Yeah, you sure can. In fact, selling your house by owner is more lucrative and controllable than selling it with the help of a real estate agent.

If you are someone sitting at home wondering how to sell your house by owner in Georgia or any other city in America, know that selling a home is a learning process. It isn’t something a person does every day. When you keep a learning mindset and prepare for what’s ahead of you, it will help you keep things under control while you pocket a good amount of money at closing.

What is for sale by owner?

You can sell your house in America in many different ways. For example, you can sell to companies that buy houses for cash. Or a much better option, financially, would be to sell your house by taking the for sale by owner or FSBO route. When you choose the latter option, you lead most of the home selling process right from listing your home to closing the sale.

There are broadly two categories of selling a house FSBO:

1. You know the buyer. She may be a family member or a friend and so you won’t have to find a buyer. Also, you are happy to take care of the other formalities associated with a home sale on your own and wouldn’t want to involve a real estate agent. Many FSBO transactions happen in this way where home sellers do not have to market their home.
2. You want to sell your home completely on your own. In this scenario, you lead the complete process: to repair your home, set a price for it, market it, stage it, get the paperwork done, handle the negotiations and close the sale. You can always get specialized help when selling your home FSBO such as using a flat fee MLS listing service like Houzeo to list your house on your local MLS.

Pros of selling a house by owner

Below are some of the advantages of selling a house by owner:

• Complete control over the sale: You deal directly with your buyers or buyer agents without any middleman in between, which could sometimes complicate things. You can choose the offers you want and decide how to market your home.
• Save big on commission: You get to keep more of your profits after making the sale as you don’t have to pay for a realtor’s commission, which is about six percent of the sale price of a home.
• Sell your home quickly: As per the data by the National Association of Realtors, most FSBO homes are sold in under two weeks.

Cons of selling a house by owner

Below are some of the disadvantages of selling a house by owner:

• You are on your own: This can be a con too as you have to tackle all the obstacles pertaining to a home sale without any professional help. Obstacles could include dealing with issues with the home title, non-permitted work, and financing as well as repair issues. A realtor is a professional who can easily deal with such problems whereas for you everything would be new.
• Your home could sell for less: As per the data from the NAR, selling a house by owner can lead to a lower sales price.
• It can be overwhelming: If you are thinking about how to sell your house by owner in Georgia or any other city in America, note that it requires time and patience. You have to do it all: researching recent sales, fixing price, prepping your home for sale, marketing it, setting appointments, answering the phone, negotiating offers, and closing the sale. Doing it all can be challenging as well as time-consuming.

How to sell your house by owner?

Of course, you would want to sell your home so that you get to keep a higher-than-expected amount of money during the closing. For that and some other reasons, homeowners often prefer to sell their house FSBO without a realtor. You can even sell your house to companies that buy houses for cash but you’d get less money as compared to the value of your house. Selling a house for sale by owner or FSBO requires time, drive, and ambition.

After going through the pros and cons of selling your home by owner, if you still think that FSBO would be the right option for you, read ahead. You can plan and position yourself better for success. Take the following steps to sell your house by owner in Georgia or someplace else:

1. Prep your home

Of course, your home has to look good in order to sell quickly and for good money. Prepping your home is the first step. Polishing up the interior and exterior of the home with paint, etc. would increase your home’s curb appeal. It could take a while even to make minor repairs so be prepared.

Even if you are not selling FSBO and working with an agent, prepping your home is an important first step. Also, the best time to prepare your home for sale is before marketing it. Get your home staged for photos so that your home listing can be posted online as soon as possible and you can start reviewing offers.

2. Set the right price

Do your homework on properties sold in your area. You can use the home value estimator tool present on real estate websites to get a price estimate of your property. You can even get a comparative market analysis done by an agent to arrive at a more accurate price. The third and best way is to hire a home appraiser, as she will be required anyways during the home buying process and you can use her to calculate the right price of your home.

3. Market it

You can list your house on free FSBO websites or better, list it at a good flat fee MLS website like Houzeo that integrates your house listing to top real estate websites as well. You can put up yard signs, post on social media, print flyers, talk to friends and family, and even set up a website to market your home. To know more about them check Houzeo reviews.

4. Show and tell

We know that showing your house can get tricky, especially when you have kids or pets to shift from the home for each showing. One option is that you can offer a video tour of your house with a 3D video. However, eventually, a prospective buyer and even a home inspector would need to look at your home in person. This way, your chances to sell the home also increase.

5. Review offer and negotiate

Once your home listing is online, offers hopefully start pouring in. You’ll be required to review the home buyer’s offer and the purchase contract, which is where help from an attorney could help you. Prospective buyers and agents could include contingencies like purchases are dependent on findings from a home inspection, etc. You would also need to provide disclosures to buyers, often required by state law.

6. Close the sale

The last leg of the process is sale closure after which you can stop being a one-time realtor! Some states may need you to have a lawyer during the closing.

Bottom line

Remember that you are selling your home FSBO essentially to cut costs and once the process is over, you are supposed to get the sale done for a cost that is less than if you had hired a realtor. Even if you don’t hire a real estate agent and are selling your house by owner in Georgia or elsewhere, you’ll need to hire at least some real estate professionals to complete the process like a real estate attorney, an appraiser, and a title company.

FSBO can be a good way to sell a home if you are still wondering how to sell your house by owner in Georgia or any other city, but it makes the home selling process a little complicated. You would need to be aware of many processes and documentation of the process and be on top of many things to close the deal. In such a situation, it is best to get some professional help from a For Sale By Owner platform like Houzeo.