Sneaky Ways to Determine if It's a Sellers Market For Sale By Owner Homes

According to recent statistics, the number of people who are now offering their home for sale by owner (FSBO) is as high as 25-30 percent. The average Real Estate Broker's commission is around 5.5 percent, but it can get as high as 8 percent in certain areas.

But if you want to sell your house quick, before you decide to do all of the work yourself and put your house up as a For Sale By Owner, you might want to try a few tactics to determine if it is a buyers or sellers market.

In a Buyers market, real estate sales slow down. This can happen within just a few months and when it does, even if your neighbor's house sold for a huge profit it doesn't mean your home will be able to do the same now. In this case, you might want to reconsider selling as a For Sale By Owner, because it will take you much longer to get a decent price by yourself.

What you're wishing for is a Seller's market, where most people are getting more than the asking price and inventories of houses are low. This is prime time to sell your house quickly. There are a few easy ways to determine what the market is doing that won't cost you anything but a little time.

Start by just being aware of how long houses in your neighborhood are on the market before they sell. Then find out if the house did indeed sell, or if it was pulled off the market because the owners couldn't get a decent price.

A great way to analyze the number of buyers looking for houses in your area is to drive around your neighborhood, find a few places where the realtor is having an open house, and see how long it will be open. Then, arrive at the house about ten minutes before the "open house" closes on any particular day. Introduce yourself, have a cookie or two, quickly walk through the house and chat with the realtor. You might even be so bold as to ask him or her if they have been very busy today. Then, before you leave, be sure to glance at the sign-in sheet and note the number of visitors that viewed the house. If there are only a few names on the list, you might want to reconsider selling as a FSBO house. If there are a lot of names, you may be in the money!

Another way is to find out how fast other houses have sold. If you did your homework and drove through the neighborhood, you will have a general idea. If you have a friend who is a realtor, try checking the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for data about the average number days a home for sale was on the market, and average days to close. Unfortunately, only a realtor can access the MLS data, so this would probably be your last choice for research.

If the average to number of days to close is around 45 days, you can assume it's a hot sellers market. If the average is six months or more, it is a buyers market and you might want to reconsider selling your house as a FSBO, or take it off the market and wait until you have a better chance for a quick sale.

Home Staging to Sell Your House

For some of you, it may be a hard thing to sell a home, which has so many memories of your life associated with it. On the other hand, for some people; their homes are considered a memory of some bad happenings. No matter what, there is a lot of preparation that needs to be done to set your home, which is now a house on sale.

First thing you have to do is to disassociate with your home. Make yourself psychologically prepared to stay away from your emotions and realize the fact that this no longer will be yours. Don't walk backwards into your memory lane. Look forward for your future. Clear away your personal belongings like photographs and heirlooms etc. Sometimes buyers can get distracted by the personal artifacts. Instead, make them feel and think about their own photos on the walls of your home.

Humans collect masses of junk in their life time. We buy things when we see them inside those glass cases and later, they become space consumers in our home. If you don't need some stuff anymore, donate it or give it away. Keep the book shelves clean and neat so as with the kitchen cabinets. Put away those knickknacks and think of it as you- already packing your stuff and moving out. Rent a storage unit to store your books and furniture; this gives them a good feeling of space. You can also keep away your old furniture from the buyer's curious eyes. Leave just enough furniture in the room to show the purpose of the area and make sure the pieces of furniture don't block the walk way.

Buyers love to look around. They would open your kitchen cabinet and closet as well, so make sure they are neat and tidy. Do not keep any embarrassing stuff lying around and make sure you clean up your shoes. On this note, it would be a good idea to keep them lined up in their proper place. Take the window curtains and built-in fixtures with you. All those belongings that are of your fond memories; you take it away and keep it safe with you.

Do minor repairs with your home such as cracked floors and counter tiles. Holes in the walls should be taken care of and all those leaky plumbing should be fixed. Paint your walls with neutral colors, which would give off a good feel. Clean the windows, making them neat and presentable; and you may use a pressure washer to spray down the sidewalk and the exterior area. Make sure you clear the home of spider webs, which means that you must vacuum your home daily. See to it that the floors are waxed, the entire home smells nice, and that any kind of unpleasant odors are a strict no-no.

Make sure your rooms get lots of bright light. In order to this, remove curtains and let the fresh light come into your house. Keep the doors leading into all the rooms' open, welcoming potential buyers for their inspection. Scrutinize your work and take a walk through your entire home to make sure everything is right. Before your buyer comes in, keep clear the sidewalk. Manicure your lawns and trim the bushes of your garden. Keeping these things in mind means that you will definitely have everything under control and buyers will see that they will have a good deal if they purchase your house.