The Process- Hire an agent who knows the market. Set a realistic price. Get a pre-sale home inspection and set a timeline for selling your home so you don’t waste money on needless upgrades. Get professional photos. Hire a Staging Company. List your house on the market. Review and negotiate offers. Anticipate seller closing costs and weigh the tax implications. Gather necessary paperwork to close. A good agent does a lot to earn their fee and will guide you through all the heavy lifting and dealing with paperwork. However, since they are not actually buying your house it leaves a lot up in the air and you may need to make some seller concessions.

Typical Time-frame: 2-5 months from start to finish — or much longer (sometimes a bit shorter), depending on local market conditions, the level of inventory available, and the condition of your house.

Professional Tips – Plan on the cost of selling your house this route to cost 11.5% of the sales price.

One great tip is to add 3.5% to the selling price of your house and then offer to cover 3.5% of their down payment. If the realtor suggest you sell your house for $80,000 then add 3.5% ($2,800) and list it for $82,800. You will catch a higher interest out of typical home buyers who are usually strapped for money anyway.

Personal thoughts – The majority of homes are sold on the MLS through Realtors though it is not the best solutions for everyone and not necessarily how you can get the most money for your house. Before I got into real estate investing I narrowly avoided foreclosure on a house while taking an $8k loss on the property I sold through a realtor. However, I was still grateful for it to resolve at the time. Bottom line is that if you have the time to wait for something to eventually go through, holding cost don’t matter much, you are prepared to makes some seller concessions, and you have looked at all other options, a good Realtor could be a solid option.

The Process- It’s a rare person that I suggest go this route. This is really only a viable option for experienced home sellers who are willing to put in the time and effort. Research shows that FSBO homes typically sell for about 6% less than those listed with agents (guess how much a listing agent fee is? …3%) AND you’ll still usually have to pay an additional 3% fee for the buyer’s agent commission. FSBO homes usually take longer to sell and are more likely to fall out of contract after accepting an offer.

Going this route one might consider using a Flat-Fee or Discount Agent such as such as Redfin or Clever. You won’t get the same amount of hands-on help of a full-service agent but when you consider that nearly 87% of buyers work with a realtor and the rest of us are generally investors, it still makes sense to get on the MLS if you go this route.

See why I say a good agent is well worth their fee? The extra 2% saves you a lot of time and hassle. Too many people spend a dollar to try and say a dime be sure to weigh the true cost of your decision and sell your house to us or go with a realtor.

Typical Time-frame: Hard to say, as it varies so much and I’ve seen very few people actually do it. Maybe 6+ months.

Professional Tip – If you were to go this route you do not have the benefit of someone else who knows the process and how to handle all the paperwork. You will need to setup closing with a title company (we like using Monument Title Insurance Company) and it would be a good idea at the very least to consider hiring a real estate attorney like Hocker & Associates or Jeff Jinks Law.

Personal thoughts – Selling your house yourself is technically doable. It takes a lot of work and research, you should hire a real estate attorney, but it is absolutely doable.

Even though I know how to do it all, when I have a property to sell at retail, I still use a realtor. The only two situations I really sell a property “for sale by owner” is when I sell a house either to another investor to help them on their path or I sell it on a lease with an option to a family. When I do this, I do it so I can help provide a family with a home they could not otherwise qualify for and I teach them how to fix their credit and realize the American Dream.

The Process- Really there is only 3 simple steps here. 1) You fill out the form and we agree on a fair price 2) We verify everything so we can go to closing. 3) We pay you cash for your house! …Well, technically we pay the title company who in turn pays you either by wiring you the money or sending you a check.

Typical Time-frame: 7 to 35 days from the day we sign the purchase contract. We typically plan for 30 days on closing so life is not so stressed on everyone’s end, though, we can plan around needs that you have for closing date.

Professional Tip – Regardless of which way is best for your needs, do your homework and look for a partner in this transaction (be it a realtor or a cash buyer) who’s open, honest, and will take good care of you.

Even if an all cash option isn’t the right option for you we can explore buying your house more “creatively” – this is a great way that we can pay more for your house if you are willing to take the money over time.

Personal thoughts – Selling to the right cash buyer can sometimes get you more money than a realtor and sometimes not. It all depends on a combination of your situation, the market, and the house you need to sell. Remember that house I took an $8k loss on all those years ago? Had I known about it an investor like myself at the time, buying my house subject-to could have avoided my 8k loss I took in selling my house. To never have to go through that again and solve those issues for myself and others is a contributing factor as to why I got into real estate investing.