| |
| |
|
Real Estate Information |
|
|
|
Selling a House is Easy
The thought of selling a house strikes fear into most people. The contracts, the legalese, the exorbitant costs - they all conspire to make the experience unpleasant at best, and a nightmare at worst. It doesn't have to be that way, though. Let's take a look at three different scenarios for selling the same house. We'll assume an average house in an average town in America, whose market value has been established at $150,000. Scenario 1: A Traditional Home Sell If the value of the home is $150,000, a realtor will often suggest a list price of $149,900 - and rightfully so. Although you lose $100 before the house ever goes on the market, studies show that buyers actually see a difference in the two prices much greater than $100, so the ultimate benefit outweighs the initial loss. Statistics show that the average home sells for 90 to 95% of the asking price, so let's suppose you accept an offer of 93% - or $139,400. That's not bad, but it's not what you actually walk away from closing with. There are several other costs that figure in. The realtor, on average, will take a 6% commission. That reduces your price by $8,360 to $131,040. The average seller contribution to the buyer's closing costs is 3%, so your final amount is reduced by another $4,182 to $126,858. Add in $1,000 or so in realtor-recommended upgrades to make the house show better, and your ultimate take is down to $125,858. The other factor is how long it takes to sell the home. After finding and interviewing realtors, going through the listing appointment and getting the home into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), your first offer usually will not come in until more than 30 days from the point at which you decided to sell. And from the point that the offer is accepted, it then often takes 60 days or more for the sale to close. So an average home in an average American town will take more than 90 days to sell, and the homeowner will walk away from closing with just 84% of the home's actual value. Scenario 2: Using a Discount Realtor A home selling method increasing in prominence across the U.S. over the past few years has been the use of a discount realtor. These services take a much smaller commission, allowing you to pocket anywhere from 2 to 5% more of your initial asking price - as much as $7,500 for the average house in our example. The downside of discount realtors is that they often provide services much more limited than a full-service realtor, and while your home does get listed in the MLS, it's frequently not shown by other realtors specifically because it was listed through a discount realtor. In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2005, that U.S. antitrust regulators are preparing to file suit against the National Association of Realtors for practices they believe are intended to stifle Internet-based rivals and discounters. So until those practices cease, selling a house through a discount realtor, while cost-effective, may lead to a time-to-sell much longer than the 90 days under a traditional realtor - still a good route if you don't need to sell right away. Scenario 3: Selling to a Professional Home Buyer Another home selling method that is growing in popularity is selling the home to a professional home buyer or real estate investor. These individuals will buy a home for 80 to 90% of its market value and can usually close in 10 days or less. It's free to get an offer from a home buyer, and there's no obligation. Under this scenario, you could easily walk away from closing with more than you would under a traditional scenario and do it in less than two weeks. Additionally, you set the timetable for closing. If you need to sell the house in two months instead of two weeks, the home buyer works on your schedule, instead of the other way around. The downside of going through a home buyer is the risk of working with someone unscrupulous who doesn't mind taking advantage of you. There are any number of ways to get ripped off and be left with no home and no cash - or, worse yet, no home, no cash, and a mountain of debt. To prevent that, be sure to read "We Buy Houses" Scams - How to Spot Them and How to Avoid Them. So going through a home buyer, the average home in our example could sell for just as much as through traditional methods, but sell in just 10 days instead of 90 days or more. Conclusion These scenarios all assume an average house in an average American town, so your actual experience could vary significantly. Homeowners in red-hot real estate markets like areas of California and Florida, for example, frequently receive offers matching, or even exceeding, their asking price. So it's imperative to review all your options before you sell. Non-traditional methods are gaining in prominence because they're a very viable, and often better, alternative to going through a traditional realtor. They deserve a good look the next time you decide to sell a house. Duane LeGate is president of House Buyer Network, one of America's largest networks of home buyers. Since 2002, they have helped more than 45,000 families and individuals who needed to sell a property fast-processing more than $7.5 billion in property during that time.
MORE RESOURCES:
Washington Real Estate Investment Trust Tops $31.72: Enters New Trading Range ... - Comtex Smartrend
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Property Investing Secrets 7 Property Investing Secrets:How Buying Real Estate Is Like Planning a Trip to the Greek IslandsOne you start property investing, one important tip is to press the flesh with the real estate agents in the areas where you plan to buy. Because property investing is a bit like buying a holiday package, you must separate yourself from the rest of the investors by giving the real estate agents the information they are looking for in your first face to face meeting. Property Investment: Spoiled for Choice in Europes Emerging Markets You could be forgiven for thinking that property is the new dot.com. Salt Lake City Real Estate From the mountains to the valley, there are many types of Salt Lake City real estate to choose from.Cabins:Cabins nestled into the mountains on the east side of the Salt Lake Valley are a great place to escape for those who have a home in the valley (or nearby). Buying Foreclosures - Knowing Why Helps You Buy One big potential deal-killer in buying foreclosures is the homeowner. If the homeowner does not trust you, buying their home (even at a foreclosure auction) can become a greater challenge. Real Estate Investing in Rentals - the $10 Million Real Estate Investing Mistake Renting to tenants is no longer "where the money is" for real estate investing. I became a multi-millionaire landlord in the 1980s by buying $10 million in rental houses. 8 Essential Questions to Ask Your Home Inspector Congratulations! You've decided to purchase a home. We all know that when purchasing a home, every detail is an important one. Top 7 Reasons Why FSBOs Fail To Sell Their Home On Their Own! In the United States, less than 10% of all For Sale by Owners (FSBOs), are successful in selling their home by themselves. That*s because most people just give up because they don*t realize from the beginning the difficulty and complexity of the job ahead. Curb Appeal First, lets start with what it is. Curb appeal is quite simply the rate of attractiveness your home projects to viewers from the street. How to Qualify For 90% Plus Commercial Financing!!! There are three important questions that you must understand and answer correctly in order to achieve 90% plus commercial financing! Where to go to locate it? What type of project will qualify? And last, how to negotiate for it?To start, you must understand the lender's mindset?.. Four Reasons To Offer Seller Financing An example of seller financing: Years ago I bought a rental property, and nine months later sold it for 15% more, without fixing or improving a thing. The easy terms are what sold it. Questions To Ask The Landlord Before Renting His Apartment Apartment hunting is not the easiest thing around. You may find places not suited to your tastes or those which do are not to your budget. Apres-Ski European tax haven Andorra enjoys the same fiscal benefits as better known Monaco, adding to property demand from those looking for residency in a tax shelter as well as traditional ski chalet buyers who flock to the country between December and April each year.With the end of the ski season last month many ski resorts in Europe have closed up shop until early December with overseas property owners having little prospect of rental income in the summer months. Make Money As A Slumlord Be a slumlord? Okay, I got your attention, now the truth. I really don't recommend that anyone endanger their renters with unsafe housing. Landscaping Adds Great Value to Real Estate And Helps You Sell Over the years several of our clients have had professional landscaping done and it's amazing to me how little landscaping, can be done for $5-10,000, by a professional Landscaper, and how little value it can add to your home.Small shrubs, trees, and plantings add almost nothing, or actually nothing at all, to your home value on the open market -- until they are several years older! There is another way!Some savvy investors look for good homes that are poorly landscaped and after spending a couple of thousand dollars or less put the property right back on the market for much more money and sell it. How to increase the Saleable Value of your Home When selling your home, you'll want to fetch the best price possible for your home yet it so happens in many cases, that buyers give offers that just don't meet your expectations. Of course, you will have to negotiate but you still may not end up getting how much you want. Take A Shotgun Approach An effective real estate advertising strategy entails a 'shotgun' approach. A shotgun approach includes online internet ads, regular print ads in major real estate publications (AJC) of the property's location, as well as popular local area publications (Creative Loafing) and full use of real estate signs. What Can I Realistically Earn In A Lease Purchase Business? If you're looking at Lease Purchasing as a business, you'll obviously want to earn much more than the $20,000 per year in our "How To Give Yourself A $20,000/Year Raise Without Asking Your Boss" article. Let's review the numbers from that article: For every 100 calls Sue makes on For Sale By Owner property, she either speaks with or leaves messages for about 60%. Real Estate Website Marketing - 5 Steps to Crushing Your Competition and Doubling Your Business Getting your real estate website more traffic is easy if you know how Internet marketing works, not to mention search engine optimization. Your goal is to get as much traffic as possible to your website, but not just any traffic, targeted traffic. California Home Seller Disclosure Duties Property Condition - Seller's What to Expect During the Inspection Process The Transfer Disclosure Statement (T.D. 3 of the 5 Ways Real Estate Can Take Advantage of Blogs and RSS Earlier this month, Realtor Magazine announced that they would be featuring an article about Tampa Bay Realtor John Mudd and the success he has been having in attracting prospects and media attention with his blog on real estate. Since then, many others in the Real Estate market have been curious about how to implement similar strategies to capture leads in their areas.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
