How to Sell Your Home Without Using A Realtor

One of the things I'm going to talk about today is how to sell your home on your own without using an agent. And you're probably like, why is this real estate agent going to tell me how to sell my home on my own? Well, the real reason I'm going to tell you is because I know it's a lot more difficult than it actually looks. A lot of people think you just put a sign in the yard and you collect your check. Obviously, the reason I'm in business is because I know that there are hundreds of other steps to get to the closing table, and that's what we all want. We want to get to the closing table, we want to get the price we want on our home, and we want to save as much money as possible.

So, I'm not so naive to realize that saving money is a big reason why people don't list their home with an agent. So, the first step I would do is I would give an honest, unbiased view of your home. Go through your home like a buyer would enter your home through your front door, or whatever door you use to enter the home, and really look at your home objectively. This is going to be very challenging, and the only reason I know it's challenging is because it's even hard for me to do on my own home. And one of the things I joke about at the Lyons Group is we had an agent who was selling her personal home, and I said, listen, let me list your home. And she's like, why? I'm an agent. I can sell it on my own. I'm like, yes you can, but you have emotional ties to that home.

That's where you brought your daughter home. That's where you guys lived. Let me sell your home, and it will be a much better experience. And she was very hesitant at first, and then I listed the home. And at the end she was like, it was so much easier to have you list the home and pull away that emotional detachment. Because that's the thing that people don't realize about selling a home is that you're emotionally attached to it. In most cases, it’s the home where your family was raised in. Maybe you brought your kids home there for the first time after going to the hospital to be born. Like, we have a lot of memories in our homes. It's not just bricks and mortar to us, it's all of our memories. All of our good times, our bad times, and our tough times. All of that's wrapped up into our home, so we get emotionally invested with it. And then we take that emotional investment, and we twist it into valuing our home more than it's actually worth.

I can tell you many examples where I go into a home, and they have a value that is 10%, 20%, 30%, or 40% higher than every other home that's sold in that neighborhood. Because they're trying to sell it on their own, and they don't realize that just because they have memories there. The buying public doesn't see it that way. I'm getting real long-winded. I don't know. Okay. All right, so pricing and looking at your home objectively is the number one thing. It's very hard to do. You may want to bring in a friend who can give you an honest opinion of your home without offending you. That's honestly a big part of what we do is we price based on facts and statistics, not based on emotion and memories. I'm not saying that to insult you. I'm saying that it's hard for us to separate that.

So the first thing, have somebody come look at the home, or you look at your home very objectively and be very honest about pricing. Okay, now you've made the decision to sell your home, and you have your price. What do you do then? I want you to do your best to take photos of your home in the best light possible, at the best angles possible. Photos are super important. They're almost as important as pricing your home correctly. Because the way people look at homes now, it's all online. We're all on Zillow. We're all on realtor.com or trulia.com. That's where most buyers enter the market is, they're on their phone looking at these apps, looking at homes. So, you want to make sure that your home is presented in the best possible light. Okay. So, then once you do that after you take your photos, the best place to put your home as a for sale by owner is Zillow.

Zillow has the best platform for people. It's the most used home search website on earth. I know realtors are watching this right now, tearing their hair out that I'm telling you to do this, but that's the best place to do it. Put it on Zillow, make sure your phone number is correct, and then make sure to answer your phone. My advice to you is, you're going to get a lot of calls from real estate agents, and they're going to say one or two things. A, I have a buyer. Are you offering a commission to buyer's agents? Or B, I can't believe you're selling your home on your own. You're an idiot. That's stupid. You'll never be successful. Let's talk about that first point. Are you offering a reduced commission? My advice to you is, yes, offer a reduced commission to buyer's agents.

And I know you're thinking, well, you just told me that avoiding commission is a good thing. Now you're telling me to pay a commission. The reality is that most people looking for homes are going to use a real estate agent. So, you don't want to miss out on a perfect buyer because you have to pay a reduced commission. Now, what amount should you pay them? You can choose that amount. It can be whatever amount you choose. There's no standard commission. That's totally a myth. A lot of agents charge the very close to the average amount that can be anywhere from 2%, 2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, or 4%. You can pick that number, higher or lower. It doesn't matter to me. Whatever you offer is going to be very much appreciated by the buying agent. And the way that works is if an agent calls you and they say, “Hey, I have a buyer interested in your home, are you going to pay a reduced commission?”

If you say yes, tell them what that commission rate is. It can be a flat fee. Even tell them what that commission rate is. If they say, okay, I'd like to come by and have you sign what's called a one-day listing agreement. It's literally a two-page contract that says, I'm John Smith. I have a client, Barb Johnson, that wants to see your home. And then you put in that flat fee amount or percentage for that buyer only. So, only if Barb Johnson buys that home is the realtor protected and you're protected. That actually is a very good document for you to have. So, that's the document you’d be signing. It's called a for sale by owner one-day listing agreement. And then if that buyer comes through, they like the house, they want to buy it, that agent should write up a contract.

That agent should write up a contract, and if the terms are good and you are happy with it, then you should accept it or counter on whatever terms are important to you. Price, closing date, title company, inspection period, appraisal contingency, financing contingency, pre-approval. All those things are going to be important for you to consider when accepting this offer. And then once you accept that offer, then the buyer's agent should take care of most of the brunt work. They're going to schedule inspections with you. They're going to respond to those inspections after you guys negotiated inspections successfully, they're going to hire an appraiser, and the appraiser is going to come out and determine the value of your home based on the purchase price and contract price. And after that, it all goes to underwriting. And then hopefully around your closing date, you close on time. I know it sounds like a lot, but really it's not that much. If you have any questions at any time, click the link in the description, and I'll connect with you there. Thanks.