How to sell real estate without a realtor
How to Sell a House Without a Realtor
guys it is freezing here in Southeast
Idaho like I'm trying to do everything
that I can to grasp on to just that
little last bit of summer but I know
it's slipping away like I've I've got my
slippers on if it'll focus maybe it
won't focus anyway there we go
focus I've got slippers on and I've
tried to like add some greenery to the
office to make it feel just like a
little bit warmer but it's it's slipping
away pretty quick but that is not what
we're talking about today today we're
actually talking about how to sell a
house without a realtor
it sounds really complicated it sounds
really confusing but I promise it's not
in 2018 my wife and I sold our very
first house and being the numbers guy
that I am I quickly pulled out my
calculator I ran some numbers and I
found that if we didn't use a realtor to
sell the house
we would save seven thousand dollars now
I don't know about you but to me seven
thousand dollars that's a lot of money
but the other thing we had to decide was
if $7000 was worth all the effort of
doing all of the work involved with
selling the house going into it we fully
understood that we were gonna have to
get market analysis completed we were
gonna have to stage the house photograph
it list it and market ourselves deal
with Realtors schedule multiple showings
keep the house spotless during all of
this time we were going to have to
negotiate various offers right counters
offers deal with inspections and bank
appraisals file legal documents work
with the title company and a ton more
now if all of this sounds intimidating
it is and and selling the house for sale
by owner or Fizbo as some people call it
then that it may not be for you but
here's the thing it's really not that
bad if I've been able to keep your
attention this long it probably means
that you're ready to go down the Fizbo
route so that's exactly what we're gonna
do I'm gonna go step by step
and talk about how to sell your house
without a realtor this is going to be a
very detailed video a very long detailed
video
and so if you want to skip certain parts
down in the description below I'm gonna
timestamp each individual section so you
can skip all of my blabbering if you
want and get just to the specific part
that you want so without further ado
let's get right into it too step number
one which is fixing up the house you
know that super long list of house
projects that your wife has been bugging
you about for the last six months now is
the time to do all of those things on
that list but as soon as possible
we were so anxious to get our house up
on the market but we realized it just
wasn't in the best shape yet to be ready
to sell it we spent almost every single
night after work fixing up the house and
oftentimes entire days on the weekends
just doing all the different little
things that we needed to do I mean we
were replacing dented pieces of trim we
were pulling weeds in the yard we were
painting and puttying holes and all the
walls I mean just a little Nicks and
dings that were kind of an eyesore to
other people if we want to make sure all
of that got done now the key here when
you're fixing everything up the the idea
is not to go overboard here you want to
fix the immediate little things that you
know people are gonna notice right away
when they walk into your house but you
don't you don't need to go crazy here's
here's something that I recommend if you
don't feel that you can accurately tell
what people are gonna find is kind of a
negative or a con for your house so what
I recommend is getting a friend and have
them take a notepad and have them walk
through your house and write down every
little thing that they see and kind of
catches their eye as an eyesore now I
know this might be kind of hard for
someone to go through your house and
talk about everything bad with your
house but I guarantee that when you're
selling your house is really difficult
to separate yourself emotionally and so
if you can have somebody come in tell
them to be brutally honest with you and
marked out all the little things that
they see then you're gonna have a lot
better idea of what prospective buyers
are going to be seeing at the same time
step number two is to get something
called a comparable market analysis or a
CMA what this is is it's just a report
that goes through and tells you what
your house is worth compared to other
house
is in your area and typically it's a
really small area like like the street
that you live on and maybe two or three
streets away just what the the home
prices are doing in that specific area
real estate prices are hyper local so we
don't really care about what home prices
are doing across town or what you know
your your best friend a mile or two
miles away sold their house for what we
care about is the housing prices in your
specific neighborhood because they do
vary that widely all too often I see
Fizbo sellers not do CMAs and they just
list their house for whatever they think
it's worth and not what it's actually
worth see people get so attached to
their homes like they're so emotionally
invested in it that they list it super
high and then it sits on the market
forever and they wonder why their house
doesn't sell and the longer the house
sits on the market the more people think
something's wrong with that house it's
been sitting on the market for four
months and it's not sold yet so CMAs are
super important and they're totally free
and they can be done by any real estate
agent now you might be asking yourself
ho hold on a second I thought we weren't
using a realtor and you're right we're
not but a CMA can be done by any realtor
and they're happy to do it for you
because they're hoping that eventually
you'll change your mind and you'll
actually list your house with them so
what I want you to do is to call up
several probably ten to twelve different
realtors in your area and ask for a CMA
and be very very clear and specific with
them and tell them that you are not
interested in listing with them you're
only looking for a CMA the other thing
we want to do is we want to make sure
that we don't rely on a single CMA like
I said when we listed our house we got
10 to 12 different quotes from different
Realtors the very first CMA that came in
was $15,000 lower than all of the other
CMAs if we had just relied on that one
CMA we would have left a ton of money on
the table so make sure that you get
multiple step number three is to stage
the house now there is no way that I can
cover all the aspects of staging a home
in just a short video like this in fact
would probably require a super-long
entire video all by itself
plus there are probably infinitely
better videos that I could ever do
talking about the subject of stage in
your house but the point that I really
want to get across is just to clear the
clutter clear all of the crap out of
your house you just want to get
everything really minimal really clean
and plain-jane so get rid of everything
on kitchen counters just leave the bare
essentials get rid of coffee pots move
toasters off of the countertops get rid
of your KitchenAid I mean if you need to
put these things in the pantry or even
take them off-site temporarily if you
have to in bathrooms you want to make
sure that you get everything off the
cameras as well get rid of toiletries
get rid of hair dryers and toothbrushes
just clear the counter so they're super
super clear it really opens up the space
when people walk in and they don't see
all this clutter it really makes a world
of difference the other thing that I
want to say is make sure that you get
rid of all of the really personalized
decorations in your house like you take
down any huge family portraits sitting
on your wall or remove any you know
really it's really popular right now
those big signs will look like you're
your family's last name on the wall get
rid of all of that stuff when people
walk into your home they want to
envision themselves living there and
it's really hard to do that when your
family photo is staring them in the face
whenever you can try and really brighten
up the rooms try and lighten them up as
much as you can so pull back the shades
pull back the blinds turn on all of the
lights whenever people are there make
sure that you add lamps if there's any
like corners of the house that seem
really dark because the the darker the
space the the tinier and the smaller it
feels again you don't have to go crazy
here just the general rule is to clear
the clutter remove a lot of decorations
if you can just make it the bare
essentials and you'll be just fine
step number four is photography now I
cannot stress this heavily enough to you
but you cannot under any circumstances
use your cell phone to take your own
photos I realize that the whole point
we're trying to sell
our homes by ourselves is to save money
but the photography is not the place to
do that so take take a look at these
photos right here just a quick 30 second
search on Zillow and and I'll show you
exactly what I mean
as I'm looking at these pictures there
is a dead giveaway that one of these
some of these pictures were taken just
by somebody with their cell phone and
it's it's this guy right here like the
first thing that pops up is a picture of
their stairs cool your house has stairs
I got really sets itself apart and I
mean as I as I look through these
pictures I just can't help but think
like they're super grainy it's super
closed off they're super dark and then I
get to this picture you own a fish tank
maybe that comes with the house I don't
know I I think you probably get the idea
of what I'm getting at right here like
do not use your cell phone even if
you're good at taking pictures I don't I
don't care hire a professional to pay
for some really good pictures you could
easily be in the three to four hundred
dollar range but like I said this is the
best money that you will ever spend pay
the money and you won't regret it
step number five is to finally list your
home
we are finally to the fun part we get to
list the house now is the time to get
your house out to as many listing
websites as possible that means Zillow
Facebook Craigslist any anything that
you can think of just to get the house
out there onto the market the first
thing that you'll need to do is get a
property description so start combing
through Zillow just to kind of get an
idea of what people are saying about
their houses you want to go through and
you want to list all the unique things
about your house that that really sets
it apart do you have do you have a deck
on the back or do you have vaulted
ceilings in the living room whatever it
is that really makes sure how stand out
be sure to mention those in the
description but even more important than
the description itself are
two things that I'm gonna highlight on
the screen you'll see a copy of the
exact description that we use when we
sold our house but that's not the most
important thing pay attention to the
very first two lines of the description
so first we want to specifically clarify
in our listing that buyers agents are
welcome whoa whoa over there Bryce I
thought we weren't using Realtors you're
right we are not but 95% of the buyers
out there will be using Realtors
whenever you're a buyer you actually
don't pay the the realtor Commission's
all of the Commission's for the realtor
how they get paid is when the property
itself sells the seller will pay the
Commission's for both your Realtor and
their realtor if they use one if we
don't offer some sort of compensation
for the buyer's realtor they'll actually
shy their client away from showing your
house even if it would be perfect for
them because they're not gonna get paid
why why would they do work if they're
not gonna get paid the the second thing
that you'll want to note is actually
your phone number make sure that that's
in the description itself I mean yeah
you want you want people to know how to
get a hold of you but this actually
helps you in more ways than one
look look at look at this Fizbo listing
so in this listing the people forgot to
put their phone number in the
description if if we scroll all the way
down all the way down till oh we'll put
the homeowner's phone number as the very
last contact on the listing the very
last one they put all of these other
phone numbers in here then make it look
like they're the people representing the
house but they're they're not these
these are actually paid advertisements
from real estate brokers in the area to
be listed in in that slot and the sad
thing is that it works
yours is the very very last phone number
here and so obviously it's going to get
looked over once we finally list a house
we've got the property description we've
got your contact information you're
ready to go your listing is finally
officially out there step number six is
to be
dealing with realtors within two to
three days or maybe even less you're
gonna start getting phone calls from
realtors but sadly these are not the
phone calls that you're looking for
these aren't the droids you're looking
for
these are gonna be realtors who are
hoping that they can list your home with
them so that they can earn a commission
when we listed our house we probably had
half a dozen Realtors call us and they
tried to use all these scare tactics
that said hey did you know that nine
hundred and forty two percent of all
real estate lawsuits begin with for sale
by owners right like I said it's just a
scare tactic all these agents want is a
commission just politely tell them that
you're fine you're gonna try and sell it
yourself and that if for some reason you
can't sell it yourself then maybe you'll
consider listing with them sooner rather
than later you will finally start to get
phone calls trickling in with people who
actually want to show your house to
their clients set up a time with them
where they can bring their client over
to your house show them the property but
make sure that you do it within 24 hours
or so if you can anything longer than 36
hours and it's likely that the buyers
will move on to a different property
they you know you want to get them in
the front door as fast as you can so
that they don't move on to other
listings when you show your home it is
common practice for you as the homeowner
not to be there during the showing as
long as they've got a realtor with them
the realtor will walk through through
the house and they'll feel a lot more
comfortable without you there hovering
over them they want to be able to do
whatever they want they want to look at
the house without feeling rushed or
judged or what at you they want to be
able to say whatever they want and just
look at the house you know at their own
leisure to make this process easier what
we did was we went to Lowe's or Home
Depot we bought a little lockbox and we
put a spare key in there and then we put
the lockbox on the front door whenever a
realtor calls you to set up a showing
and just give them the code to the
lockbox set up a time and then be sure
to be gone before they show up step
number seven finally are the offers the
offers will start to come in
when you have a buyer that comes back
two or even three times to look at the
house you know that they're interested
and you know that an offer is probably
right around the corner looking over an
offer is pretty straightforward a
realtor will probably send you an email
and in it will be the offer
they'll send you the purchase price and
any concessions which means anything
that the buyers want included in in the
sale of the house and typically that's
things like appliances or maybe some
decorations maybe there's a fancy clock
on the wall that they really love you
can group that into the contract if you
want at this point you can choose to
either accept or counter the offer and I
would say that in almost every single
case you should almost always counter
their first initial offer the initial
offer is just a good starting point and
I'll probably take two to three counters
back and forth to get things right back
where you want to be and so that both
parties are happy after both you and the
buyers hash out all of the details and
come to an agreement you will finally
sign something called a purchase and
sale agreement what this is is just a
legal document that has the purchase
price any of the contingencies and other
things in that agreement and then that
gets sent over to the title company the
bank and anybody else who needs it to
help with the transaction of the deal
oh all right even even I'm getting tired
we're so close to the end but step
number eight is the inspection and the
appraisal in most cases the buyer has 10
business days to schedule an inspection
with a property inspector what they'll
do is they'll set up a day and a time
and inspector will come over to your
house typically when you're not there
look at everything in the property
they're gonna make sure that the
plumbing is in good you know in good
shape the electrical is in good shape
the roof doesn't have any problems the
foundation isn't crumbling it's just a
routine check of everything so that the
buyers know that they're getting a good
house in good condition
and even if the house is in perfect
condition you'll almost always get a
couple inspection items come
back I mean the inspector has to show
that he's kind of done his job and just
find at least a few things that he
recommends to the buyers to potentially
fix so just be aware of that know that
you probably will have two to three
things to fix and that's that's just to
be expected during about the same time
that the inspection is going on the bank
will probably order an appraisal all
this is is just a person - that comes
out to the property they look at the
house and they just want to make sure
that the money that the bank is lending
the buyers that the house is worth the
amount of money that they're loaning to
them so they don't want to loan two
hundred thousand dollars to these buyers
when the house is on they're worth a
hundred and fifty thousand all it is is
just a safeguard to the bank that says
that the money that they're loaning it
is worth the value of the house both of
these expenses both the inspection and
the appraisal they're covered by the
buyer but it is just a slight
inconvenience because you'll have to
figure out a day at a time that works
with your schedule for these guys to
come over and look at the house step
number nine is the title company
typically if you have a buyer with a
buyer's agent they take care of all of
the title work for you
but the title company is actually the
most important part they're the one that
actually facilitates the transaction of
the deal and the moving of all the funds
from you know all the different parties
involved they also make sure that
everything gets recorded properly
everything gets filled out properly they
make sure the deed to the property gets
signed properly and they also make sure
that all of the the county documents are
signed properly and filled out and sent
to the county recorders office to be
stored there and recorded and finally
step 10 the last step to all of this is
the closing process typically about 30
days after you sign the purchase and
sale agreement you'll set up a time to
go and sign documents at the title
company both you and the buyers
typically different times but on the
same day
we'll go and you'll sign a bunch of
papers both of you guys are going to
leave with carpal tunnel after signing
all these papers but you're gonna hand
over the keys to the house and they're
gonna
and over a check for the sale of the
house and then but that's it you're done
once you have your check in hand and the
documents are recorded at the county the
house is no longer yours and you're good
to go ooh okay I even I'm tired that is
a long long process but I promise you
it's not as daunting as it sounds
there's a lot of steps involved but if
you walk through these little by little
it's really not as overwhelming as it
sounds it's a really straightforward
process and the fact that you can save
thousands of dollars by doing this in my
opinion is huge my parents right now are
selling their house in Washington and
it's gonna be somewhere in the high 300s
I think for their their sale price and
they're gonna be saving tens of
thousands of dollars by selling it
without a realtor anyway guys that is it
for this video thanks so much for
watching if you've got questions about
any of the the processes of buying or
selling a house please be sure to
comment down below I bought and so lots
of houses since I've done this very
first house and I feel like I'm pretty
good at the process so if you have any
questions please let me know and I'd be
happy to answer them below until then
we'll see you guys next week thanks for
watching
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