San Diego is one of the most popular places to live in the country, and while many people choose to sell their homes through a real estate agent, it can be much more profitable to sell your home yourself, especially here. San Diego’s scenic beaches and metropolitan culture are naturally attractive, and if you’re willing to put in the work, you can come out much farther ahead financially than you would have if you were stuck paying brokerage fees. Here are 5 tips to help you make your private listing a success:
1) Get as Much Exposure as Possible. The biggest disadvantage to selling your own house is that you lose the exposure a realtor can provide for you. In order to overcome this, you need to make sure that as many people as possible know that your home is for sale, which means listing your home in several city papers as well as advertising your showings on local and national websites. Remember that even though San Diego is a big city, you can never have too much publicity. Every new advertising outlet means exposure to hundreds of potential buyers.
2) Become a Legal Eagle. When you sell a home yourself, you are entirely responsible for all of the legal documentation involved in the transaction. Make sure you have all of the paperwork ready to sign, and keep the property listing, tax assessment and financial records on hand to show potential buyers. If you don’t disclose necessary information and fail to complete all the papers required in order to make the transaction legal, you could be sued by your buyer.
3) Don’t Get Emotionally Attached. Your home has a lot of sentimental value, but just because your house feels like it’s worth $1 million doesn’t mean that it is. That copper ceiling you love might be the ugliest part of the house in the eyes of the buyer, and since the customer is always right, it’s important to remain objective in the face of criticisms and complaints. Potential buyers are saying the same things they would say to a real estate agent, after all.
4) Know What Your Home is Worth. People who sell their own homes are often subject to lowball offers and haggling from buyers who want to take advantage of the fact that the seller is not using an agent. Do your research before setting an asking price. How close are you to the beach? To downtown? An easy way to determine your home’s market value is to check out similar listings nearby and then make a list of all the things that seem to increase or decrease your home’s worth when compared to these other properties. Once you determine an asking price, keep negotiations close to that number. If someone makes an offer you feel is unfairly low, then don’t sell to them.
5) Keep It Ready To Sell. When trying to generate interest for your home, it’s easy to forget that you are also the one responsible for making it clean, appealing and marketable. You won’t have a realtor to tell you what needs fixing before you list your home, so try to get your friends and family to examine the house as if they were buyers. They’ll point out the flaws that you would have otherwise missed.
If selling your San Diego real estate on your own sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. A realtor provides many services that help expedite the sale of a home, but they also charge a hefty commission. If you’re willing to put the time and effort into selling your house yourself, you can make over $100,000 more than you otherwise would. That’s a lot of money to think about!
