Sell Your Own House
Selling your own house where you lived in years can be emotional. Thus, the first thing that should be done before selling the house is to let this emotion go away and prepare for the next thing that will happen to your life after signing contracts and all that business matters regarding house selling is done. It may also help if you think that the house was never yours and belong to someone else's.
In order to make the dissociation easy, start removing family pictures, diplomas and other family stuffs. Possible buyers of the house should think that the house is really for sale and they would not want to see pictures of other people in their future home. Also try removing antiques that were passed on by your ancestors and other favorite furniture. You would not want to blow the deal if the buyers want these things and you would not want them to be sold, right?
Prepare the house for an open house. Clean everything inside and out - the furniture, windows, doors, cabinets, etc. Make every sink and bowl shine. Polish the floor. Clean the air and avoid undesirable smell because it will be a major turn off for anyone. Accompanied by cleaning is having a minor repair. Repair any small broken parts and furniture in the house. These include broken tiles, cracked sink, holes in the walls, and leaking faucets.
After working everything inside the house, go out and check the outside. Cut tree branches that block the view of the house and make sure that the house number is seen. Throw away unnecessary tools, and get a home insurance quote for your next place! ;-) Remove big stones that are not pretty good in the area. Put plants in place.
Selling your own home usually does not end up successful because you may tend to overprice. Avoid pricing your home too costly. Try to check out the prices of other houses for sale, which is similar to yours so you will have an idea, how much you will sell the house. If you have set the cost of your house, round it off under a whole number such as $80,000 instead of $79,899.
Advertise your home. Begin with putting a professional-looking advertisement in front of it. Also put these ads to streets corners with directional signs so people will know the exact location. Posting ads in the internet and in newspapers is also an advantage. The house will too be advertised by word of mouth. Tell your neighbors and friends that you are selling the house.
Get sales agent who will advice on selling, marketing and dealing with the possible buyer. The buyer who has the highest bid is not always the best. A buyer who sends a professional home search consultant is nice because he can push the deal to his client.
Once the house is sold and every document is signed, closing is the last stage. It usually happens after 30 to 40 days after contract signing. After this period, the seller of the house is no longer responsible for anything that will happen to the house. All unpaid loans, contract of deeds, and insurance will be settled.