Selling the house by owner is becoming more and more mainstream with new companies coming up offering even better services and making the process of home sale a little more convenient. If you are wondering how to sell a house by owner in Texas, you have many great options to do so.
Read on to find out how to rake in the maximum profit while selling a home and the final steps in the process of how to sell a house by owner in Texas.
How do you maximize your profit in a home sale?
One way to maximize your profit in a home sale is by reducing seller fees. That can be done by reducing your agent commission by choosing a good flat fee MLS Texas like Houzoe. But you can also maximize your profit by getting the most value for your home. For that, you’d need to make your home better and presentable.
We all love our homes and due to the same reason, we might not be able to pay attention to some of its minuses as they have been a part of our life for a long time. For example, your home may have a particular smell that has become ingrained in your life. It’s no big deal for you but a buyer would notice every single small thing before making her decision. That is the reason why you shouldn’t take any chance on something as trivial as a pungent in the air.
Below are the ways to make your home ready for sale so that it attracts top dollar before listing it on a flat fee MLS in Texas:
- Declutter your home
Deep cleaning of your home is important before you put your house up for sale. These are things you can get done by professionals. In addition to scrubbing out your home, you must clean out the grids of heaters, air conditioners, and fridges to get rid of any stale smells. Also, add some air fresheners into the mix or peel an orange to help get fresher smells in the air before house showings.
Decluttering is an easy way to make your home more presentable. Simply declutter your home by getting rid of all your personal belongings and things that you do not use. Buyers need to be able to imagine themselves living in your home and to enable that thought you must remove your stuff all over your home. When you are selling a home, you are trying to sell the buyer her own fantasy.
- Boost your curb appeal
Curb appeal is a term used by real estate agents for a reason. First impressions are critical in real estate as they decide whether the buyer would eventually buy your home or not. For starters, most of the potential buyers would not even step foot inside the door and will instead look at pictures of your home’s exterior or take a look at the home from the outside.
A worn-out exterior is a huge turn-off to potential buyers as the first thought that’ll come to their mind is that they might have to pay to fix them. Don’t let them think that. Weed the garden, mow the lawn, clean the gutters, wash the windows, repaint the shutters, and power wash the clapboards among other little chores to boost your curb appeal make a good first impression in front of buyers.
- Make big and small repairs
Your father must have told you that paying someone to do something you can do yourself is silly. You have to make big and small repairs to your home like repainting a room, fixing door knobs, patching holes, and deep cleaning your home among other tasks. It is easy to hire a professional to do all of these but it is far more expensive than if you could do it yourself.
You are more capable than you think and sources like YouTube could help you make small household repairs without paying anyone. You can avoid thousands of dollars in handyman expenses if you DIY.
But you also have to see the value the repair or addition to your home is bringing. Installing energy-saving windows or making a new car garage, even taking the help of a professional can actually raise the value of your property. Such smart investments made into your home can humorously increase your profits down the line.
Final steps you need to take to sell a house by owner in Texas
Real estate closing procedures and laws are different in different states. But as a Texan seller, you have to go through the following steps to make happen a successful real estate transaction:
- Accept offers from the buyer and work with an attorney
The final process in a home sale begins when you accept the buyer’s offer and both of you sign a contract agreeing to the sale at a fixed price. At this time, you may request a deposit called earnest money to be paid to an escrow agent or attorney. The signed contract is later sent to a title company or an attorney to transfer the property title to the new owner legally. At this point, your real estate attorney confirms details of your property like address, area, items included in the sale, description of land, etc. things listed on the deed.
2. Give full disclosure to the buyer
You must warn the buyer of any issues known to you about the property. Disclosures may include environmental hazards, past repairs, and anything that could affect the property’s value. You must provide a full list of disclosures before the closing date and the buyer has to acknowledge them before the sale gets finalized.
3. Assist buyers in inspections
It is the buyer’s responsibility to make thorough inspections of your property as per the time period mentioned in the purchase contract. Note that there are different kinds of inspections. The home inspector is usually the first one who would scrutinize your property. You may also need to perform a drywall and termite inspection. Then, a real estate surveyor may be brought along to determine the exact boundaries of your property, see if anything is encroaching onto the property, and check whether access to the roadway is obstructed.
4. Consider buyer requests and make negotiations
After inspections are done, buyers may ask you to do any repair work, reduce the sales price of your home, or pay for a part of the closing costs as per the results of the inspection. The buyer may request a home warranty for major parts of the home like the furnace and the roof for a year after the sale. You may agree to the buyer’s requests, say no to making repairs, or negotiate the sales price. If the buyer is not satisfied with the conditions, she can negotiate more or even end the transaction and get her earnest money fully refunded.
5. Wait for the buyer to secure a mortgage
After a final home sale price is agreed upon, if the buyer is purchasing the home on a loan, she must apply for a mortgage. Mostly, buyers have to secure a pre-approval with a lender even before making an offer and must provide flood insurance, proof of homeowners’ insurance, and other policies. After the buyer is approved for the loan amount, a licensed appraiser checks out the property to estimate its value. In case the home’s price is more than the value that comes out in the appraisal, the buyer may request you to reduce the sale price.
6. Fulfill pre-closing
The closing date is fixed and all the sale paperwork is collected during pre-closing. The paperwork includes title insurance, lender forms, the deed, and copies of all the documents necessary for closing. The buyer is given the final cash figure she must bring during the closing, mostly as a cashier’s check. The buyer is responsible to do a final walkthrough of the property before closing to ensure that the property is in the condition that was agreed upon by both parties.
7. Closing
Closing of the home takes place either in the real estate office, the attorney’s office, or the title company office. The buyer and seller have to be present to sign the documents of the sale and the loan. A representative from the title company adds the new deed to the municipal records. After the documents are signed and payment is given, the buyer gets possession of the keys and officially becomes the owner of the property.
To sum it up
So, you can pay attention to your home and maximize its selling price. You must remember at all times that you are choosing to sell your house FSBO so that you can cut costs and get the sale done for a cost lesser than what you would incur if you hired a realtor. Also, even when you are selling your house by owner, you may still need to hire certain experts as clear from the steps in the home sale process enlisted above. Real estate professionals like a real estate attorney, a title company, and an appraiser could help you close the sale of your home.
