If the outside of your house looks unkempt, buyers may pass on it all together.

If you want potential buyers to be impressed by your home when they come to see it, then you have to take the time to prepare it for sale. You should do the following :

1. Clean, clean, clean. Have it deep cleaned and regularly cleaned throughout the sale.
2. Declutter and depersonalize. Make the house seem more like a hotel.
3. Deodorize the house, make sure it always smells nice when you have showings.
4. Landscape the front and backyard. Curb appeal is very important. If they don’t like what they see on the outside, they many not want to come inside.
5. Patch, Paint and Fix. Neutralize the paint color, patch any holes and fix any little things that may give buyers a bad impression.
6. Improve the kitchen and bathrooms. These areas are two of the most important spaces in a house. Spruce them up as much as possible.
7. Let there be light! A house that does not get a lot of light doesn’t give a good impression. If that is your house, then find a way to make it brighter.

You may also want to consider doing a pre-sale inspection to remediate and head off any potential issues that could be deal killers.

Nailing the right price range is one of the single, if not, the most important thing when selling a house. Yet, it is one of the most common and most detrimental mistakes a seller makes. If a house is priced incorrectly, a lot can go wrong with the sale of the home.

If it is priced too high it will linger on the market and people will wonder what is wrong with it.

If it is priced too low you will leave money on the table.

I can’t underscore enough how important it is to price it right.

A house has an objective value. A house is not automatically worth what the neighbor’s house sold for, nor is it worth what the Zestimate says or what you feel it is worth.

Pricing it involves looking at comparable properties, evaluating them, adjusting them according to features and narrowing down a range into which your property falls. You’ll know you have nailed it if you get lots of showing requests. If you don’t, don’t wait to long to adjust the price. The longer a house stays on the market, the worse it is for the sale.

If don’t want to go at it alone, hire an appraiser to do an appraisal. You can then use it to justify your price to any potential buyers. An appraisal starts in the $400-$500 range and goes up from there. A Realtor® can create a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for free. Fill out the form below if you would like me to create one for you. It’s FREE !

Nail the price, period.

CMA Request
Typical turnaround time is 24 hours.

1. Professional Photos and Videos. Have professional photos and videos taken. The photos and videos will be the first impression potential buyers get of your home, so they need to be professional. Yes, phones today take great pictures, but they will never be better than professional pictures and videos.
2. Provide information and FAQs neatly and professionally. Create an information and feature sheet that details what people always ask about the house. Click here to see an example of the one I customize for my clients.
3. Create a website for the property.  If you want to get really fancy you can even buy the URL that is your address, i.e. www.myaddress.com .
4. Let friends, family and neighbors know you are selling. Share the info sheet, photos and videos with them or if you create a website, share the URL with them.
5. Order a professional sign to place out front. Add your custom URL and a QR code to it so people can easily see pictures of the house if they are driving by it.
6. Share it on social media.
7. Make sure real estate agents know you will pay them a commission for bringing the buyer. Agents are your best source for qualified buyers. Even though you may not pay an agent to sell your house, you should become comfortable with the idea of paying a buyer’s agent a commission. If you offer no commission at all, you are pretty much dead in the water.
8. List it on the MLS using a Limited Service Agreement/Flat Fee. This can be done with most agents. My flat fee service using the standard Florida Realtors contract, however, if you use another Flat Fee make sure you read the fine print.I offer a no risk, no nonsense Limited Service Agreement which includes a one page property website, like the one found here. For more information about my Limited Service Agreement, fill out the form below and I will send you details about how it works.
9. Get help from a Realtor and still sell it yourself. Even though you can do this on your own, if you have a team behind you, you are stronger and united in one same goal, selling your house. My Stronger Together system is a middle of the road cooperative agreement which allows you to benefit from the strength of my marketing skills, knowledge and experience while at the same time allowing you in the freedom to still sell FSBO. Why not give yourself the best chance to successfully sell your property FSBO ? Want to know more, just fill out the form below.

When selling a house FSBO traditional wisdom about letting strangers in to your home goes out the window, but it should not. On the contrary, to protect your family and property, you must have a safety plan in place and follow it to the letter.

Safety has become of utmost important amongst the Realtor community and it should for you too.

1. Secure and store away all valuables and weapons, if you have any.
2. Buyers represented by a real estate agent. If a buyer comes to you via a real estate agent, take down their contact information, brokerage and license number. Check the brokerage website or call them to verify the agent is part of their brokerage. Alternatively you can check the license at MyFloridaLicense.com
3. Unrepresented buyers. If a buyer is unrepresented ask them to send you their ID and proof of funds or mortgage pre-approval. Keep their ID on file and make sure a friend or family member knows about and has access to this information. The proof of funds or mortgage pre-approval shows you they actually have the means to buy.
   If they are not willing to provide either decline the showing.
4.  Do not fall victim to temptation. Do not be tempted by offers that sound to good to be true.  This is how dishonest people find a way to disarm you so you allow them into your house. An example of this would be “ I am an investor and I will pay you $10K over asking , but I have to see the house tonight“.  In a statement like the one above, they are creating a sense of urgency to manipulate you. Don’t fall for it. Trust your gut and follow your safety plan. If they are the real deal they will see the house on your terms.
5. Refuse to show. If you have scheduled a showing with two people and three show up or they don’t look like the people on their license. Then refuse to show. At all times you must remember your safety and your family’s safety is of primary importance. Remember follow your gut and your safety plan to the letter.
6. Create a showing plan. Ideally nobody, except for the person providing access, should be there during showings. If other people have to be there, make a plan for them to leave temporarily while the house is being shown. You can provide access using a lockbox, but I would recommend doing that only with Realtors and not with any unrepresensed buyers. Who is to say they won’t park a moving van in the driveway and start loading it up. Imagine trying to explain that to police !
7. Have an exit Strategy. During showings, have an exit strategy in case something goes sideways.

When you place your house for sale FSBO, you will start getting a lot, I mean a lot of calls from real estate agents – have a strategy for how to handle them.  It ma get unnerving after the umpteenth call of th day. So prepare to steel yourself against this kind of interaction.

The other thing you have to steel yourself against is criticism. When you have an agent they are your buffer, but when you sell by owner you are on the front lines, no buffer. So be prepared to hear criticism about your house, low ball offers, pushy investors, pushy agents and the like. Steel yourself by preparing how to respond to these scenarios.

Lastly, remember that the sale of a house is an objective transaction. Remember this always, even though for you it may be an emotional one.