One must be very aware and cognizant when selling property on your own, as some are currently doing, in and around Nassau, Suffolk and Queens. I provide valuable information for those who are trying to accomplish this arduous and oftentimes stressful and complicated task.
But generally speaking, you probably won’t save the commission, which I understand is your main reason for trying to sell on your own. Read the following to be much more informed:
1. Homeowners who try to sell on their own have no way of qualifying their purchasers by asking them the three most important questions. a.) What is your verifiable income? b.) What are your credit scores? c.) Do you have a commitment letter from a lending institution? There is a 45-60 day period that you as a homeowner will have to wait and keep your fingers crossed in hopes that your potential buyer receives an accurate appraisal, and then a written mortgage commitment without any conditions. Sometimes the appraisal might be less than the selling price, and then negotiations might begin once again since the bank works for the buyer and not you!
2. When holding an open house, you have no way of pre-qualifying your buyers (for income, credit, debt/income ratio, etc.) when they walk through and knowing whether they are even qualified for a mortgage. Are they tire kickers, shopping or casing your home to take something while they are there or on another day when you are out shopping? Lastly, if you were to call back those buyers for feedback, what position do you think they would think you were in — strong or weak (motivated to sell)?
3. Buyers who know you are selling on your own have already subtracted “our earned commission.” At the end of the transaction, for sale by owners historically receive a price that is generally 8 percent below what the top realtors are able to get, according to the National Association of Realtors surveys in past years. So you don’t save money when you are selling on your own. We don’t charge a commission, we earn our commission!
4. What would you rather be doing on your weekend, playing tennis, golf, swimming or be with your grandchildren on a Saturday or Sunday or sitting at your house waiting for “supposed qualified buyers?”
5.) Most critical and crucial is how you are going to market and merchandise your home, surely not through an ad in the paper, but then what sites to put it on? Did you take professional photos and videos? If you do not have a multitude of websites like Turn Key Real Estate since 1995, plus our 250+ Partnered local and global sites and the maximum exposure on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Yelp, ActiveRain, Zillow, Trulia and many other sites, how then will you provide the proper and best marketing for your home? Ads don’t cut the cake any longer and technology is the only way to go! If you don’t have the proper exposure on the internet, you will not grab enough eyeballs for the greatest exposure and marketing presence. It’s a numbers game and we have the solutions to get it done in the quickest and most efficient time with the least amount of stress and hassles for our homeowners.
6.) Your work really begins after there is an agreed-upon deal accepted as follows:
a.) Home inspection by the buyer and hoping that everything is OK with your home and if not, the buyer will come back and renegotiate the sale price.
b.) Going to contract and waiting for a written mortgage commitment and hoping they will receive it.
c.) Dealing with yours and the purchaser’s attorney and the countless phone calls that will occur, fine-tuning your contract. Being the go-between and preventing issues that might blow up your sale is what a qualified and credible broker does, among many others items on his or her checklist to get to the closing table.
c.) Final Walk-through by the purchaser
There are so many things and issues that can and do pop up that have to be solved. Our position is to relieve you of all the hassles and complications to handle all of those obstacles that homeowners face and experience while selling on their own.
For the previous reasons, we thought it would be in your best interest and benefit to provide you “free of charge” with, “no strings attached” “without any obligation or commitment” our comparative market analysis. We will research and spend all the necessary time and effort to provide you with an accurate picture as to the value of your home and at what price to list it when placing it on the market for sale.
This carefully prepared report of 10-30-plus pages of current available homes, which are under contract and sold, as well as expired (overpriced) and withdrawn, released homes and past market activity compares your home with other similar homes. The analysis enables you to easily compare the features of your property with others and to determine the best pricing strategy for today’s current market. We can discuss the results and determine the best pricing for your specific home, so please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience.
We look forward to working with you in the future. Our firm is committed to providing you with professional, credible, knowledgeable, honest and dedicated service. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information. Lastly, some of us truly earn our fees by providing and performing our valuable, expert and professional services, “before, during and after the sale” to dig and search for that one elusive, qualified purchaser, who ““falls in love” with your home, as you once did, too.
Philp A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave., Suite 180, Great Neck. He has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute and a Certified International Property Specialist. Receive regular free updates of sold homes in your area and a free Comparative Market Analysis of what your home would sell for in today’s market or search on: WWW.Li-RealEstate.Com He can be reached by email, Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com or by cell: (516) 647-4289
