Many Dallas home owners consider the pros and cons of listing and selling homes with traditional real estate agents and cringe at the prospect of paying a 6% or 7% commission.  This usually leads to the the book store or the Internet where home owners can find decent resources on how to sell a home on your own.  Decent means that among the blast of advertising from websites and so called marketing services you should be able to find a handful of good tips on selling a home yourself. 

Here is a cheat sheet with most of what you should know.  As this is just Part I of a multi-part series on For Sale By Owner issues in Dallas Texas, there will be more to come.  Feel free to comment and ask questions anyway.

• Plan Your Attack First
• Prepare your home for sale (clean, de-clutter, landscape, remove negatives)
• Find help to handle the "details of the transaction" once you have a buyer 
• Research advertising options (too many options to try it all, but you must advertise the home for sale)
• Commit to consistently advertising in a minimum of 4 places for a period of at least 60 days
• Make your home available for prospective buyers to view as often as possible (keep it clean)
• Smell can Sell - (keep your home smelling good)
• Remember, Price is important, but it is not the only term to negotiate (closing date, title insurance, inspections, repairs, attachments etc.)
• TAKE EXCELLENT PICTURES - LOTS OF THEM
• Use the Internet as much as possible - 84%+ of all home buyers start their search on-line.
• Research SELLING prices in your area.  Your neighbor may have asked $299,900 and he may have told you that he got it, but he most likely took less.  As a For Sale By Owner, you must price competitively.
• Be prepared for lower offers.  Buyers assume FSBO means that it will be a better deal.
• Know your Square Footage, Year Built, Age of major systems like Heating and Air conditioning, Hot Water Heaters, Roof etc.
• Have your own inspection done before you put your house up for sale.  You'll know what to expect when the buyer has his inspection.

More to come in Part II,

BigDBlog

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