Adulting is complicated enough without dealing with selling your home and potentially uprooting your life, right? But for most people, it’s a necessary evil. When researching this article, I found wildly varying numbers, but I think it’s safe to say most homeowners will buy more than one home in their lifetime. Most sites I read said between three and five homes is the norm.
There are a lot of ways to sell your home. We live in an era of endless opportunity, which means that we are constantly finding ways to improve and make things easier. While our parents may have only had the option of listing their homes with realtors, we have quite a few choices when it comes to selling our homes. Let’s dive in!
Selling Your Home Yourself (For Sale By Owner)
Most people take this route to save some money. Rather than pay the typical 6% fee (which, as a point of reference, would be $24,000 on a $400,000 home), people choose to go the DIY route.If you choose to go with FSBO, all of the work will fall on you. First, you’ll need to determine how much your home is worth (something both a traditional agent and a Homie team would help you with). If you go too high, your home will sit for who knows how long, if you aim low, you could be losing yourself thousands of dollars.
You can use real estate valuation sites to get a ballpark idea, but they won’t be super accurate. You can also hire an official appraiser (generally between $300 and $500) who will give you an accurate estimate. Even the high end of $500 isn’t that much when you think about that 6% you’d be paying an agent.
The next step will be to get your home ready to sell. I actually covered this in an Instagram story pretty thoroughly. This is something you can’t skip, no matter how you decide to sell your home (aside from iBuyers, which I’ll cover next).
Next comes show time! Time to put out a yard sign, list your home online, and get ready to host an open house or two.
In order to list your home online, you’re going to need beautiful photographs. Consider hiring a professional or even a friend who is proficient. The last thing you want are dingy, grainy photos of your beautiful home.
While you won’t necessarily have access to the MLS (multiple listing service), there are plenty of sites that allow you to list your own home:
- Facebook Marketplace
- Zillow
- Craigslist
- Trulia
- FSBO . com (there are fees)
- HomeFinders (they have fees, too)
- For Sale By Owner .com (also fees)
Perhaps the most daunting task is dealing with offers and negotiations. Generally, when people see FSBO (for sale by owner), they will offer a low-ball bid. You’ll need to decide beforehand how low you’re willing to go and what all you’re willing to compromise on.
You might start off negotiations verbally, but the buyer will have to draw up a contract once you’ve come to an agreement. This contract needs to spell out every detail of the sale. You can do a Google search for real estate contracts (specific to your state) to get an idea of what to expect.
When you’re ready to close, either a closing attorney or title agent will take care of most of it. You might need to provide further documentation, so don’t celebrate quite yet! Provide everything they need and be sure to get a copy of their mortgage approval for your records.
Selling Your Home to an iBuyer for Cash
Want to get out quick? Maybe you have a new job and zero patience to wait for your home to sell traditionally. Maybe you really need cash (hey, no judgement!). There are plenty of reasons you might want to skip the entire process and just sell to an online investor.Although some of these people are interested in flipping houses, many are not. These iBuyers will buy your house below market value, yes, but their goal isn’t to perform major renovations and sell for a large profit. Instead, they buy your home as-is for a bit under market value, make any necessary repairs, and sell your home at market value. They make most of their money off of their fees, generally speaking.
Because of this, you are unlikely to get a great, high offer on your home, and will walk away with even less after taxes and fees. However, now that this method is a bit more mainstream, you have the potential to receive offers from multiple parties and compare before making a decision.
There are many websites that allow you to submit a request for a bid and most of them are free to use and carry no obligations as far as accepting an offer (but always read the fine print). So if you’re curious, you can always try!
- Opendoor
- Zillow Offers
- Offerpad
- Perch
- Offer Dept
- iBuyer .com
Do remember that there are still fees involved and some of these companies recommend hiring a real estate agent well-versed in the iBuyer market in order to help with negotiations and contracts.
Also beware of scams, because there are plenty. Always Google the company or person you are considering working with. Read any reviews available and do as much digging as you can. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for proof of funds. Any legitimate buyer will be happy to provide any information you need in order to feel comfortable moving forward.
The real benefit of this method is that it is so hands-off. You’re also able to chose your move-out day with a lot of these companies. Once you close, you’ll pick the day you’d like to move, and it is out of your hands. You definitely won’t get the most out of your home, but there’s something to be said about the ease of an iBuyer.
Selling Your Home With a Traditional Realtor
This is the standard (read: old and outdated) way to sell your home. Your first step will be to find a listing agent you trust. Most resources recommend meeting with at least three agents before you decide. Be sure to ask about their experience and knowledge in your area.Your agent will do a lot of the nitty gritty work. They will do an in-depth market analysis and come up with a fair market value for your home. They will likely give you advice on repairs and improvements you can make in order to sell the house faster.
Your agent will also help with photographing your home. They will probably give you staging advice or recommend a professional staging company. You won’t need to post your home on any sites as your realtor will do that for you, including the MLS. Plus, any seasoned agent likely has a list of buyer’s agents on speed dial to recommend your home to.
One of the biggest benefits is that your agent will take care of all the paperwork and contracts. They know all of the forms that will need to be submitted so nothing gets left to chance. This is especially helpful to those of us who are not great with long, drawn-out legalese.
The downside is that you’ll be paying them 6% of the price of your home. On top of that, the seller is on the hook for the Buyer’s Agent Commission, as well as any odds and ends. The standard BAC is usually 2-3% of the price of the home. All of these add up and make this option one of the priciest of them all.
Selling Your Home With Homie
Finally, we’ve made it to my favorite option! Selling with Homie is the new and improved way to sell your home. Homie charges a flat fee rather than a percentage and there are never any hidden fees.You pay $199 to start the listing process. Homie takes care of everything a regular real estate agent would (and then some!). They will install a yard sign, take professional photos of your home, help you price your home, and list your home on Homie as well as the MLS.
Their listing agents are salaried and don’t rely on crazy commissions which means you don’t pay an insane 6%! Yay!
If a fellow Homie user buys your home, you don’t have to pay the traditional Buyer’s Agent Commission which is generally between 2-3% of the home’s price. You simply pay $1,299 at closing.
If your buyer is not a Homie user, you’ll still have to pay that BAC – but that is the case with a realtor or FSBO as well.
In 2018 Homie sold their homes in 14 days versus the market average of 16 days. They know what they’re doing and they’re good at it!
Homie provides you with everything you need, and since they aren’t commission-based, you won’t feel the pressure of them breathing down your neck. They also have a great mobile app that is easy to use so you can stay in touch with your team.
They’ve streamlined the buying and selling processes and are able to provide excellent service at unheard of prices. If you’re wanting to sell your home but aren’t sure which method is right for you, I can’t recommend Homie enough.
Tell me…
Which of these methods have you used? Which would you consider using?
Be sure to check out Homie for more information and to snag all of their seller’s resources.
