How to Sell a Home Without Paying Commission
You will need to go the for sale by owner (FSBO) route to sell your home without paying a commission. Common knowledge suggests that listing a house for sale by owner will help you avoid commissions, but your exposure and chances of selling will be greatly reduced. Fortunately, common knowledge is not always correct.
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Instructions
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Educate yourself on the ins and outs of selling a home in your state. A commissioned Realtor is valuable because of the knowledge they have amassed over the years. To sell your home on your own you need to build your knowledge base. Look for a good real-estate attorney who will allow you to rely on him for knowledge you don't possess.
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Advertise the house on craigslist.org or in a newspaper. Find a For Sale By Owner company that has MLS listing as part of the service (see Resources below). This will get your home seen by Realtors and home searchers in your area. This will eliminate your need for a seller's agent, and therefore you can also avoid seller's commission. However, you may still need to pay the commission of a buyer's agent if the person buying your house insists on using an agent. Still, this will cut your commission from 6 percent to 2 or 3 percent.
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Decide on the listing price of your home. Have the home appraised by a professional. Determine how little you can afford to sell it for based on what you owe and what other houses are selling for. Then price your home at a very competitive price as For Sale By Owner Homes need extra incentive to sell quickly.
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Show off the house. Begin by staging your home for the sale to get it in the best shape as possible. You must keep it as clean as possible at all times while waiting for the house to sell as you never know when someone will want to drop by. Consider holding a few open houses to get the word out that your home is for sale. Even if your open house only attracts neighbors, you should not worry, as people often let friends and relatives know when a good house is for sale near them.
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Be flexible when it comes time to negotiate. Be aware of your bottom-line price and don't try to hold out for more money. Selling a house for less sooner is no worse a deal than selling it for more later.
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Tips & Warnings
Have patience. Selling a home yourself, without an agent, can take longer than if you listed with a professional who charges commission.
