When it comes time to sell your home home, homeowners have a couple options.
One of those options is to sell their home for sale by owner.
Even though homeowners have lived in this home for several years and know their home better than anybody, it does not mean that they are best suited to execute the sale of the home.
Currently we are in the midst of a sellers market where homes are in short supply and demand is above average. They believe that they will be able to sell their property without the help of professionals since the market conditions are in their favor.
Others are under the impression that they can maximize their profits and cut out the middle
man resulting in paying less commissions to a realtor.
If you are deciding to sell between the traditional option - using a real estate agent and selling for sale by owner in Syracuse NY, there are several statistics that state selling with an agent will result in a higher sales price which in return accumulates the seller more profits. According to 2015 statistics from National Association of Realtors " the typical for sale by owner sold for 210,000 while the typical sale with agent went for 249,000"
This is no coincidence, selling for sale by owner in Syracuse can be a difficult task if you do not understand the process and what it entails.
Here are 5 reasons that FSBO's tend to fail in Syracuse NY:
Why Can't I Sell My For Sale By Owner in Syracuse NY
There are several possible reasons that you could have trouble with the sale of your property if you are attempting to sell by yourself.
I want to discuss the top 5 reasons that a homeowner selling for sale by owner may fail or tend to struggle when attempting to sell by their selves.
1) Not Efficiently Marketing Your FSBO
The number one reason that for sale by owners struggle selling their home is the lack of ability to gain the necessary exposure that is needed to increase the odds of a sale on their home. Most homeowners are unaware of how to effectively market their home and get their home in front of the necessary buyers to gain interest in their property. I am not going to go into much detail in ways to market your property but I have wrote some extensive posts on how to market your for sale by owner. However, with that being said we not have extensive access to technology that will allow us (if used right) to put our home in front of buyers and increase the odds of a quick sale. The only benefit a real estate agent should have on you in regards to marketing is access to the MLS, which now you can pay a flat fee to some businesses and get listed their also.
2) Not Pricing Your For Sale By Owner Right
Another important factor that effects the odds of a successful for sale by owner sale is inability to price your home right. Understanding your local market and the market conditions will play a big role in how you price your home. If you are in sellers market ( you may be able to stretch the sales price and still make a sale ) if you are in a buyers market ( you may have to price your house lower to look better in front of all the competition). Pricing your home right is not impossible by any means. A great tool to help you with this process is a comparable market analysis. This will compare your subject property against comparable homes that have sold in the past 3-6 months while also including current pending sales and homes that are for sale on the market. This data should give you a better understanding the full market value of your home and allow you to put the right price tag on your home to attract the buyers you need in order to obtain a successful sale.
3) Not Understanding How to Prepare/ Show Your Home
Once you decide to sell your house and begin implementing your marketing, you should start receiving inquiries in regards to buyers purchasing your home. During this period of time you will have to get your home ready to sell. This means decluttering, cleaning, making small repairs (or large - depending on what you want to get for the home), cleaning the yard etc. Professional agents sometimes go beyond the basic cleaning and decluttering and will hire professional staging companies to rearrange your house with furniture in a manner that will most appeal to buyers. However this is not typical in Syracuse NY, so just worry about getting your home all freshened up and ready to sell.
4) Not Having Correct Paperwork or Attorney
When you decide you are going to move forward with selling your property by yourself, your first line of action should be to contact a real estate title company to assist you with the sale and closing of your property. I recommend using Farchione and Bowman in Syracuse NY. The first piece of paperwork that will be needed for the sale will be a purchase contract. This document will lay out all the guidelines, purchase price and terms of the sale. You will also need a lead paint disclosure and a property disclosure. If your property was built prior to 1978 then you will need the lead paint disclosure, if not... don't worry about. The lead paint disclosure will tell you if you have lead paint in your home or if you are aware of it. The property disclosure will ask you several questions about the property and you will need to answer them for the future buyer. This is the basic paperwork that you will need to complete a sale in the state of NY. All of the other paperwork such as closing documents, title and abstract, reissuing of survey's will all be handled by your title company.
5) Failing In The Negotiation Process
During the selling process you will be negotiating with several parties, not just the home buyer. Throughout the course of the sale you will have to negotiate with the buyers agent, inspectors, appraisers and if it is a short sale you will have to negotiate with the lender. The process can become somewhat overwhelming especially if you do not like to negotiate or have no experience negotiating. If you understand negotiations, then you know that you will not just be negotiating price. You will also have to negotiate the terms of the sale. The terms of the sale can include contingencies, closing date, who pays for closing costs, sellers concessions. Also make sure that the contract that you choose to work off of is in compliance, you can run this by the attorney that you hire.
Make It Happen | Close The Day & Successfully Sell For Sale By Owner
Now you understand the 5 biggest reasons that for sale by owners in Syracuse NY tend to fail. A lot of these reasons can be avoided by simply educating yourself on the process and how it works. I would suggest coming up with a marketing plan to put your home in front of the most people possible. Understand who is buying houses and the age group you need to reach, this will determine your marketing efforts. Know that selling for sale by owner can be time consuming and make sure you commit to the process. If you come up with a plan and execute it, there is no reason that you cannot obtain the same sales price as a real estate agent would get you.
If you have had any experiences selling for sale by owner in Syracuse NY, please let us know. We love to hear your success stories and also circumstances where you had trouble. Comment below.
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