How to sell a house by owner

Are you thinking of selling your house For Sale By Owner (FSBO)?

This can be a good option to avoid real estate agent commissions and fees. Particularly if you are in a hot neighborhood where the houses are in high demand it doesn’t make sense to pay a realtor if you are prepared to do a little work.

But, if you are going to sell a house by owner, you do need to put in the work and do it right. Here are some tips to get the highest price from the FSBO process.

• Clean the home thoroughly: You want the home owner to fall in love with your property so make sure it shines. Shampoo carpets, wash your windows, keep your bathrooms and kitchen clean.
  
• Invest time (and maybe money) into marketing: You need to let people know about your property so make sure you invest in some professional photography (your iphone won’t cut it) and list it on sites like Zillow, Craigslist and facebook marketplace. Put a FSBO sign up at the front of your house. 

• Declutter the house: Make your house look more spacious by removing as much as you can from the house. Put personal items in storage and even reduce the furniture so the house presents open and spacious.
  
• Make yourself available:  Make sure you are ready to answer the phone when it rings so you don’t lose any potential buyers. Be flexible with showings as everybody’s schedules are different.
  
• Taking safety precautions: Ensure your valuables and prescription medications and somewhere safe. Keep a list of names and contact details of everyone that inspects the house and ask for IDs. Just be aware that these FSBO sites are very public and potential thieves have easy access to photos of your houses interior. 

If you want to sell your house and can dedicate a little time to the For Sale by Owner process then FSBO is a good way to save some money so you get more in your pocket from the sale of your house. Another option to consider when selling your house is to sell direct to an investor. 

Selling direct to an Investor

This is another option to sell your house without having to pay realtor commissions. It is a very similar process to doing a For Sale By Owner but instead of posting pictures of your house all over the internet, you can get a local investor who buys rentals and flips houses to come to your house and give you a cash offer. There are some advantages of this approach.

• No need to stage the property: Investors buy houses all the time and they don’t buy on emotion. You don’t need to present the house to them and need them to fall in love with it like a homeowner. They are just interested in the fundamentals of the house, like the condition of the roof, foundation, electrical and plumbing.
  
• No need to make repairs: Most investors will buy your house in As Is Condition so you don’t need to make repairs. Investors have the imagination to see the potential of a property so don’t need you to make all the repairs before they buy it. For them, a repair is just a cost they need to incur and the cost to them is probably a lot less than it is for you to fix.
  
• Safer: you won’t need to post photos of your house online or hold open houses and inspections and let of strangers into your property.
  
• Get your house sold faster: Investors buy lots of houses and have a criteria they use. They will generally be able to figure out within 1 walkthrough of the property whether they will buy the house or not. Most of them will be cash house buyers which means that they don’t need to through all the red tape of getting finance approved so if they end up being your buyer you can generally have get paid within 1 to 2 weeks.
  
• Much less work: Selling to an investor is the most hassle free way to sell your house. You won’t need to answer a lot of calls, hold open houses, clean up your house or wait for someone to fall in love with your house.
  

Home Buyer Louisiana are New Orleans based investors who buy houses direct from home owners regularly. They can give you an obligation-free cash offer on your house within 24 hours. If you are thinking of selling your house for sale by owner then before you start cleaning your house and posting it online see if they can give you the price you need and save all the hassle.