For Sale By Owner Tips
Sell Your House Without a Real Estate Agent

Preparing Your Home for the Market

Your prospective buyers will be scrutinizing your home; has it been taken care of or neglected?  Will there be expensive repairs or are they hiding something?  Taking the time to clean up and make repairs will repay you with confident buyers anxious to make an offer on a home that has been properly taken care of.

Look around for loose doors (buyers will open them), squeaky hinges and leaky taps.  Clean out closets and garages and wash walls.  You might decide that a fresh coat of paint would do well in improving the appearance – it often does.  If you have dark or brightly colored walls, paint them a neutral tone.  It will lighten the look and have a broader appeal to prospective buyers.

This is also not the time to start a large renovation.  Many times buyers are looking to put their own stamp on a home.  A quick renovation may actually devalue your home in your prospects eyes.  Freshening up your home does not require expensive materials either, but shoddy workmanship will cost you so keep the jobs simple.

You might also consider removing items that might be offensive or inappropriate (check the posters in your teenager’s room).  Try to put away excessive amounts of books and knickknacks for a cleaner look.

Removing family photos is a good idea.  Remember, this is only temporary, but you want as many prospects as possible to envision themselves living in the home.  That means they need to SEE the home and not become too distracted by unusual or cluttered décor.

Unless you are very knowledgeable on the subject hire a home inspector to check out your home for any defects.  Not only will this alert you to potential problems, but will be good to show prospects who are concerned about structural defects.  They will still have their own inspector check the home, but at least you will be prepared for what they will find.

If there are problems such as roofing, electrical, foundation or other expensive projects, determine the cost of the repair compared to the value of your home without it being done.  Will the problem put buyers off?  Or can you adjust your asking price to reflect the work that needs to be done?

Have some estimates made for the cost of repair.  Even if you decide not to do the repairs you will be able to offer these as proof for the purchasers.  If the purchaser tries to bargain by claiming the job is an expensive and troublesome one you can show the quotes you’ve already obtained.

Cleaning up

If you are selling and showing your home yourself you may receive a call (or knock on the door) at any time from interested buyers requesting to take a look.

You do not need to create a show home – your buyers know it is being lived in – but they do not need to see the laundry in a pile or wade through cluttered rooms.  Try to maintain the home by keeping dishes washed and beds made as well as a clean bathroom and tidy living area.

If they show up at a really bad time suggest they make an appointment. You can state this on the sign if necessary.

You may realize that when you move you will need to get rid of a lot of accumulated stuff.  Now is the time.  Old clothing, broken items you will not likely repair, excess furniture – have a garage sale or take them to secondhand shop.  Not only will this improve the look of your home but it will make moving easier.

Consider lightening the load of your closets so they will look more spacious.  Store excess or out of season clothing in boxes in another area of the home.  Add a few empty hangers for the visual effect of having lots of room and try to add a light (even a battery operated one) to the inside of the closet.

If you have a yard you will have to clear it of debris, keep it mowed and do upkeep to the garden.  Check the outside of your house for needed repairs such as missing shingles and loose boards or stones in traffic areas such as the patio, balcony or stairs.  Consider some minor additions of shrubs or plants to improve the ‘curb appeal’.

Replace or repair torn screens and dim or burnt out bulbs.  Make sure that your house number is visible even on a dark evening or buyers won’t be able to take note of the address or find your house for an appointment in the evening.

Do all you can to keep your home and yard looking well cared for.  You and your family are no doubt very busy, but the extra attention is very important.  First impressions count.

Getting the Details in Order

Before your house goes on the market there are some preliminary steps to take so your information is available and ready when you are preparing your advertising, answering questions from buyers and filling out the details for the sale.

Measure

Even if you have the measurements that were provided when you bought the home you should take them again.  Mistakes happen and you don’t want to be caught passing on false information.

Don’t include non-living space: patios, garages, basements etc. These will be listed separately on your features list.

Measure from the outside surface of your walls. If you share a common wall (townhomes, rowhousing) measure from the center point of the shared wall.  Measure the size of each room as well.

Materials

Is your home wood or concrete construction?  Are the water pipes made of copper, iron or plastic?  What is the exterior material used; stucco, brick, wood, plastic siding?  What kind of insulation do you have?  Is your home set up with a sewage system or septic tank? What kind of heating do you use; forced air, hot water, baseboards? Gas, electric or oil?  What is the roof material; shingle, tile, tar and gravel?

If you can’t answer these questions, your inspector should be able to.

Describe the Style

Bungalow/Ranch: Single level home (possibly with a basement).  Bungalows have the narrow end facing the street whereas Ranches face the street with the wide side of the home.

Split Level: This means you enter the main door and have a staircase to go up to a level or down to a level. Depending on if there are two, three or four levels, the description should reflect the plan (ie: Three Level Split).

Duplex/Semi-attached: Two homes that share a common wall either side-by-side or one over the other.  Three-plex and Four-plex can also be used depending on the number of suites in the home.

Townhouse/Rowhouse: These homes (more than two) share common walls with neighbors.  Usually side-by-side. End units with only one common wall can also be called semi-attached.

Condominium: Apartment-style homes.  Multiple homes in a multi-level building.  Sharing several common walls and public areas.

Get the paperwork:

Collect the utility bills for heat and water costs for the past year.  Buyers will want to see proof of these costs.

You or your lawyer will want to will need to do a title search.  The title search or your ownership document will have the legal description of the home as well as any restrictions (such as how high your fence can be, if recreational vehicles are not allowed in driveways etc.)  If these restrictions aren’t disclosed to the buyer and written into the sales contract you will be creating a loophole for them to back out of the contract when they find out.

You will need some feature sheets which list the size and features of your home to give out to prospects.  You also need the offer forms.   You can view these forms online, but you will be having your lawyer walk you through them and he or she can provide the forms or tell you where to obtain them.

If you own a condo or townhouse you will also have to provide information on the strata that manages the buildings.  The strata takes care of all the common property (pools, gardens) and services (garbage pick up, maintenance) and collects the fees which go into a contingency fund for future needs (new roofing etc.)

You will need to provide paperwork that shows the monthly maintenance payments, the bylaws, rules and regulations, annual budget information, contingency reserve funds, limited common property and a certified statement that all fees are up-to-date.

You may, depending on local regulations, have to provide buyers with this information 24 hours before an offer can be accepted.  This is to ensure that buyers have ample time to review the information before placing their offer.

 

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