7 Tips on How to Sell your House Quickly and Save Thousands!

How Do I Sell My House Quickly on my Own?…

Before you even begin trying to sell your home you’ll need to find out what it’s worth so you can accurately price it.

We put together some tips for you to follow when deciding to sell your house quickly without any help from an agent.

Utilize these tips and you’ll increase your chances of getting a big fat check at closing.

Here are a few ways to find the value of your home:

• Interview a handful of real estate agents (at least 3) and get comps (comparables). These are values of houses similar to yours that have sold in close proximity.
• Check public records online or go to the county clerk.
• Drive around your neighborhood and call out on ALL  the for sale signs that you see. If they are having open houses then GO TO THEM and ask questions.
• Research your local paper’s classified section for houses for sale in your area. Call the numbers and get facts on the property (remember, you’re looking for houses to use as comparables to your home).
• Go to Realtor.com and research houses that are for sale in your area. If there isn’t much info then call the agent listed and ask for some info on the house.
• Check out Zillow.com and Homes.com. Although just estimates, both can provide a rough estimate on the value of your home based on sales in the area.

What’s Next to Sell Your House Quickly?

Okay, so assume you now have the estimated market value of your house….ask yourself:

• To obtain this value does my house need to be in excellent condition??
• If it’s not in excellent condition already, how much will it cost to get it there??

These are just some of the things to keep in mind when trying to come up with a sale price for your house. If your house needs work, get estimates to find out how much work is required, and then be prepared to take that into account when deriving a sale price.

Factor In the State of the Real Estate Market in your City

Currently at the time of this article, here in Houston, TX we’re in a BUYER’S MARKET – an economic situation in which goods are plentiful thereby lowering the price and demand for those goods; real estate included. Keeping this factor in mind as it pertains to your own property will increase your chances of getting a buyer and a quick sale. Nobody wants their house to sit forever and not sell. If lowering your price to accommodate the market is too much of an issue for you, perhaps waiting until the seller’s market returns is the proper course of action. Either way, using the following 7 tips will increase the chances of your House Selling Fast and hopefully allow you to save some money in the process.

7 Tips on How to Market Your House and Sell Fast:

Finding the perfect price at which to sell your house doesn’t mean anything if nobody in the world knows that it’s for sale.

1. Take pics or do a video walk-through of your house. Outside front, back, side, yard, living room, dining room, kitchen, etc. you get the picture.
2. Place a FOR SALE BY OWNER sign in your front, side and back yards. Don’t forget to put your phone number on the signs! (it has been done)
3. Bandit signs. This is a tactic that we ourselves have had lots of success with in finding buyers. Buy anywhere from 10 to 50 blank corrugated plastic signs. They should be 18″ x 12″ in size and white. Use a permanent marker to write on the signs the following using Katy as an example: 3 bed/2 bath House Must Sell! Katy Area, $150k 832-xxx-xxxx. If your house is a fixer-upper try writing something like: 3 bed/2 bath Investor Special, Needs Work! Must Sell Quickly. Area, Price, Phone Number. Put these signs all around your neighborhood, at popular intersections and around stores like Walmart, etc. You’ll want extras because some of these will get taken down, some will blow away and some will just become dirty and ugly so you’ll want to replace them with fresh ones. This will definitely get you calls. Maybe not the ones you want, but calls nonetheless.
4. Next you’re going to want to create what’s called a Postlet. Go to Postlets.com and create an account. It’s free. Create a Postlet about your house. Post your pictures, list all of the features, write a nice description. People want to know about square footage, how many beds and baths, school districts, taxes, utilities, etc.
5. Go to Craigslist.org and post your house for sale. You’re going to want to post in the portion of Craigslist that’s for your area. You then go to housing and real estate for sale.
6. Place a classified ad in your local paper with a Sell My House Fast ad. There are all kinds of papers that will work. You can place an ad in a daily paper, weekly paper, monthly paper, throw away papers like the Penny Saver, etc. And keep in mind that you do not want to just run the ad for a day. That’s a waste of time and money. We suggest running it at least for a month Thurday-Monday for best results.
7. Lastly, use word of mouth. Don’t forget to tell everyone you know that your house is for sale. Friends, family, co-workers, etc. This is an extremely effective way to increase your chances of finding a buyer for your house. You never know who knows someone that is looking to buy.

When Calls Start Coming In

A lot of callers are just going to inquire about the price at first if you don’t have it listed already. If you’re not careful you could be wasting A LOT of time with non-serious buyers. Here are some ways to find out who is serious and who isn’t:

• Ask them to do a drive-by of the house and if they like it to call back and set up an appointment to see the inside. If they call back to set up an appointment, ask them to send their pre-approval letter or proof of funds before setting up an appointment. If they say no, tell them that they must be pre-approved before you can set up an appointment to show the home.
• Refer them to a RMLO or a small bank in your area if they haven’t applied for a loan already. Help them get approved. (if you help get someone approved for a loan, they may be more open to buying your house).

After you’ve seen the pre-approval then go ahead and set up an appointment to show the house. PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS. Always have a sign-in sheet for everyone to sign and have them show their driver’s license or some form of ID. Have a neighbor over while you’re showing the house or call a family member and let them know you’re showing the house and to expect your call when you’re done. A little caution never hurt anyone.

When You Find A Qualified Buyer

When you find a qualified buyer and all terms have been agreed upon by both parties, you’ll want to write up an agreement of sale. If you don’t know anything about an agreement of sale or about how to fill one out you should have a real estate attorney help you draw one up, or call APEX Home Buyers at 844-388-APEX(2739) so we can walk you through the process. The title company will then handle everything associated with your closing. If you do know how to fill out an agreement of sale, then you should be able to deal directly with the title company yourself.

The Title Company may not be permitted to give you legal advice with respect to your transaction, but a lot of them have real estate attorneys onsite that will be happy to help you understand what you need.

APEX Home Buyers – Who Are We?

APEX Home Buyers is a Texas based Home Buyer that buys and sells real estate all throughout South East Texas. We typically pay cash for houses and close in as little as 7 days. We’re experts in dealing with all kinds of real estate situations and have years of experience dealing with repairs, title issues, inheritance problems, probate, foreclosures, and other legal issues related to real estate.

If you have a house in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio or Beaumont we would be happy to evaluate it and make you a Fair Cash Offer today.

Give us a call right now at 844-388-APEX(2739) to get the process started.

What’s the Process?

See How it Works. Our focus is on helping homeowners reach their goals; whether we buy their house or help them sell or fix it.

We’re here to help.

– APEX Home Buyers