For Sale By Owner: Get Your Home Value Right

If you've decided to sell your home but don't want to pay a real estate professional the money to facilitate the sale, you will most likely end up doing a 'For Sale By Owner' or FSBO. Selling your home as a FSBO involves a lot of work, and step one is to dive into the research phase. Your obvious first step is getting an idea of what your home value is. There are several ways to find your home value, many of which can be done for little or no cost.
You can visit many different online sites that will give you a home value based on old property records and comparables in your market. Though these sites can be WAY off the mark, it's a good base point to start. You can also use a site that will give you a free home value report in exchange for giving your information to a local real estate agent. Although this means an agent would be contacting you, you can use them to your advantage and glean as much information from them about selling your home (like an accurate home value or comparative market analysis) without actually committing to listing with the agent.
Do some research and get some comparables. Look for other homes for sale or already sold in your area and find out their home value or what the home sold for. It's best to stick with homes that have similar features in terms of size, amenities and upkeep. If you don't mind spending money, you can also get an accurate home value by hiring an appraiser to give you a home value estimate. An appraisal is more of an objective opinion, not an exact science, so depending on your appraiser, your home value may vary somewhat. When it comes to buying and selling, appraisals are usually based on market value.
Once you've gotten your home value from at least two or more sources, you should be able to find an average home value to set as a listing price. You may want to run it by a lender as well, since buyers often need a mortgage and it's important that a home value and sale price be in line with a lender's estimate of its value. If the lender thinks the home is priced way too high, it's unlikely a potential buyer could get a mortgage. It's also important to be accurate and fair as to what you're asking for price wise, since studies show that homes priced more than 3% over the correct home value take much longer to sell.

Once you've got an idea of what your home value is, it's time to ready the home to be shown. (Of course, all the while keep in mind you should be coming up with ideas to actually MARKET the home – how will you attract buyers if they don't know the home's for sale! But that's an article for another day....). You can certainly spruce up your home (though maybe not your home value) to make it more appealing to buyers. Some ideas will cost a bit of money, but most are free.

Be sure to get rid of clutter and clean thoroughly inside and out. That means cleaning the home from top to bottom, getting rid of stains, smells, etc. Take care of the outside first: deweed the lawn, clean up clutter (such as your kids' toys), buy a new mailbox if you need one and put a fresh coat of paint on door frames or shutters, wherever it's needed. Clean your gutters and give everything that should be shiny a good polish. These tips may not necessarily raise your home value, but by not doing them, there's every chance you'll lose out on buyers.

Selling your home as a FSBO is a lot of work, but can be worth it if the proper research and procedures are followed. By making your home as presentable as possible, being flexible with showings and pricing it right (no matter what you THINK your home value should be) you're more likely to attract serious buyers. Although you may think your home value is sky high, when it comes to selling, what really matters is how to make buyers feel like they just HAVE to buy. Show your house in such a light that buyers can't just walk away. Make sure their visit memorable, because if you're not memorable you will be forgotten. And that means your home too.

Find out your own home value and other valuable homeowner information at GetMyHomesValue.com

Ashley Lichty is a webmaster and the resident SEO of Web Xtreme, Inc. She has a background in real estate and marketing with an emphasis in writing.