buyers may be allergic to such strong fragrances, and may hurry through your home during open houses. Buyers may not like the smell in general, or may think you are using the air fresheners to hide something wrong with the house.  Some air fresheners are all right, and a limited number of burning candles can smell nice, and give an attractive and inviting feel to your home.




Keeping all living areas clean and organized is very important. Equally important, however, is to keep non-living areas clean and organized. Buyers look in closets, storage areas, and even attics. Buyers want storage areas in their new homes, and if your home offers storage areas, you need to point this out to buyers.










Next, you should find an area in the home that will give you the space to display information about your home for buyers to review. A coffee table, dining room table, or kitchen counter or island work well for displaying your information.

You should set out your flyers, and encourage buyers to take them. Other information you may consider setting out would be copies of an appraisal, neighborhood information, approximate costs of utilities, taxes, and other expenses of maintaining your home. 

You also want to leave a sign in sheet asking for your visitor’s names, phone number, and e-mail address. This will give you contact information to keep in touch with buyers. Remember, if you lower your price or change terms of your sale, contact these prospective buyers and inform them.




During your open house, make sure you turn on all the lights, open all interior doors, and open all blinds that will reveal an appealing view. Turn on ceiling fans, and make sure the temperature of your home is very comfortable to slightly cool. Also make sure that the TV and stereos are turned off. These items will be a distraction to buyers. The exception would be soft background music. This can be effectively achieved by selecting a music channel on your TV and keeping the picture off and the music low.








Try to fix problems with your home before you have an open house. If a door squeaks, oil the hinges. If light bulbs are out, replace them. If one of your faucets drips, replace the washer. If your toilet runs, replace the seals. One other thing I suggest is changing all the air conditioning and heating filters. These filters often show through the air intake grates, and noticeably clean filters give buyers an indication of proper home maintenance.

These repairs are generally inexpensive and easy, and can often be done by the homeowner. Don’t let little problems detract from what’s right with your home. You don’t want to be explaining to buyers that you going to fix items in the home. Buyers want homes that have been properly maintained, not fixed up at the last minute to sell.
 

       



Make sure your home is safe for visitors! Hazards that you have been avoiding over time may be missed by a visitor. Don’t leave toys lying around the house that could be tripped over. Don’t leave slippery rugs on tile. Walk through your home before your open house, and identify and resolve any potential safety hazards.









Now that your home is ready for showing, you need to decide who will do the open house. When potential buyers come to your home, they do not want to feel like they are intruding into your home. 

When I do open houses at my listings, I encourage the homeowners to be gone from home during my open house. This way buyers meet one person that is representing the home for sale. This allows one on one personal conversation, and buyers do not get distracted from viewing your home. 

If you are a family of five watching movies in the living room during the open house, buyers may feel like they are interrupting, and hurry through your home. This is exactly what you don’t want. You want to keep buyers in your home for as long as possible. The longer a buyer is in your home, the more they tend to remember about your home after they leave.

One or two people representing a home for sale is very productive. Just avoid having multiple people or family members crowding around potential buyers

 






Also, don’t be distracted while you are trying to sell your home. Let the message machine take phone calls, put your cell phone on vibrate. Don’t be responsible for watching pets and children while you are trying to show your home. Many homeowners have kids occupied away from home during open houses. 

Also, don’t be in the middle of cooking during open houses. Not only will you be distracted, buyers may think they need to hurry through the home before dinner is ready.



As far as food is concerned, setting out snacks for your open house is a great idea, and is done by me at all my open houses. Fresh baked cookies can also make for an inviting aroma in the home.


Last but not least, we need to consider our pets. Pets and open houses don’t always go together very well. I’m a pet lover, however, many homebuyers think of pets as dirty or even scary. The best way to handle pets is to have them relocated to somewhere other than your open house. You may want to consider leaving them with a friend, neighbor, a kennel, or even arrange a family member to take them out for the day to the dog park.











Speaking of pets, here comes mine. This is Mosquito, my Greyhound and the Ken Snyder Team mascot. He is a retired racer that I adopted from a greyhound rescue shelter. 

Here at the Ken Snyder Team, we encourage anyone interested in getting a pet, to consider adopting a greyhound. Thousands of retired greyhounds need homes, and they make wonderful and loving pets. 

The Ken Snyder Team sends a portion of every commission we earn to greyhound rescue shelters. We have included a link to a local greyhound adoption operation on our website www.KenSnyderTeam.com.

If you would like more information on greyhounds in general or greyhound adoption, please visit our website, or give me a call.




Well, that does it for all the do’s and don'ts when it comes to trying to sell your home by yourself. These suggestions I have shared with you have been used very successfully in selling our listings.




     
          Rick Ross
      (843) 540-9794
       ERA Evergreen
  Real Estate Company

If you still have trouble selling your home, give me call. I would be glad to review your situation, and give you any free advice that I have with no obligation. 

If you do decide to hire a realtor, please consider calling me, or Ken Snyder at the Ken Snyder Team at ERA. Using Ken and I as your professional Realtor Team will increase your chances of selling your home faster, and at a higher price. 

You may even find that hiring us could actually saves you money over selling you home by owner. We have tools available to us as professional Realtors that homeowners don’t. We also do this everyday for a profession, and know how to market and sell your home for you to get the best possible price!






  
        Ken Snyder
    (843) 540-0599
     ERA Evergreen
  Real Estate Company

I am sure you are wondering how can hiring a Realtor save you money over selling your home on your own. How can you end up with more money in your pocket if you have to pay a commission to us? 

Well the answer is simple. If ERA and the Ken Snyder Team can sell you home for more than you can on your own, you may end up with more money in your pocket, even after you pay a commission. You may also find that we can sell your home faster. 

Both Ken and I specialize in helping FSBO properties. We understand that you have already spent money trying to sell your home. If you use us as your Realtor team, we are willing to reimburse you a portion of those expenses after your home sells. We also offer a discount in our commission specifically to former FSBO property owners.









                          *
MLS



You may ask, what can we do differently that you have not done? As Real Estate professionals we have tools available to us that homeowners don’t have. 

One primary tool we use to sell homes is the local Multiple Listing Service, or MLS. The MLS is shared by local realtors, and is one of the primary sources of exposure for your home.

Most homebuyers are represented by a Realtor, and Realtors use the MLS to search for homes for their clients. As a for sale by owner, you won’t be able to participate in the MLS, and thus your exposure to homebuyers will be greatly reduced.

If you let us represent you, we will immediately include your home on the MLS with multiple photos and a virtual tour video of your home.







Listing your home with us puts the ERA name on your home sale. ERA is a worldwide real estate company that consumers readily recognize and trust. 

Some homebuyers are afraid to buy a for sale by owner property. They simply feel more comfortable buying a home through a recognized real estate firm. 

Realtors earn a living from real estate commissions, and FSBO properties may not be willing to compensate a Realtor for finding them a buyer. Because of this, Realtors may concentrate on showing homes that are on the MLS, and not FSBO properties.









Working with us will get you a much larger Internet presence. We put your home on our personal website, www.KenSnyderTeam.com. We also put you on ERA.com, and the local ERA Evergreen.com websites. Combined, these websites showcase your home for sale to millions of homebuyers! 

ERA.com alone is visited by over six million visitors each month! You cannot get this type of exposure with personal or other help you sell websites. 

Statistics show that more than 70% of homebuyers start their home search online. We live in a vacation and retirement area here in Hilton Head. Many homebuyers live out of town, and rely on the Internet to find retirement and second homes.









We have the ability to market your home more effectively than you can. ERA reserves space in homes magazine, and other publications.

We are able through contract rates to run large picture ads of your home for sale. Many visitors use these publications to look for homes during their visits to the Hilton Head area. We also run open house display ads in newspapers, on the MLS, and on the Internet. 

We have professional quality flyers and DVD videos of your property produced. We also showcase your home on TV monitors in both the Hilton Head and Bluffton offices. Exposure is the key to bringing you a buyer. Using me as your Realtor will give you this exposure.







By using us to List your home, you will attract potential buyers from many different products that ERA offers. 

I work closely with mortgage lenders and ERA mortgage. Buyers can do one stop shopping. ERA can help your homebuyer obtain a mortgage to purchase your home. 

My relationship with ERA Mortgage allows us to pre-qualify homebuyers over the phone. This pre-qualification helps assure that the people who visit your home are ready and able to buy.



ERA has a national referral network. This network allows hundreds of ERA offices across the nation to help people relocate to our area.




I can also offer a home warranty for your home. Many homebuyers are comparing your home with new construction that comes with fresh home warranties. ERA has the ERA Home Protection Plan that protects your home from major breakdowns during the listing period. Additionally, it safeguards the purchaser for a full year after closing. This warranty puts your pre-owned house on a level playing field with new construction. Statistics show that homes that offer warranties sell faster than ones that have no warranty.





ERA also offers the Sellers Security Plan. “We will Sell Your House, Or ERA Will Buy It”. This powerful promise combines the benefits of an equity advance with those of an assured sale to give you flexibility to make a move when you want to, without waiting for your current home to sell. 

The ERA Sellers security plan is a leading program of it’s kind in real estate, and the only one nationwide! Some other conditions apply. Call me if you would like all the details of this program.






         



If you do decide to use a Realtor, we would appreciate you considering using us. Our experience and knowledge will guide you from start to finish in the home selling process. 

Not all Realtors are the same. Please interview several Realtors before hiring one to represent you. After doing all your research, I am confident you will chose Ken and I at ERA. We work together as a team to sell your home. Ken specializes in open houses and promotions, and I specialize in marketing, contracts, and negotiations.









I have been involved in either Real Estate investing, sales, management, or leasing for over 10 years. Real estate is my passion, and it shows in my performance and drive. 

I am also a commercial pilot. I am Captain rated on Learjets, DC-9, and MD-80’s. I am also qualified on the Boeing 737, and currently am flying the Boeing 747 Wide body Jumbo Jet. 

Flying is my hobby, and much of the money I make flying is directly invested into our real estate marketing programs. This means more money used to advertise and promote your listing!










We spare no expense in the tools we use to market and sell your home. We invest in our clients. We converted a limousine into a mobile real estate office! 

The mobile office allows our homebuyers to view your listing on a TV monitor. Your home location is programmed into the onboard GPS system to navigate buyers directly to your home.

Our buyers have free use of our onboard phone, fax machine, printer, tablet computer, real-time moving maps, wireless mobile Internet and MLS access. Buyers can even electronically sign and fax an offer in on your home before leaving your driveway! Our cutting edge technology shows the commitment we make to our clients.

     
          Rick Ross

   
          Ken Snyder



I hope this website has given you some information that will help you sell your home by yourself. If you have trouble selling your home for the price you want, please give us a call before you start to drop your price! 

Too often I see FSBO dropping their price because they have not found a buyer. Many times the price drop is unnecessary. The answer is better exposure through a professional Realtor, not continual price reductions. You may actually save money from using a Realtor vs. reducing your price.

Again, I am Rick Ross at ERA Evergreen, and both Ken Snyder and I wish you the best of luck in selling your home. We hope you choose the Ken Snyder Team at ERA as your life long Realtors.


Thank You for your time.

The Ken Snyder Team