Preparing to Sell Your Home

• Preparing to sell FSBO takes more than just getting the home ready; YOU need to get ready.
  
  
• Recognize that if you are to be successful, you must understand the process and develop realistic expectations.
  
  

• Be unemotional about the sale.  Your home has meant a lot to you over the years but your buyer is not looking at the purchase through your eyes. Once you decide to sell your home, it simply becomes a business transaction and you must take the emotion out of it.

Here are a few of the "Must Do's" that have been suggested by many successful FSBO’s over the years.

1. Educate yourself on how long similar homes in your area are on the market before they sell.  You must be realistic or you can become prematurely disillusioned when you think your house should sell in a matter of days, when in fact the market dictates that it will take two to three months.  If you should sell sooner than expected, wonderful.
   
   
2. Price the home at its true market value, not what you just think it’s worth.  Pricing should be based on market conditions, not emotion.
   
   
3. Prepare to spend some money on advertising.  You must let the market know your home is for sale.
   
   
4. Understand that you will spend time answering phone calls, setting appointments and showing the home. Your rewards are well worth it.
   
   
5. Be prepared to handle real estate agents.  Know ahead of time whether or not, and to what extent, you will cooperate with agents.  You may decide that you will want to offer a "half" commission (typically 2.5 -3.5%) to an agent if they bring a buyer to see your property who ultimately ends up purchasing it.