Selling a Home in 2010

What is the Value of My House Today?

2010-01-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

This is the million-dollar question for homeowners who are planning to sell. What is the value of my house in the current economy? How do I determine my home value before selling? In this article, I'll give you some tips for answering this all-important question.

First of all, you need to realize that house values are not an exact science. If you asked ten different appraisers to evaluate your property, you'd probably end up with ten different numbers. And there might be $20,000 difference between the highest and lowest numbers. Why is this true? Because the exact value of a house is hard to pin down. In fact, there really is no such thing as an "exact value." A home is worth what people are willing to pay for it. Period.

The best you can do is review the prices of recently sold homes in your area, and compare them to your own home. Focus on the actual selling price, as opposed to the asking price. You want to know what similar homes are selling for in your neighborhood. The more similar the property is to yours, and the more recent the data, the better. You can also get house value estimates online, to round out your research.

So what is the value of my house in the current market? It's worth what people are willing to pay for it. And you can find out what people are paying by looking at recent sales data. This is what professional home appraisers do. They use market data to establish a base price, and then they tour your property to see how your home stacks up. If you have certain features that the other comps don't have (like a spacious corner lot or an upgraded kitchen), you'll end up with more value in your house. Just keep in mind that appraisers consider upgrades in different ways. They all have their own preferred "formula" for appraising homes.

Real estate agents also have their own way of measuring market value. If you asked five different agents "What is the value of my house today?" you would once more end up with five different numbers. They would use their own background, experience and perceptions to answer the questions. So they would come up with different figures. Keep this in mind if you choose to work through a listing agent. My advice is to get a professional home appraisal, even if you're going to work with a Realtor.

Related articles:
How much is my home worth today?
How to prepare for an appraisal

This article answers the question: What is the value of my house in the current market? If you want to learn more about this topic, you might want to visit the pricing page of our website. Good luck with your selling process.

How Do I Rent My Home Fast in This Economy?

2010-01-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

Question: "I need to turn my current house into a rental property. How do I rent my home fast in a slow economy like this?"

It's a common scenario for homeowners. They have to move out of their home for some reason, like a job transfer. But they cannot sell their house due to the slow market / economy. Many people in this situation are choosing to rent out their homes, to turn them into income properties. But it's not easy to go from homeowner to landlord overnight. It takes research and planning.

Rent it Fast, Using the Vacation Strategy

Now for the good news. If your house is located near some kind of attraction -- a beach, a national park, a popular city -- you could market it as a vacation rental property. There are certain tools available to help you rent your home fast, by putting it in front of thousands of travelers and vacationers.

Of course, this strategy doesn't work for every homeowner. I live in Round Rock, Texas, which isn't really considered a vacation destination. So the vacation rental strategy wouldn't work well for me. So with this article, I'm talking to the people who live in or near a popular travel destination. If this describes you, and you want to rent your home fast, then you should definitely check out the links below.

HomeAway is the vacation rental network with over 115,000 listings

They key to renting a home fast is to put it in front of the right audience. By using one of the popular vacation rental websites, you can tap into an active marketplace that already exists. This is certainly a lot smarter (and easier) than trying to recreate the wheel. If you live in a city that's popular among travelers, and you price the rental realistically, you could rent your house fast no matter what they economy is doing. The home buying market might have slowed down, but plenty of people are still vacationing.

This article answers the question: How do I rent my home fast in a slow market? We are currently developing a lot of new content for homeowners who want to get into the rental market. So be sure to check back often. New articles are posted almost daily.

Related article:
Marketing a Vacation Rental

How Much is My House Worth Today, in the Current Market?

2010-01-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

Question: "I am selling my home later this year. I know that a lot has changed in the economy over the last few years. So how do I figure out how much my house is worth today, in the current market?"

This is the most important question a homeowner can ask before trying to sell a home. It's a critical stage in the planning process, but many sellers skip this step entirely. So just by asking this question, you're getting off on the right foot.

How to Determine What It's Worth

So let's address this all-important question: How much is my house worth in the current market? First, you should note the word "current" in that last sentence. This is the key to everything. The amount you paid for your house several years ago, or even last year, is totally irrelevant. Why? Because when home buyers and their real estate agents evaluate your asking price, they'll be using sales data from the last 30 - 90 days. They want to know what the property is worth today, not in the past.

Here's the bottom line: If you're trying to get the price you paid at the top of the market, but prices have dropped since then, you're headed for disappointment.

So that's the first thing you need to focus on -- recent sales data. This is the starting point for all of your pricing research. You need to start keeping track of sale prices in the area. Not the listing price, mind you, but the amount the homes are actually selling for in your neighborhood. You should pay particular attention to those properties that are similar to yours (same size, number or rooms, etc.). These are referred to as comparable sales, or comps. This is what real estate agents will use when trying to validate your asking price, on behalf of their clients.

Related article: How do I find real estate comps for my area?

How much is my house worth today? We are getting closer to answering this question, but we're not quite there yet. Once you've gathered some recent sales data, you need to factor in whatever upgrades you've made to your home. This is where things get tricky.

If you haven't done much to the home, and you have several comps from very similar houses, then it's a pretty straightforward pricing situation. But if you've made big upgrades, such as a kitchen renovation or swimming pool, then it gets more complicated. If you fall into the second category (major upgrades), it would be a good idea to have a professional home appraiser evaluate your home. The price properties for a living, so they can help you determine how much the house is worth ... upgrades and all.

How Much to Ask for the House

Based on all of this homework, you should be able to set a realistic asking price for the home. I can't stress enough how important this is. If you get this part of the process wrong, and end up overpricing the house, it will probably stay on the market for a long time. That's no way to sell a home. So you need to set the right price from day one.

This article answers the question: How much is my house worth today, in the current economy? If you have other questions about this subject, be sure to use the search box at the top of this website. There's a lot of helpful information on this website, and that's the easiest way to find it. Good luck with your selling process.

My House Won't Sell - Why Can't I Sell This Place?

2010-01-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

My house won't sell in this market. I can't sell my home for some reason. Why isn't it selling? What am I doing wrong?

These are the most common complaints from home sellers, in any kind of real estate market. The fact that we have a nationwide buyer's market right now makes these questions all the more common. It also makes sellers more frustrated. So in this article, we will talk about some of the most common reasons why a house doesn't sell.

Why Can't I Sell My House?

If you're having trouble selling your home, you should consider each of the potential causes listed below. You may be experienced just one of these issues, or you could have several of them. You'll have to ask yourself some hard questions to uncover the problem.

Reason #1 - The Home is Overpriced

If your house won't sell, and it has been on the market for many months, then it's probably overpriced. Many homeowners price their homes too high because they need a certain amount to pay off their mortgages, or because they purchased the home in a stronger market. So let me say it bluntly. The amount you need to pay off your loan has nothing to do with the current market value of your home. Recent sale prices determine market value.

So you need to start there when pricing your home. I recommend having a professional appraiser come out for a visit. He will compare your home against recent sales in the area, and give you his professional opinion about the value. This is what they do for a living. If your house won't sell, this should be the first step in your troubleshooting process. Proper pricing is critical. If you get it right, the home will sell quickly. If you get it wrong, you're in for a long and frustrating process.

Reason #2 - The House is Not Prepped for the Market

There's a house for sale up the street from where I live. It has been on the market for at least six months. Every day, I drive by it and shake my head. "That place will never sell," I say to myself, "because nobody will ever go inside." The yard sign claims that it's priced to sell, but there are piled of weeds crawling up the base of the sign. The yard and front of the house look terrible -- just a real eyesore. It's probably a bank-owned foreclosure, but that's beside the point. The point is that this won't sell, because it has not been prepared for the market.

The outside is only half of the preparation stage. You also need to work on the inside of the house. Repair anything that's broken. Tidy up your landscaping. Update any outdated light fixtures, knobs and faucets. Add some fresh paint. There's nothing worse than walking into a dingy house. It's a surefire way to drive buyers away from the house. If you feel that your home is priced realistically, but you still can't sell the house, then you should take a good look at the condition it's in. Here are some staging tips to help you.

Reason #3 - Weak Marketing Strategy

Putting a sign in your yard and waiting for people to visit is not enough. It's a step worth taking, sure, but it's only the first step in the marketing process. If you want to sell the home as quickly as possible, you need to get it onto the MLS database. This is the fastest way to reach the largest audience of home buyers (and their real estate agents).

If you're working with an agent, your house is probably on the MLS already. If you're taking the FSBO route, you'll need to create a listing on your own. Here's an article that explains how to get it listed.

Reason #4 - It's a Slow Market

This is what we are seeing in many cities across America right now. It's harder for home buyers to get mortgage loans these days. Lenders have returned to the sensible (i.e. strict) lending practices of years past. The days of easy credit are gone. On top of that, the unemployment rate is still soaring in this country. When you add these things up, you have a smaller pool of qualified home buyers. So it's possible that a house won't sell, even when the seller does everything right.

Reason #5 - The Perfect Storm

Any of the reasons listed above could prevent a house from selling. It's also possible for them to overlap. Remember the house I mentioned that's for sale up the street from me? I believe they are experiencing a "perfect storm" of selling problems. It's obviously not prepared for the market -- I can see that from the street. It's also priced too high, for what the property offers (or doesn't offer). And like many cities, we are experiencing a slow market right now. I don't how they're marketing the property, but I've seen very little activity. So they could be having all of the problems listed above. That's a bad spot to be in, if you're the homeowner.

If you're house won't sell, you need to give some serious thought to each of the items on this list. Start with your asking price. Many homeowners can't sell their homes for this reason alone. They've overpriced their homes, plain and simple.

Next, take a look at your home's condition, both inside and out. When you stand on the curb and look at the house, what word comes to mind? Fresh? Appealing? Dingy? Tired? Neglected?

Last, you should evaluate your marketing strategy. If you don't have your property listed on the MLS, put it on there immediately. You can do this with or without the help of a real estate agent, and this article explains how.

I hope this article helps you out. Good luck.

I'm Selling My House on My Own - Any Advice?

2010-01-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

Question: "I'll be selling my house on my own this summer. I have sold a home before, but I used an agent. This is my first attempt at the FSBO process. Do you have any advice?"

This blog is full of advice for people selling their own homes. So my first tip is to spend some time reading through the articles on this blog. You should also refer to the Sell Your Own Home tutorial we have on our main website. It gives you a good overview of the steps involved.

When selling your house on your own, the two most important factors are pricing and preparation. You must price the home realistically, based on current market conditions. And then you must prepare it for buyers. If you do these two things properly, you'll eventually sell the house -- regardless of how slow the market might be.

Let's talk about pricing first. The first thing you need to do is forget about the price you paid for the house, especially if you bought it more than a year ago. The value of your home is determined by current market conditions, not the conditions from when you bought it. This is something a lot of sellers just can't accept. But if you want to succeed in selling your house on your own, you need to start with a realistic price.

I recommend having a home appraiser come out to appraise the property. You can also use websites like Trulia and Zillow to see what houses are selling for in your area. This will help you set your own price.

Preparation is the second-most important factor to consider. Up the street from where I live, there's a home for sale. The front yard is atrocious, with waist-high weeds growing everywhere. We have complained about it more than once. The house has been on the market for more than six months now, and I've never seen anyone go inside. These people have clearly underestimated the importance of preparation. To avoid this kind of mistake, you should follow the advice in our staging guide.

Once you have the home priced properly, and you've prepared it for the market, you're ready to bring in the buyers. The easiest way to do this is by listing your house on the Multiple Listing Service. You can do this for a relatively small fee, even when selling your own home. Here's an article that explains how to get on the MLS.

This article pertains to the topic: I'm selling my house on my own, and I need some tips. If you need more advice on this subject, you can use the search tool at the top of this page. We add new tips to the website each week. I hope this response has helped you out, and I wish you well in your selling process.

How do I sell my home quick in a slow market?

2010-01-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

Question: "Homes are selling pretty slowly in our area, but I know a couple that have sold quick. What could account for the difference? How can I sell my my home quick in a slow market?"

The two most important things are to price the home properly and prepare it for the market. If you read some of the other articles on this blog, you'll see me giving that same advice repeatedly. I don't mean to sound like a broken record or anything. Those are just the two most important factors, if you want to sell a home quick in a slow market.

This is also where a lot of sellers make big mistakes that end up delaying the sale -- either by overpricing the home, failing to prepare it properly, or a combination of the two. So, the keys to a quick sale are (A) realistic pricing, and (B) proper preparation and staging. Is there more to the process than this? Sure there is. But if you get these two things wrong, you're in for a long process.

You should start with the preparations (painting, landscaping, de-cluttering, etc.). These things take the longest. You can find plenty of tips in our home staging guide, located here. Start these preparations early.

In order to sell a home quick, you also need to know what's happening in your local real estate market. Which way are home prices moving in your neighborhood, up or down? How long are homes staying on the market? Are there are lot of foreclosure properties on the market, driving home prices down? You need to know these things. Even if you're working with a real estate agent, you need to know what's going on in the area.

It's not really that difficult to sell a home quick, even in a slow market. Many sellers make mistakes during the pricing and preparation stage, and then they complain about how slow the market is. The truth is this. A house that's overpriced and under-prepared will stay on the market for a longer time, regardless of whether you're in a buyer's or seller's market. And the reverse is also true. A property that is priced well and staged effectively will generally sell quick, in any kind of market.

Related article:
How do I sell my house fast in 2010?

I hope this article has given you some things to consider. If you take this advice to heart (and act on it), you should be able to sell your home quick and for the best price possible. Good luck with it. If you have other questions about this topic, be sure to do a search at the top of this page. That's the easiest way to find the information you need.

How to Sell a House Without an Agent

2010-01-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

Question: "We have been planning to do an FSBO sale for a couple years now. But the current economy has us second-guessing ourselves. Is it still possible to sell a house without an agent in 2010, and if so how? What should we be doing to sell the home quickly without using a real estate professional?"

Good question. Let me start with the short answer. Yes, it's still possible to sell your home without using an agent, even with the current state of the economy. Sure, some markets are slower than others right now, and there's a big inventory of houses to compete with. But it can still be done. You just have to know what you're doing. And this is where most FSBO sellers go wrong -- they don't take the steps needed to sell without an agent in a slow market.

Selling Your Home Without an Agent

So let's talk about the things you can do to avoid the dismal fate I mentioned above. Let's talk about the steps need to sell a house quickly without using a real estate professional. Here are some of the most important things you need to do, starting today.

Understand the market. You need to start tracking real estate sales in your area, in order to know which way the market is going. You should also read some recent news articles to that effect. If you want to sell your house without an agent, you need to step up and fill the research gap. So learn everything you can about what's happening in your area.
Loosen your emotional connection to the home. When you list a property for sale, you have to start thinking about it like a product, and less like your home. I know it's hard to do, but you have to gradually separate yourself from the house. Otherwise, you'll be more inclined to overprice the property and under-prepare for the market.
Get a home appraisal. A professional appraiser can tell you how much your house is worth, based on recent sales in the area. This is a good starting point for your pricing strategy.
Set a realistic asking price. This is where many sellers make mistakes, especially when they sell their homes without having an agent to help them. This is where the previous steps come into play. If you overprice your home, it's going to sit on the market for a long time. That's the last thing you want.
Start preparing your house for buyers. Fix anything that needs repair. Paint rooms to brighten them up. Update fixtures to modernize the house. Follow the room-by-room staging tips in this article.
Get it listed on the MLS to reach the widest audience. You can do this without an agent by using the link provided at the top of this page (ForSaleByOwner.com). They can also feature your home on Realtor.com, which is a great way to reach buyers.
Be flexible in your negotiations. In a seller's market, you can play hardball with buyers. But most cities across the U.S. are experiencing buyer's markets right now. So you need to keep this in mind when negotiating. If you quibble over nickels and dimes, you could lose the buyers. And with the state of the economy, you never know when another qualified buyer is going to come along.

If you want to sell a house without an agent (and as quickly as possible), you need to follow the advice provided above. These are not optional steps. These are things you must do, if you want to get it right and sell your home fast. Good luck!

How do I get on the MLS when selling my own home?

2010-01-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

Question: "I have been told that getting my house on the Multiple Listing Service is the fastest way to bring in buyers. How do I get on the MLS if I'm selling my own home, and not working with an agent?"

You're right about this being one of the quickest ways to attract the buyers. The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) can help you connect with hundreds of thousands of real estate agents in your area, depending on the size of your city. So it's the easiest way to reach a large audience of potential buyers. And that brings us to the heart of your question -- how to get on the MLS in the first place.

I know you're opting for the FSBO strategy, but I have to mention something for other readers. If you choose to work with a real estate agent in the sale of your home, this is one of the things he or she would do for you. Agents have access to this database, so they can get your home on it quickly and easily. But if you're selling the house on your own, this is obviously not an option. So how does an FSBO seller get on the MLS to bring in buyers? Here's how:

Getting Your Home on the MLS

In the past, you needed an agent to get your house on the Multiple Listing Service. There just weren't any other options. These days, however, you do have other options. You could use one of several for-sale-by-owner services to get on the MLS database. Of course, you'll pay a fee for it. It's not free, because somebody still has to do the data-entry work to create the listing.

National Real Estate Listings without the Commissions!

I recommend purchasing this kind of service as part of a package deal. Many of the major FSBO services will offer an MLS listing along with other helpful products. Some of them will also get your house featured on Realtor.com, which is a great way to bring in more buyers.

I would offer a word of warning, though. Do not list your home on the Multiple Listing Service until you are ready for traffic. Things can happen pretty quickly, once you get on the MLS network. You'll probably start receiving phone calls from real estate agents by the day's end, and people may start driving by that same day as well.

Of course, this is the kind of response you want. Just make sure you're prepared for it. You need to prepare your home for the market first, and get it listed for maximum exposure second.

Are online home appraisals accurate?

2010-01-06T07:04:00.000-08:00

Question: "I have seen websites where I can get an online home appraisal for the value of my house. I'm skeptical of this, because I don't see how it could give accurate results. How do these online appraisal sites work, and are they accurate enough to make them worth using?"

You're right to be skeptical of these websites. I'll tell you why in a moment. But first, let me answer the "how" question you asked. Most of these sites claim to have fancy formulas that will process all sorts of data, to give you an instant online home appraisal for your property. But in reality, there's only one type of data that can be used for this purpose -- the prices of homes recently sold in the area.

These websites are good for compiling data on recent sales, and this kind of information can certainly be useful. It's easy to provide an accurate picture of home sales, because this is a known quantity. When a house gets sold, the sale price is recorded by the county. These websites simply use public data to display their results. Like I said, some of them claim to use other "proprietary formulas" to provide online home appraisals, but I cannot imagine what this might be. I've never seen any of these sites explain their so-called formulas in a practical way. Trade secret or hocus-pocus? You be the judge.

Here's the primary problem I see with the instant home appraisal websites. They cannot look at your house. They cannot walk through the kitchen and see any upgrades that have been done. They cannot compare the landscaping and pool of one home to the lack of landscaping and pool on another. All they can do is look at the recent selling prices for homes that are the same size as yours, and give you a ballpark "appraisal" based on that.

Bottom line: If you want to find out what homes are selling for in a particular area (and it's wise to do so), you'll find some useful websites to help with this. Trulia.com, Zillow.com, etc. If you want an appraisal on your home -- and you want it to be fairly accurate -- you should hire a professional property appraiser.

Selling Your Home at a Loss - Join the Club

2009-10-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

I recently got an email from a couple who are upside down on a mortgage loan. This means that they owe more on the mortgage than their home is worth in the current market. They have to sell their home because of a job relocation, and they were wondering how to do this in their financial condition. Someone had told them they would probably have to sell the home at a loss, but the couple refused to believe this. How could this happen to them? It was shocking. There must be some way out of it, right?

The real shock, to me at least, was that these people felt their situation was unique. In reality, millions of Americans are upside down in their mortgage loans right now. This comes as a direct result of the housing collapse and subsequent recession we have endured. In fact, I saw a recent prediction that nearly 40% of homeowners could be upside down by the end of 2010. So any of these folks who need to sell their home will end up selling it at a loss -- because they owe more than the home is worth in the current economy.

So what options do you have in this kind of situation? Is selling your home for a loss the only thing you can do? Well, it all comes down to how much negative equity you have, and what your lender is willing to allow.

If you don't absolutely need to sell the home and move, you may be better off staying put for now. If your local real estate market is on an upswing -- like many markets are right now -- you could regain some of your equity. Of course, if you live in a place like Las Vegas or San Diego, where property values dropped by a significant amount, you'll probably never regain the equity you lost. Property values just won't reach that peak level anytime soon, if ever again.

So in situations like this, selling your home at a loss may be the only option. Or you may not be able to sell the home at all. It's really up to your lender more than you. They're the one holding all the cards, so you should start talking to your lender as soon as possible. If you sell the home at a loss and have to pay something back to your lender, they may be willing to allow some kind of payment plan.

Selling for a Loss

I've been hearing a lot about this lately. For example, John and Jane still owe $300,000 on their mortgage loan. But their property values have dropped, so with the bank's permission they end up selling the home at a loss for about $240,000. Not counting the seller-paid closing costs, Realtor commissions, and other expenses, that's a discrepancy of about $60,000. The lender is not going to wave a magic wand and make that discrepancy go away. So chances are, John and Jane will have to bring a check to the closing table with them -- to the tune of sixty grand. Or, if they are lucky, the lender will allow a payment plan so they can repay that $60,000 over time.

Another option (albeit a last resort) is to walk away from the home entirely, and let the lender foreclose on it. Some people are not willing to sell their home at a loss, only to be in debt to their lender for thousands. Many folks in this situation choose to walk away from their mortgage obligation entirely. Most of them are fully aware that their credit score will take a major hit, as a result of this decision. But they simply feel trapped, so they end up walking away from home.

If you came into this article looking for a magical solution to this problem, I'm sorry to disappoint you. There is no easy way out of this situation. More than anything, I just wanted to let you know there are millions of other people in the same situation. As a result, mortgage lenders today are being flooded with requests for mortgage modifications, short sales, and other desperate measures.

So the best thing you can do is talk to your lender and find out what your options are. You may qualify for a home loan modification, where the lender restructures your loan to make the payments more affordable. Or you may qualify for a short sale, where the lender agrees to accept less than what you owe, in order to sell the home quickly. If neither of those options are available, you'll probably end up selling the home for a loss and paying the lender back in some way. But you won't know until you ask.

Where to Find Help

If you feel you are facing a possible foreclosure, you should realize that help is available. For example, you could talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor in your area to see what your options are. This type of counseling is either free or low-cost, so I highly recommend it. The counselor might tell you that selling the home for a loss is your best option. Or they might have some other guidance for you. You can learn more by visiting our foreclosure help page, or by visiting the HUD website to find a counselor near you.

How Do I Sell My House Quickly in 2010?

2009-10-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Reader question: "I plan to sell my home next year in 2010, and I'm wondering what I can do to sell it as quickly as possible. Do you have any tips on selling a house quickly and for top dollar?"

Let me start with the good news. Selling a home in 2010 will probably be easier than it is right now, in the current real estate market. By next year, there should be fewer foreclosures on the market. This means less price competition for people like yourself. The economy will likely be in better shape by then as well, which means a larger pool of potential buyers. But there are still certain things you need to do if you want to sell your house quickly in 2010, so get specific.

Sell it Quickly by Following These Tips

If I wanted to sell my house quickly in 2010, I would start the planning and preparation right now in the present. You may think you have plenty of time before you actually list the home, but that time will go fast. And there's usually a lot of work to do before selling your home. So the sooner you start the process, the better.

One of the areas you should focus on first is your curb appeal. There's a very good reason for putting this item at the top of your list. Improving your yard and the outside of your house can take time. For example, if your lawn is in bad shape, it may take months for it to look good again. The same goes for painting, making repairs, etc. It takes time. So if I wanted to sell my house quickly next year, I would begin devising a plan for curb appeal and home staging.

It's also wise to start tracking the real estate market in your area. This means keeping an eye on home prices, sales, and other market activity. By following the market over a period of months, you will have a good idea where it has been and where it is going. You'll also know whether you're operating in a buyer's market or a seller's market, which is a useful bit of information when it comes to pricing home.

You also need to start planning for your move. Are you moving into an apartment after selling the house, or do you plan to buy another home? Are there items within the home that you can start selling off, in order to make it easier on moving day? How will you structure the sale in order to facilitate your move? Are you going to need a long escrow period? These are some of the questions you need to start asking yourself now, so you have time to prepare.

If I was trying to sell my house quickly in a tough market that favored home buyers, I would probably hire an agent as well. You can research real estate agents in your area to find out who has a track record of selling homes quickly and for top dollar. If you don't feel like you're up to the challenges of pricing the home, promoting it, and negotiating with buyers, then you might want to have an agent on your side.

We've talked a little bit about pricing already, but I want to expand on the topic. This is an area where a lot of sellers blow it. They price their homes above market value because of the emotional attachment they have, and then the property ends up staying on the market for many months. I see this happen all the time, even within my own neighborhood. This is where all of your research and monitoring will come into play. By following your local real estate market, you'll know how to price your home realistically.

Pricing is one of the most important things to get right, especially if you need to sell the house quickly for whatever reason. A home that is staged well and priced competitively will sell quickly 90% of the time. On the other hand, a house that is overpriced will go unsold for a long time.

These are some of the things I would focus on if I wanted to sell my house quickly in 2010. I recommend following this advice as a bare minimum, and that you continue to research the process up until you're ready to sell. I hope this answers your question, and I wish you well in your selling process.

Painting Your House to Sell It Quickly - Painting Tips and Tactics

2009-04-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Do you need to paint your house in order to sell it quickly? In most cases, yes. If you have recently painted the home, and you chose neutral and soothing colors, you might be able to skip this part of the preparation stage. But in most cases, painting is a smart investment prior to listing a home for sale.

There are several reasons for painting a house before selling it:

To neutralize the color scheme throughout the house
To freshen up the appearance of the house
A combination of these two things

We will cover these things in more detail below. But first, I want to share a couple of stories with you. One is a real-life story involving yours truly, and the other is from an HGTV home buying show I watched earlier today. Let's start with my own tale about paint colors, home selling, and first-time home buyers.

Selling a House With a Bad Paint Job

Back in 2002, my wife and I were shopping for our first home in Maryland. We pulled up to one house that was very nice ... from the curb. It was a new colonial-style home with nice architectural touches and tidy landscaping. It was a bit far out from where we worked, but we were flexible. So we went into the house with an open mind.

And everything went downhill from there.

The first room we entered was the living room. The paint color could best be described as dark pink, and it had a flowery wallpaper border around the entire room. Way too taste-specific. So right away, I was thinking about how much work I would have to do to tone down the gaudy color palette in the space.

It only got worse as we moved through the rest of the house. Apparently, the lady of the house ran a daycare from her home. She used the finished basement for this, and it was painted in true daycare fashion -- one wall was bright red, one was bright blue, the door was green with a yellow frame. You get the idea. It was over the top, gaudy, and the exact opposite of how you should paint your house when selling it.

We went into this house with an open mind, and it could very well have been the one. But the paint scheme blew it for us. I had estimated that I would have to spend 30 hours of labor -- and hundreds of dollar in painting supplies -- just to make the house presentable. No thanks!

So we left and did not look back. And judging by how long the house had been on the market, I would venture an easy guess that many other would-be buyers did the exact same thing. The homeowners were either very lazy, in a state of denial, or both. The paint colors were killing their chances of selling the house, but they weren't doing anything about it.

Bold Colors Can Kill the Sale

That was my own story of bad paint colors when selling a house. Earlier today, I saw this very same thing on an episode of The Unsellables, a home selling show on HGTV. You've probably seen this show, or a similar one. They will focus on sellers who are having trouble selling their house for some reason, and they'll bring a real estate agent through to point out the potential problems. In this episode, both the host and the visiting agent could not get past the bold color schemes. Bright orange bedrooms. Bright red living room. That sort of thing.

One of the homeowners said it herself during the episode. She said, "This is just our style ... it's how we like our house." Exactly! It's how they wanted the home to look when they were living in it, but most buyers would be repulsed by the colors. You have to put your own style aside when you are trying to sell your house.

The last thing you want to do is paint the home with a taste-specific color scheme that says, "This is our home with our unique style." After all, you are trying to appeal to the masses, as much as possible. Ever wonder why most car dealers show silver cars in their commercials? Because that color appeals to the largest audience. They rarely show bold red or green models in their TV commercials and brochures, because those colors are too taste-specific. You should use this same strategy when painting your house -- if you're serious about selling it quickly.

Which Colors Will Help You Sell the Home?

Choose soft and warm colors and avoid bold ones. A soft yellow, beige or olive color is generally a safe bet for most rooms. If you're not sure where to start, ask for advice from the paint person at your local Home Depot or Lowe's, or at a local paint store. Tell them you are selling your house and ask for their advice. They will probably be happy to give you room-by-room tips for choosing paint colors.

How to Sell Your House by Owner - The Steps Involved

2009-04-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

Do you plan to sell your house by owner in the near future? If so, now is the time to start researching the steps involved in the process. In this article, I'll give you a quick rundown of the steps needed to sell by owner in today's economy. You can get a more detailed explanation of each step in this tutorial.

Step 1 - Find out what your house is worth.

This is a good place to start for several reasons. First of all, it might change your mind about selling your home. If your property values have fallen a lot (as a result of the housing crash of 2008 - 2009), then you might decide it's a bad time to sell by owner -- or to sell at all.

This step is also needed for pricing purposes. You can't set your asking price until you know how much the homes in your neighborhood are selling for in the current market. The best way to do this is by paying for a professional appraisal. Learn more about pricing

Step 2 - Prepare your home for the market.

Before you sell your house by owner -- or before you even list it, for that matter -- you need to make sure it's presentable. For starters, you need to fix anything that is broken. That leaky faucet or torn carpet might not seem like a big deal to you. But when buyers see these things, they immediately wonder what else is wrong with the house. This is not the mindset you want people to have when they tour your home. Learn more about preparation

Step 3 - List your house on the Multiple Listing Service.

There are many ways to market a property that's for sale. But if you are serious about selling your home in the shortest time possible, you should list it in the MLS. It's the best way to reach the largest possible audience, of buyers and real estate agents alike.

Even if you sell your house by owner without an agent, you can get it listed in the MLS. Here's what I recommend: National Real Estate Listings without the Commissions!

Step 4 - Read our comprehensive guide to selling a house by owner.

If you want to learn more about the steps to sell by owner in the modern real estate market, I highly recommending our guide to selling your own home. It's one of the most in-depth and useful FSBO guides online today.

The most important thing to take away from this article is the three P's -- pricing, preparation and promoting. In that order. If you don't price your home accurately for the current market, you'll never find a buyer willing to pay. And if you don't prepare the property before people come to visit, they won't stay for very long. Price it right, prepare it for the market, and then promote it through the MLS and other channels.

I hope this article helps you understand the steps involved in the sell by owner process, and I wish you luck selling your house for top dollar.

How to List a Home for Sale - And Where to List It

2009-04-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

Reader Question: I want to sell my own home, and the only thing I'm not sure about is listing it. How do I list a home for sale and where are the best places to list it?

The important thing is that you realize the importance of listing your home for sale. This shows you have a good idea about how the selling process works. I will give you some tips in just a moment, but first I want to explain the terminology being used for people who are unfamiliar with it.

Definition: Listing a home for sale means that you are adding your house to some kind of property database or list of properties, which is viewable by real estate agents and/or home buyers. The most popular database of this kind is the Multiple Listings Service (MLS).

Now to revisit the question at hand. Here's how to list a home for sale effectively:

In the definition I just provided, I mentioned the MLS. This also answers part of your question. You wanted to know where to list your house in order to get the best exposure, and this is the place to do it.

When you add your home to the Multiple Listing Service, you'll be putting it in front of hundreds, possibly thousands, of potential buyers in your area. That's because the MLS is the most widely used property database, and just about every real estate agent has access to it. Here's the bottom line. If you're serious about selling, and you want to attract as many buyers as possible, you should list the home in the MLS as part of your marketing strategy.

Listing Your Home in the MLS

The next logical is, How do I get my property listed in the Multiple Listing Service? There are basically two ways to go about it -- through a real estate agent, or through one of the big FSBO websites. Let's talk about each option.

You can hire a real estate agent and have him or her list your home in the MLS. As I mentioned earlier, nearly every agent or Realtor has access to this database.
If are going to sell your own home, but you still want to list it with a national database, you can use an FSBO website. Many of these services offer seller packages that include an MLS listing. Here's a good example: National Real Estate Listings without the Commissions!

Remember, how you list your home for sale is not nearly as important as where you list it. So it doesn't really matter how you get your property into the MLS database, so long as you do it. This is the best way to market the property to the largest possible audience, which is the first step to a successful sale. If you have an agent, he or she will handle this for you. If you are selling by yourself, you should list the home through one of the major FSBO sites (see link provided above).

Before You List Your Home for Sale

Now that we have covered the how and where of listing your home for sale, let's back up and talk about what you should do before you list it. In particular, let's talk about pricing and preparation.

Pricing Considerations:

It's critical that your price your home effectively for the market. Over-pricing is the number-one mistake sellers make, especially when they handle the process by themselves. It's hard for people to distance themselves from their homes, but that's what it takes to see things objectively and price the home accurately. So before you list your home for sale, you need to find out what it's worth in the current market.

You can get a general idea of what your house is worth by using a home value website for free. But these websites cannot match the accuracy of a professional appraisal from a licensed appraiser. After all, a website can only look at data -- it cannot take into account upgrades and improvements you've made to the home.

In summary, it's important to set the right price for your house before you list it for sale, because it determines your success or failure more than any other factor.

Preparing the Property:

If you're in a buyer's market, which most people are these days, you need to work extra hard to prepare the home for sale. This process starts long before you list the home, and it includes such things as landscaping for curb appeal, freshening up the paint job, staging the property and more.

25 Tips for Selling Your Own House in a Tough Economy

2009-03-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

This blog and website offers hundreds of tips for selling your own house, but many of these tips are spread over many web pages. So in this blog post, we have compiled 25 selling tips from all over the website and put them at your fingertips.

With each passing year, more homeowners chose to selling their own houses instead of hiring an agent. Why? There are three reasons for the increasing number of for-sale-by-owner scenarios:

Homeowners realize they can save thousands of dollars by selling their own house.
They also realize they can handle the process for themselves, using item #3 below.
For-sale-by-owner websites / services have improved a lot over the years.

Can you really save thousands when you sell your own home today? Sure you can. If an agent sells a $300,000 house and gets a standard 3% commission, he or she will make $9,000 off the deal. I've sold my own house before, so let me be the first to say that this is too much money to pay an agent. I was surprised how easy the process was, and I was glad we put that commission back into our own pockets.

This article offers quite a few tips for selling your own house to save money. But if you only remember one thing from this lesson, make it this. You should sign up for an FSBO service that allows you to list your home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This will put the house in front of a huge pool of potential buyers, which will help you make a sale as quickly as possible.

Selling Your House on Your Own

Without further ado, here are 25 things you should know about selling your own house in the current economy. Some of the items on this list are explained in detail elsewhere on the site, so I've provided links where necessary.

Initial Research & Planning

Find out how much equity you have in your home. If you're upside down in your mortgage loan, you might not be able to sell without paying money out of pocket. So start by finding out where you stand.
Start tracking your local real estate market to find out what's going on. In particular, you should find out how long houses are staying on the market (on average) and what they are selling for. This is one of the best tips I can offer for selling your own house, because it helps you in so many ways. Market awareness is critical for a successful sale.
In particular, I recommend starting with the weekend edition of your local newspaper. This is a great way to find out what's happening in your real estate scene, whether it's a buyer or seller market, what homes are selling for, etc.
Visit some open houses in your area to find out what kind of competition you're up against, and to see how well (or how poorly) people are staging their homes for sale.

Pricing the Home

Listen up. This is one of the most important tips for selling your house in any kind of market, but especially in a buyer's market. Overpricing a home is one of the most common mistakes made by people who sell by themselves, and it will delay your sale more so than any other factor.
The best way to determine your home's value (and to set your asking price) is by having it appraised by a professional appraiser. Home value websites are neat, but they only give you a general idea and do not account for upgrades.
The appraiser will factor in the overall condition of your property, so it's wise to prepare for that visit.
You probably have an emotional connection to your house, and that's only natural. But you need to detach those emotions when setting the price. You must base your asking price on current market values, backed up by sales data and other information. You cannot set your price on what you feel the home is worth.
In a seller's market, you'll have a bit more flexibility with your pricing (i.e. "wiggle room"). But in a buyer's market, the opposite is true. This is why you need to know what's going on in your local real estate scene.

Preparing the Home

Let's start with the basics. If you have things in your house that are broken, you need to fix them before buyers visit your home. In addition to showing up on the home inspector's hit list, items in disrepair suggest that you don't care about the house. This is the wrong impression to give a potential buyer.
To prepare your house for the market, you must also go beyond the basic repairs. You must work hard to show the home at its best -- this means painting, removing clutter, repositioning furniture, etc. These things fall under the category of "staging," and you can learn more about it in this tutorial.
Staging does not need to cost a lot of money. In fact, that's the exact opposite of the goal here. Here's an excellent article that offers free and low-cost ideas for showing off your home.
The front of your home (including the yard) is especially important, because that's what creates the first impression for potential buyers. Prepare the entire property, but spend some extra time on your curb appeal.

Marketing the Property

Once you've done your research, set your price and prepared the home, it's time to start bringing in buyers. Here are some marketing tips for selling your own house in the current economy:
Let's start with the basics. Get yourself a yard sign to let the world know the property is available. You can buy them at Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware shop. You can also create custom real estate signs online.
Create a property flyer that lists information about your house. This should include basic information such as the price, schools and taxes. But it should also list all of the great things about your home (proximity to shopping, scenery, local parks and jogging trails, special features and upgrades, etc.).
If you're selling your own house, and you want to bring the most buyers, you'll need to list the house in the Multiple Listing Service. This is a nationwide database used by real estate agents, so it will alert all of the agents in your area that your home is available.
If you're in a tough market with a lot of selling competition, you may need to go above and beyond with your marketing campaign. Some people create websites for their home, with plenty of photos and other information. They will then include the website address on property flyers, yard signs, newspaper ads, and wherever else the house is promoted.
If you're serious about selling your own house (and I hope you are), I recommend signing up for a service like ForSaleByOwner.com. They offer a variety of tools to help you promote your home, including MLS listings and Realtor.com placement. Get started here: National Real Estate Listings without the Commissions!

Negotiating With Buyers

You need to have a plan for negotiations before you get into a negotiating scenario. How much are you willing to bend on your asking price? How much time do you need before the closing? What kind of contingencies are you willing to permit? You need to research and answer these questions early on.
Back up your negotiations with hard data. If a buyer (or the buyer's agent) asks why you are asking a certain price for the house, show them the appraiser's report and the recent sales data for your area. This is the key to successful real estate negotiations.
If you price your home realistically, and you work hard to prepare and stage it, you may be able to avoid negotiating altogether. You'll be more likely to get a full offer for the house. That's why pricing and preparation are so important.
Don't be afraid to say no. If a buyer has unrealistic expectations or seems to be wasting your time, you have every right to dismiss them. It's not personal -- it's business. Of course, you have to make these decisions carefully, especially in a buyer's market where offers are few and farther between. Be open to negotiations, but don't let a buyer take advantage of you.

In closing, I'd like to leave you with my best advice for selling your own home. And that is to read this tutorial on the subject. It explains all of the things we've talked about in this article, but in much greater detail. You'll be much better prepared for the process if you read it!

How Do I Sell My Home Myself in the Current Economy?

2009-03-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

How do I sell my home myself in a tough economy? Is it even possible? What do I need to know about selling my own house in order to sell it quickly and for the best price?

These are common questions among homeowners. The reasons why are fairly obvious. Property values have dropped in most cities, there's a surplus of homes on the market, and many buyers are having trouble qualifying for mortgage loans. Put these things together, and you have a classic buyer's market -- for the ones who can get mortgage loans, at least.

Let me start with the easy answer to these questions. Yes, you can sell your own home in a tough market, if you research and prepare for the process. An experienced real estate agent could make the process easier, but if you can duplicate the efforts an agent would make on your behalf, you can probably succeed on your own.

We have recently posted a comprehensive guide to this process. It covers the process from every angle and with plenty of helpful tips. So if you're planning to sell your own home, do yourself a favor and read our new tutorial on the process. It answers the common question among homeowners: How do I sell my home myself in the current economy?

Go Above & Beyond to Sell Your Home

When selling a house in a tough market, you really have to go above and beyond to get the attention of home buyers. We talk about this in great detail in the article I mentioned above. Basically, you have to outperform all of the other sellers in your area if you want to sell. Here are some of the things you should focus your energy on:

Staging -- You should stage your home to showcase the best features it has to offer. This involves painting, de-cluttering, strategic furniture placement and more. Learn more in our room-by-room staging guide.
Pricing -- If you get this wrong, all of your other efforts will be in vain. Over-pricing a home is one of the most common mistakes sellers make in the current economy. Property values have dropped in most cities across the U.S., so you need to base your price on current market values.
Marketing -- How can I sell my home myself in a tough market? Well, you need to bring in as many potential buyers as possible. And this means putting the home on the Multiple Listing Service. Get started here: National Real Estate Listings without the Commissions!

We post new tips to this blog on a regular basis, so you might want to bookmark this page in your favorites folder. We offer advice on all aspects of the selling process, from the preparation to marketing and beyond. I hope this information helps you navigate the path toward a successful sale. Good luck.

Have Questions?
I want to sell my home by myself, and I have questions about how to do it. If this describes you, feel free to email us your questions. Send them to editor@homebuyinginstitute.com, and we will answer them right here on this blog.

Buying Real Estate Yard Signs Online

2009-03-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

If you plan to sell your own home, you can probably pick up some "for sale" yard signs at your local Home Depot or hardware store. But if you want a custom sign for your yard (or if you're a real estate agent who needs personal branding options), you should order your real estate yard signs online.

Much like the commercial printing industry as a whole, the sign printing industry has evolved a lot over the last few years. Many companies have created websites that allow you to customize a yard sign template with your own information. This saves you time while giving you a wider range of options for sign design and customization.

While the process varies from one printing company to the next, here's how it usually works:

First, you would visit the yard sign companies website to choose a design. Real estate signs come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors.
Next, you would customize the design by including your own phone number, logo, or other information you want to have on the yard sign.
Finally, you would proof the finished product online, and then place your order. The printer will then produce your real estate signs in the desired quantity and ship them to you (usually through UPS).

If you plan to use house flyers as part of your property marketing strategy (and I recommend that you do), you should invest in a flyer box as well. This is the clear plastic / acrylic box that attaches to the yard sign pole. This is great for those people who casually drive by and spot your "for sale" sign. Even if they don't have an appointment to see the house, they can at least pick up a flyer to schedule a future showing.

It's also a good idea to place your yard sign close to the street, so people can the agent's name and phone number without exiting the car. If it's pouring down rain, few people will get out to retrieve the flyers. But if the real estate sign is close enough to read, they can jot down the phone number and be on their way.

Where to Buy Yard Signs

Like I said, there are quite a few sign shops with websites these days. But only a small handful of them offer online design and customization options. Build-a-Sign is one of the most advanced online services we have seen to date, and their website is incredibly easy to use. So if you want to customize and order your yard signs via the Internet, we recommend using the link below:

Get started here:
Shop Custom Real Estate Signs Online at BuildASign.com!

How to Prepare for a Home Appraisal

2009-03-04T08:30:00.001-08:00

I recently got a question from a reader who wanted to know how to prepare for a home appraisal visit. She was planning to sell her home, and she wanted to pay a professional appraiser to come and evaluate the property. Specifically, she asked if there was anything she could do to prepare for the visit that might increase the appraisal value. So I'll address that topic in this blog post.

How a Home Appraisal Works

If you want to know what your home is worth in the current market, a professional home appraisal is your best option. Sure, you can get a ballpark estimate from one of the many home value websites online today. But these websites only account for recent sales data in your area -- they don't factor in the improvements and upgrades you may have made to the home. After all, how could a website possibly know about such things?

If you want to get the best possible estimate on your home for pricing purposes, you should pay for an appraisal. Through this process, a licensed home appraiser will visit you to evaluate your home in person. He will do a room-by-room assessment of the property. He will look at the condition of the home. He will account for upgrades to the property and the landscaping. Lastly, he will look at recent sales data for comparable homes in your area.

In the end, you'll be presented with an appraiser's report. You can use this document to help determine your asking price (if you're selling) or to determine how much equity you have (if you're refinancing). Just bear in mind that if you do sell the home, the buyer's lender will have their own appraiser pay a visit as well. Still, it helps to do your own research ahead of time.

How to Prepare for It

As for how to prepare for an appraisal, I can sum that up with one statement. Prepare the home like you would for a buyer's visit, and then don't sweat it. Many of the things on the appraiser's checklist are things you cannot change -- size of the home, location, number of rooms, recent sales data, etc. You have no control over these factors. They are what they are. So you shouldn't worry about that side of things.

So let's focus on the things you can do to prepare for a home appraisal visit. In essence, these are the same things you should do when preparing the home to sell:

Make any necessary repairs around the house.
Update any outdated fixtures (but don't overspend in this area).
Freshen up any paint that might be faded, chipped, etc.
Do whatever you can to improve your curb appeal.

It's important to note that the things listed above won't add a lot of value to your home appraisal. They may help some, and every little bit helps. But more importantly, they will prevent the appraiser from entering your home with a negative mindset. When somebody is coming to put a value on your house, the last thing you want to do is give them a bad first impression. That's where the above list of items comes into play.

It's also important to tell the appraiser about any upgrades you've made to the house. This is critical, because it could increase the base appraised value of the home. This includes new flooring, decks, major landscaping additions, swimming pools, new cabinets or counters, etc.

I Want to Sell My House On the Internet - 17 Helpful Websites

2009-02-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

I plan to sell my house this year, and I know the Internet is a great way to reach a large number of buyers. Which Internet sites should I use to sell my home?

This is a common question among home sellers, especially in slower markets like those we are now seeing across the United States. It's true, the Internet can help you sell your house quickly by presenting it to a vast audience of potential buyers. But where you go online, and which websites you end up using, will depend on several things. For example:

If you plan to sell your house by yourself, then you'll want to research the various FSBO websites that are online today. These sites offer a variety of Internet tools to help you market your home. If you plan to sell through a real estate agent, then you'll want to learn about the websites used by agents.

In this article, I'll try cover all of the angles. To do this, I've made a list of websites that can help you through every aspect of the home selling process. So if you're one of the many people wondering: How can I sell my house on the Internet ... you'll want to save this page for future reference!

General Advice for Home Sellers

Let's start with a list of websites that offer general tips and advice for sellers. Some of the sites listed in this section offer additional Internet tools to help you sell your house, but they all fall into "general advice" category as well.

http://www.hud.gov/selling/index.cfm
http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/selling
http://www.realestateabc.com/homeselling
http://www.century21.com/sellingadvice

Websites to Help You Price the Home

Pricing a home effectively is the key to success when selling. If you get this step wrong, all of the marketing in the world won't help you. You must price it right in order to attract buyers and move toward a sale. Here are some Internet destinations that can help you determine your home's value.

http://www.homegain.com/homevalues
http://www.zillow.com
http://www.eppraisal.com
http://www.domania.com
http://realestate.yahoo.com/Homevalues
http://www.housevalues.com (one of my least favorites)
Our review of home value websites

Websites for FSBO Sellers

"I want to sell my house on the Internet but I don't want to go through a real estate agent." This is a common issue among home sellers today. Fortunately, there are many websites you can use to make it happen. Here are a few sites worth researching.

http://www.forsalebyowner.com
http://www.owners.com
http://www.fsbo.com
Tips on selling your own home

Finding a Real Estate Agent Online

If you plan to use an agent when you sell your house, you'll be glad to know you can find one online. There are many websites to help you locate a professional agent in your area. Here's a short list of some of the best Internet sites for this purpose.

http://www.realtor.com/findreal/
http://realestate.yahoo.com/Realtors
http://www.century21.com
http://www.remax.com/residential/find_an_agent/
Tips on finding a real estate agent

They key to selling a home quickly is to (A) price it realistically and (B) promote it to the largest possible audience. The websites listed above will help you do these things, and if you need additional help you can always hire a real estate agent.

Preparing your home for the market is also an important step. Before you let buyers tour the house, you should make sure the property looks its best. This is where home staging comes into the picture. It's a tough economy for sellers, so you must do everything you can to attract offers.

Related article:
Can I sell my house by myself in this economy?

Can I Sell My House Myself in This Economy?

2009-02-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Reader Question: I will be selling my house this spring, and I'm wondering whether or not I need to hire a real estate agent. Can I sell my house by myself in this type of economy?

I make it a policy never to tell people whether or not they need an agent. I'm not trying to be evasive, but it really is a question you must answer for yourself. So instead of saying whether you can your house by yourself in this economy, let me focus on the tasks that need to be completed. Then you can decide if you need help.

In many parts of the country, it's hard to sell a home right now. There are two primary reasons for this (and each of them opens a separate can of worms).

The first reason has to do with a reduction in the buyer pool. There are fewer home buyers today than a couple of years ago. People are losing their jobs in record numbers right now, so fewer people are in a position to buy a home. We are firmly rooted in an economic recession, and whenever that happens, major purchases are the first thing to drop off.

The second reason it's hard to sell a home right now is the surplus factor. There's a huge inventory of homes in most cities across the U.S., largely a result of the foreclosure crisis that swept across our country.

So when you ask the question, "Can I sell my house myself in this economy?", you must take these things into account. These two factors combined have created the classic buyer's market in most cities. There are plenty of homes for sale, but fewer buyers to go around. So it's a lot harder to sell a house in this kind of economy.

When selling a home under these conditions, you need to do the following:

Ensure that you have priced the home competitively, based on current market conditions.
Stage the home effectively in order to show off the good features and eliminate the bad.
Market the home to the widest possible audience, to lessen the effects of a buyer shortage.

This is where it might pay to have the professional help of a real estate agent. If you're confident in your ability to handle these important tasks by yourself, then you might be able to succeed with a for-sale-by-owner / FSBO strategy. If you're not up for the task, however, you should hire an agent with a track record of selling homes in this tough market. Proper research is also critical. You need to know what homes are selling for in your area, how long they are staying on the market, etc.

You also need to find out what your home is worth in the current economy. I know I've said this already, but it needs to be repeated. Home values have dropped across the United States, and in some places they've dropped considerably. So the price you paid for your home two, five or ten years ago is no longer relevant. Sorry. I know that's a hard pill to swallow, but you have to understand the situation.

An agent can help you determine the current value. If you're trying to sell the house yourself, I recommend paying for a home appraisal before you set the asking price. You can use one of the home value websites to get a general idea, but nothing takes the place of a professional appraisal. The home value sites only look at data from recent sales in your area -- they do not take into account other important factors such as the upgrades you've made, current condition of the home, etc. That's why you should start with an appraisal.

Can I sell my house by myself in this market? It's a common question among homeowners who plan to sell, but it requires some careful thought. It's a question that only you can answer, but I hope this article makes the decision easier for you. Good luck.

P.S. -- If you want to learn more about this topic, check out our comprehensive guide to selling your own home. It covers every aspect of this process in great detail. Definitely worth a read!

Home Value Estimates Online - 5 Helpful Websites

2009-02-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

The Internet has made the home selling process a lot easier. Among other things, you can go online to get a free estimate of your home's value. Typically, these estimates are based on recent sales data in your area -- the same data a real estate agent would use to price your home for you.

A few years ago, there were only one or two websites that offered home value estimates online, but this niche industry has grown a lot since then. Today, there are many websites that provide free estimates to homeowners. In this lesson, I'll explain how these websites work, and I'll also give you list of home value websites worth considering.

What Do Home Value Websites Do?

In essence, these websites all perform the same basic function. Sure, they'll offer different tools and features, and they may process their data in different ways. But the core process is usually the same. These websites will give you an estimate of your home's value based on recent sales data in your area. The data they use is public information. Some of these websites claim to have a "proprietary formula" that gives you a more accurate estimate. But the primary source of the home value always comes from recent sales data.

Be Prepared for Agent Phone Calls

Most of these websites will distribute your personal information to local real estate agents who pay for such "leads." So when you use these sites to get an estimate of your home's value, you can probably expect some phone calls within a day or two: "Hi. My name is Sally, and I'm a real estate agent here in town. Are you thinking of selling your home soon? I can help." That sort of thing.

If you actually are planning to sell your home in the near future, then this might be a welcomed phone call. Or it might be an intrusion. I just want you to be aware of how the process works, and what you can expect afterward. Some of the home value websites -- the good ones -- will give you the chance to "opt out" from receiving such calls. This is the mark of a truly professional service that respects the privacy of consumers. But not all of the estimate websites give you this option. Some will farm out your contact information whether you like it or not. Consider yourself advised.

Popular Websites for Estimates

Here are some websites I recommend visiting, for starters. Some of these sites offer a variety of services for consumers, but all of them focus on the concept of providing home value estimates online -- usually free of charge. These websites are in alphabetical order. They are not ranked by popularity or quality.

Eppraisal.com

This name of this website is a contraction of the phrase "electronic appraisal," which tells you what it's all about. I experimented with it while writing this article. From the home page, I entered my street address along with my city and state. I was then presented with a street map with icons representing homes for sale in my area, but no prices were shown for those properties.

I was also given a value estimate for my home, but it was presented as a huge range (the high end of the estimate was $70,000 above the low end). I did not find this site very helpful.

HomeGain.com

This process started like some of the others. I was initially asked for my zip code, which I provided. The next screen is what impressed me the most. I was immediately presented with a map of homes that have sold in my zip code recently, with street address as well as the actual selling price.

The map was interactive, which allowed me to click and drag it to different areas (to get closer to my neighborhood). Each sold property showed up as an icon, which revealed the exact address and selling price upon being clicked. Very helpful.

There were a lot of others tools as well, too many to be described in this article. If you are serious about selling your home in the near future, and you want an effective way to get a home value estimate online, I recommend this website.

HouseValues.com

From the home page, this looks like a quick and easy way to get a free online estimate of my home value. It only asks for my zip code at first, followed by a button labeled with "free report."

When you enter your zip and click the button, however, you are asked for a lot more information (when compared to the other sites on this list). But maybe they need this information to provide you with a more accurate estimate of the value, in which case it's all well and good. I wouldn't know, because I never got to the end of the process.

After the first screen of information, I was asked for even more information. At this point, I felt like I was being pumped for information and not given anything in return. So I bailed out.

There's something else I disliked about this website. I couldn't find any information about how they come up with their home value estimates. It might have been buried in the terms of use somewhere, but I shouldn't have to dig for it. In fact, the entire process felt like a "funnel" designed to extract information from me, while make the information that I needed very hard to find.

Yahoo Real Estate

Over the last couple of years, Yahoo has been putting a lot of time, effort and money into the real estate section of their website. I know this, because the tools they offer today are much better than anything they've had in the past.

The home value tool is par for the course. Some of their data (or possibly all of it) seems to be provided by Zillow and eppraisal.com, which are also covered on this list. But Yahoo has contributed a nice interface and solid programming to the mix. The end result is that you get a comprehensive data base with easy-to-use tools. I recommend this site as well.

Zillow.com

Zillow is one of the original players in the online home value area. Their website has evolved over time, and it now provides a wealth of real estate information and tools. But providing value estimates is still one of their core services.

From the home page, you would select "homes" in the main search box, and then provide your street address. You'll then be shown an aerial satellite photo of your neighborhood, with prices from recent sales in the area. You can toggle the map from map between the aerial view and a regular street map, or a hybrid of the two.

You can also sign up for email updates through the site, which is a great way to stay informed about homes being sold in the area, how much they are selling for, how long they stay on the market, etc.

If you want to know what they base their home value estimates on (they refer to it as a "Zestimate"), you can click the link at the bottom of their website that says "Values and Accuracy."

Data Alone is Not Enough

Keep mind that all of these websites provide estimates based on data (property tax information, recent home sales, etc.). But they do not take into account upgrades you've made to the property, landscaping, etc. In other words, online home estimates are based on part of the picture -- not the entire picture.

So if you really want to know what your home is worth in the current market, it's probably best to hire a professional appraiser. This person will visit your home and do a room-by-room assessment. They'll look at the lot, the view, the upgrades you've made, etc. Then they will factor in the recent sales data they have your area (and they'll have a lot of it). This will give you a more accurate picture of your home's value -- more accurate than any of the estimates you can get online for free. The old saying holds true. You get what you pay for.

You'll find more tips for pricing your home on the main website.

I Need to Sell My House Quickly in 2009

2009-01-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

Help! I need to sell my house as quickly as possible because of a job transfer. But I'm having trouble selling it because of the economy. What can I do?

This is one of the most common questions we receive from homeowners. Unfortunately, it's just a sign of the times (and the troubled economy we are in right now). But don't despair. There are certain steps you can take to sell your house quickly, even in a tough market with very few offers. Here are some things to consider.

In this blog post, I'll explain some of the troubleshooting steps you should go through when your house is not selling. If you've already put your home on the market, but you're not getting many offers, go through the steps below. If you haven't yet listed your house, then you're in a better position because you can learn how to do it properly, right from the start.

I need to sell my house quickly but homes in my neighborhood are not selling. What can I do?

Tips for Selling Fast

Here are some of the most important considerations you need to make when selling. In order to sell quickly in a tough market, you need to have all of these things going for you. Let's jump right in by talking about the most important factor of all -- the asking price.

1. Pricing Considerations

Have you set your asking price based on a home appraisal from last year, or the amount that you paid when you bought the house? If so, there's a good chance your price is too high.

You see, most cities in the U.S. have experienced a drop in home values over the last couple of years. In some places, like California and Florida, these drops have been significant. So if you're basing your price on sales data that's several months old, you are probably overpricing the home. If you need to sell your house quickly in this market, you might have to lower your asking price to reflect current values.

2. Staging Considerations

Home staging is not a passing fad. It's an important part of the selling process. And in a tough economy where buyers are scarce, you need to go the extra mile to stage your home effectively. When preparing your house for the market, try to look at it through the eyes of a potential buyer. Start in the street to judge the curb appeal of your home, and then proceed inside the house.

Try to distance yourself from your home ownership -- pretend the house belongs to somebody else, and that you're viewing it as a potential buyer. Follow these staging tips for best results. Remember, if you want to sell your house quickly in a buyer's market, you have to go above and beyond to showcase the property.

If this means you'll have to do a lot of painting or landscaping work, or that you'll have to rent some nicer furniture to stage the home properly ... then so be it. If selling your home quickly is important to you, then you need to do what's necessary to make it happen.

These are by no means the only considerations you need to make. These are just two of the areas where a lot of sellers make mistakes, especially in a slow economy. If you have these two things going for you -- proper pricing and staging -- then you've got the battle half-won already.

How can I sell my house as quickly as possible is a common question among sellers in this market. And now you have a plan of attack. Good luck!