Selling Your Own Home In A Tough Real Estate Market - Five Tips
Selling Your Own Home In A Tough Real Estate Market - Five Tips
If you are in a tough real estate market and are looking to sell your home quickly, you might want to consider doing a For Sale By Owner. My wife and I recently bought a new house and after trying unsuccessfully to sell our existing house through a real estate agent for several months decided to try For Sale by Owner. We found a buyer within four days and closed on the house three weeks later. However, through our experience we discovered a few things. Here are a few tips if you are considering a FSBO in a less than ideal real estate market. 1. Consider paying to have your home placed in the MLS. There are several companies out there that will do this for a few hundred dollars. With sales down, real estate agents are desperate to earn a commission. By putting the house in the MLS you are agreeing that if an agent brings a buyer to you that you will pay the agent their part of the commission (you still save the listing agents commission). If you can sell the house on your own with no agent then you won’t have to pay an agent. However, in a tough market you want as many possible eyes on your property as possible. 2. Get the word out to as many places as possible about your house. One of the best places to do this is on the internet. There are dozens of free websites that will allow you to post your house for free. Consider starting with craigslist since it has so much traffic and then spread out to the other sites on the net. It will probably take you an entire evening to get the house posted on all the sites and you will want to keep a spreadsheet with your usernames and passwords so that you can go back later and remove the listing once the house sells. 3. Design a professional looking flyer and put out for sale by owner signs and a flyer box. If you aren’t the artistic type and don’t know that much about designing things like flyers consider a site like vflyer which will give you templates for designing a flyer. Take some good pictures of the house with your digital camera and put them on the flyer. If you use Vflyer or a program like it you can probably use the same template to post the house to craigslist and ebay (if you decide to pay for a listing). 4. Be creative. When we put our house on the market we ordered an eight foot full color printed banner to put on our fence. Our house backed to a major street and we were able to get some major exposure from the banner. I have heard of people offering free vacations, big screen tvs, cash bonus’ to the listing agent and even a free car. I have also heard of people giving away a cool prize at their open house. These things can help get your house noticed which is the first step to getting it sold. 5. Make sure that your price is competitive. Consider using the money that you are saving on real estate commissions to cut the price of your house so that it is more competitive. In tough markets it is going to be very important that your house isn’t priced too high or people will find another option. In our area there were a ton of houses on the market and most of the houses that were selling were 5% or more undervalued. If that is what it takes you might need to swallow hard and cut the price of your house. Of course all of these things are just suggestions. Still, when things get tough and you need to sell your house these could be an option for you. They worked for us.Jeff McRitchie is the director of marketing for MyBinding.com and lives in Hillsboro, Oregon. He writes extensively on topics related to Binding Machines, Binding Supplies, Report Covers, Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Pouches, Roll Film, Shredders, and Paper Handling Equipment.
Source: www.ArticlePros.com
Get Your Real Estate License and Help Buyers Benefit From 8K Tax Credit
In an effort to further stimulate the housing market and address economic challenges in our country, the United States Congress has passed legislation that provides a tax credit of up to $8,000 for people purchasing their first home Now here’s where you come in - get your online real estate license with Allied Real Estate School and spread the good news for first-time home buyers! . .To qualify for the 2009 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit, which is sure to help many people make the dream of home ownership a reality, your client must purchase the home sometime between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009 In addition, the buyer or his/her spouse may not have owned a residence for at least three years prior to buying the home . .While the maximum amount of tax credit given to those who qualify is $8,000, there are two main factors involved in determining the total for each buyer: the price of the home and the annual income of the purchaser While the credit will be equivalent to 10% of the purchase price of the home, up to $8,000, single buyers who make $75,000 or less, as well as married couples who earn up to $150,000, are eligible to receive the most credit . .If a buyer’s income surpasses these limits, but does not exceed the maximum, they may still qualify The credit amount decreases for single buyers who bring in between $75,000 and $95,000, and for buyers filing jointly who gross between $150,000 and $170,000 per year (Those with incomes that exceed $95,000 for singles and $170,000 for couples are not eligible for the tax credit ) . .Buyers who occupy the home for a period of at least three years are not required to repay the tax credit and, since it is fully reimbursable, can get their credit returned to them in the form of a payment . .With the recent announcement of the eagerly anticipated guidance from the U S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), there is even more positive news for first-time buyers FHA-approved lenders have been given the okay to begin the development of bridge-loan products which will make it feasible to use the benefits of the federal tax credit upfront Home buyers can use these loans to help cover closing costs, buy down their interest rate, or put down more than the minimum 3 5 percent . .Many potential first time home buyers are unaware these programs exist Obtain your real estate salesperson license, educate first time buyers and transform them from renters to proud home owners - a dream they may have never thought possible Allied Real Estate School can help with100% online real estate courses that fit your unique schedule Start today, because you deserve more than a job - but a rewarding career that makes a difference in the lives of people you help .
Source: www.rsstnx.com
