One big reason that must attract you to sell your house by owner is avoiding the hefty closing cost of the listing agent’s commission. Selling your house for sale by owner (FSBO) and saving money may seem lucrative, but the process is anything but smooth. If you are living in Georgia and wondering how to sell your house by owner in Georgia, get ready for the turbulent road ahead.

In fact, sellers in urban areas and millennial sellers are more successful at selling houses on their own. While they may sell it to companies that buy houses for cash, they are not afraid to take a different route.

So, how to sell your house by owner in Georgia? If you want to be successful at selling your house on your own, you’ll have to learn how a real estate professional would go about the process and function in a similar way.

Why must you use For Sale By Owner websites?

So is selling your house FSBO a good idea? Selling a home FSBO sure involves a lot of hassle and to top that, you might not make enough money in the end. You don’t want that. But there is a definite possibility for you to save thousands of dollars if you know exactly how to sell your house by owner in Georgia and are ready to hustle for it. Moreover, if your buyer is unrepresented, you can save the entire 6% commission fee while selling your home in Georgia.

Below are some reasons why you must use a For Sale By Owner website:

1. Hefty savings: As you don’t have to pay your listing commission, you’d save a substantial amount of your money.
2. Complete authority: As you sell your house for sale by owner, you get complete authority on how you want to sell your home. And no one knows the best about your home than yourself.
3. Direct communication: When you sell a house FSBO, you circumvent the listing agent and directly get in touch with the home buyer. This gives you an opportunity for direct communication and leaves more room to negotiate.

How to sell your home on your own?

It takes hard work and lots of skills to sell your home without an agent and on your own. You need to be a strong negotiator as you have to be able to fetch a fair price for your home after accounting for closing costs or repairs.

You also have to be an excellent marketer to get your property out in front of potential buyers. You may need to advertise online, arrange open houses, etc. You also must hire a professional real estate photographer to click some amazing photos and make cool videos of your home that you can showcase on your listing.

Lastly, you need to be able to understand the basics of the legalities of selling a house. You may have to write purchase contracts, evaluate buyer contingencies, set up escrow accounts, and evaluate disclosures.

Below are some tips that will help you sell your home on your own:

1. Fix the right selling price of your home

One of the most important decisions you would make when selling your house on your own is setting its price. If you get emotional about your space and set a price too high, it might not attract many buyers. If you price it too low, you lose on the potential profit you can make out of the home sale.

We suggest that you go to open houses preferably in your area prior to listing your house for sale. Visit open houses and track the kind of homes and at what price they are getting sold. The information about listings in your area can guide you in setting the right asking price for your home.

You can also get a comparative analysis done by a local listing agent at little or no cost. The agent can compare your property with the recently sold properties in your area to arrive at a selling price for your home.

Another option is getting your house’s appraisal done. You might have to get the appraisal done in the later part of the selling process anyways. A home appraisal estimates your home’s value and can help you in setting a fair market price for your home. However, it may cost you several hundred dollars. You can also use online tools like home value estimator or house price index calculator on real estate websites.

2. Market your house well

Getting your house in front of an online audience is the key to attracting as many potential buyers as possible. You can use the Multiple Listing Service offered by companies like Houzeo to find a place for your home in the comprehensive MLS database of homes for sale.

Houzeo can list your house for sale by owner property on the MLS for a flat fee. You can select a premium package to get help for other tasks in the home selling process like negotiating an offer, etc. You can even list your home on free real estate websites.

Consider making repairs and upgrades in your home as well as doing home staging to maximize the appeal of your home in front of potential online as well as offline buyers.

In addition to doing an online listing, also add ‘for sale’ yard signs so that the locals in your neighborhood can direct those looking for homes to your property. You can also market your house on social media and using print media.

3. Be accountable like a professional would

Buyers or buyer agents are at times hesitant to work with homeowners selling a home on their own as they think the process will get longer due to the seller’s inexperience. Some buyer agents even suggest their buyers avoid buying an FSBO home thinking they’ll have to also do the seller agent’s job. But being a professional and with your know-how, you can lure buyers as well as buyer agents.

You must answer calls from potential buyers at all times, be flexible with home showings, listen to their feedback and not take criticism of your home personally. More importantly, you must be professional enough not to let your home sit on the market for long. You can lower your asking price in such a scenario.

4. Make sure you that your home buyers are qualified

In the eagerness to get potential buyers to see your home, you must not compromise your safety. Whether you are hosting an open house or a private showing, take down the contact information of both buyers and their agents. This practice will ensure that you know who has toured your house. Also, let them know that the offers must be submitted with proof of funds or a mortgage pre-approval letter.

5. Hire a real estate attorney

In a state like Georgia, you need a real estate attorney by law to prepare certain documents and oversee the closing of your home sale whether or not an agent is involved in the exchange.

Even when it’s not mandatory to hire an attorney, it can benefit you to hire one when you are to sell your house by owner in Georgia. An attorney helps you prepare paperwork like legally-mandated disclosure documents and resolve issues like home title or boundary disputes if any.

Final word

Thus, selling your house by owner in Georgia can be challenging and would definitely require a lot of work. But in the end, you get the satisfaction of selling your house by yourself and also are able to save some money that could have gone as agent commission. You can also look to sell your house to companies that buy houses for cash to avoid much of the hassle.

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