How to Sell Your Home Fast
By Bill Effros
(Courtesy of Bottom Line)
If you need or want to sell your home on your own quickly,
you can get a great price in just five days. Steps to take…
- Lower your asking price. To attract a large
number — between 20 and 40 — of
serious buyers and show that you are flexible, price your home 10% below the
price of similar homes in your area. The goal is to price your home as attractively
as possible when your ad first appears in the local paper. Free enterprise
having potential buyers bid against one another will take care of the rest.
- Plan to hold an open house-and offer critical information. Get
your home in tiptop shape and gather all the information that will answer
buyers' questions over the phone or in person. This information includes
a detailed description of your home, an independent inspection report, a
radon report and a copy of your property survey. Expect to hear from between
50 and 100 people.
- Run your newspaper ad for the three days before and the two days during the open house. This
will attract the maximum number of buyers. The content of the ad is critical.
It should mention…the location of the home.
- a brief description of the home.
- the asking price.
- you're selling it yourself.
- you'll accept the best reasonable offer.
- the times of the open house.
- you plan on selling the home by the next week.
- your phone number.
When interested buyers call, say your home will be sold to the highest bidder.
- Hold the open house on Saturday and Sunday. On
Saturday morning, put up signs in your neighborhood to help guide those who
saw your ad for the open house. These signs may also attract some walk-in traffic.
Be absolutely honest about all of your home's flaws. This is not only ethical,
but smart. Getting interested buyers to make high bids is only part of the
reason. You also don't want them to withdraw their bids after they learn the
truth about your property.
- Conduct round-robin bidding. You will
probably receive many offers.
The only way to settle on one offer is to accept the highest bid.
Use open bidding. Sealed bidding, which asks people to put their bids in envelopes
to keep them secret from others, isn't fair to anyone.
Strategy: Ask interested buyers to submit bids before leaving your home. Then
call the bidders on the phone-first the highest bidder, then the next highest,
etc. Be honest and tell everyone exactly how their bid fits in with the others.
Repeat this process for each round. One of the remarkable things about this
system is how its structure maximizes competition. Bids may start at your asking
price, but ultimately they will rise higher and higher.
Don't rush the bidders. Expect to spend about five minutes on the phone with
each one per round.
When a top bidder emerges, call the other bidders to tell them exactly where
they stand.
Tell the top bidder that the house is his/hers. Tell the next two highest
bidders that they'll be able to buy your home at their bid price if the higher
bidders back out or do not qualify for financing.
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Courtesy of Bottom Line
Read all of Effros' home sale tips in "How to Sell
Your Home in 5 Days" with a risk-free guarantee.
You can order the best-selling "How to Sell Your Home in 5 Days" featuring
the complete list of Effros tips on how to sell your home fast.
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