Should I Sell Privately? | Silver Burtnick & Associates Real Estate

With the market going through constant change, it is natural that Sellers would be thinking about selling privately to maximize their profit. This is a tough market and you have to be primed to sell, so here are some suggestions that might help:

First Things First

It might seem simple, but the truth is that selling a home is a remarkably complex transaction regardless of how active the market may be. Therefore, having an agent at your side will always be your best bet. Not only can they help you maximize your results, but they also take care of the logistical heavy lifting. Selling a home comes with a ton of paperwork, legal documents, and other processes, an agent knows exactly how to navigate this step.

If you’re fully committed to heading to the market on your own, here are a few small tips that can help you avoid headaches, setbacks, and selling for less than what you hoped for.

Want to know more about choosing the best real estate agent for selling your home? Check out these blog posts.

Get a Home Inspection

99% of homes in this market will be inspected for flaws, so you need a knowledgeable 3rd party to go through your home to make sure it will pass a home inspection. You might even want to hire a pre-selling Home Inspection by a certified Home Inspector.

Certain issues could prove to be an out for a Buyer at closing time if you knew them and did not disclose them at the time of the Offer. With that in mind, you’ll want to disclose in writing what the Home Inspector finds.

Get Rid of Clutter

I would suggest off-site storage rather than filling the basement or garage to the brim. This just broadcasts to the Buyer one of the shortcomings of your home.

Price Correctly

Make sure that you know what the most recent sales are (not listings, as they may be overpriced) and then reduce your house to reflect that you are not using an agent. If you are offering your house privately, the buyer must perceive a benefit to them. The biggest mistake private sellers make is pricing their house within the market range and not reflecting that there is no commission.

Selling your home in order to downsize? Check out some of these helpful articles from our blog.

Create a Web Presence For Your Home

Very few people buy anything today without searching on the Internet so your home-sale website must be viewable by the largest market out there. Remember that your competition is National, Regional and Local MLS that have spent years and thousands of dollars to be in the top positions, not to mention the Brokers and Franchises.

Additionally, it can be helpful to post your home on Kijiji.com. This site offers great visibility. However, make sure that you re-post often as they keep the newer posts at the top or on Kijiji you can pay to have your post on the front page for a period of time.

Hire a Professional Photographer

Buyers want as much information as possible before they even view the property. I believe in these photo formats so strongly that I even pay for these photos of vacant houses or ones needing major renovations. Don’t waste your time or the Buyer’s time by alluding to qualities that are not there or could-be-maybe-potentially there.

Don’t Leave Buyers Hanging

This means answering any calls, emails, or text messages as soon as you receive them.

Unless I am in a business meeting, I respond as soon as I can. Buyers, mostly come from a generation that views microwaves as slow cooking….you must be prepared to respond ASAP.

Expect Calls From Agents

You will get a lot of phone calls from Buyer-agents who will tell you that they have clients that would be perfect for your property.

They may be right, so allow them to show your house. Remember they, like you, will not work for free so your pricing should take that into account.

Host an Open House

Open Houses are the way that a lot of Buyers surf the marketplace to buy. Make sure that you use proper signage.

The City of Toronto mandates that all Open House signs show the address and time of the Open House. Make sure that you have visited the local stock of houses in your area with a Buyer’s eye. To be noticed you will have to be the best on the market that day.

Want to know more about the value of Open Houses? Explore our blog post on the topic here.

Have Your Lawyer on Standby

If you receive an Offer on your property you should have a knowledgeable 3rd party (Lawyer) lined up and ready to take you through the contract, explain the clauses and watch for conditions or timing that could pose future problems.

When I sit down with clients, their first thought is price, mine is the terms and conditions. I have seen too many times when sellers became so obsessed with the price that they forgot other “small” issues that by closing became “huge” ones. The job of the 3rd party is to make sure that those issues are not missed in all the excitement.

If that 3rd party is also giving you pricing advice make sure they know the market and have a grasp of negotiation skills and can view the issues from the Buyers side.

Note: when I have bought or sold for myself I have always run through my offer with an Office Manager or Lawyer for that important 3rd party viewpoint. Sometimes they have presented my own offer for me so I can have the proper emotional distance to make the right decisions.

Beyond managing the listing process of your home, real estate agents provide other services to support your goals. Explore these blog posts to learn more.

Keep Records of Communication

After completing the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, perform all communication that occurs between Buyer and Seller by email rather than phone. Keeps these conversations in an online folder until closing and up to 6 years after just in case.

Make sure that all parties in the transaction disclose, in writing, their relationship to either you or the Buyer. REALTORS must always disclose their fiduciary duty in writing at the time of the offer.

Be Prepared For Buyer Visits

In most transactions, the Agreement will allow the Buyer to visit your property for a Building Inspection and other purposes.

Make sure these are stipulated in the contract by both the number of visits and the length. If you don’t, you could be in for a big surprise when all the 20 long-lost buyers’ family members visit with three contractors looking to compete for quotes.

I usually suggest two or three visits of no more than one hour at mutually agreeable times. Once again, keep all questions and answers in writing (via email) so there are no misinterpretations later…the old he said-she said.

Ask For a Substantial Deposit

During negotiations, be sure to ask for a deposit of 5-10% of the purchase price. This will be held by your lawyer in Trust until everything is finalized. As a seller, a deposit of this size will give you a sense of the seriousness of the Buyer.

Be Wary of On-Sale Conditions of the Buyer’s Property

You may have sold your property conditionally for a great price and find that the Buyer decides to overprice their home. In essence, your home is pulled from the marketplace with little guarantee that the Buyer will get a satisfactory offer and start the ball rolling. You might want to ask the Buyer to have a Professional appraisal of his property before agreeing to this Condition.

Do Not Accept Cash

Do not under any circumstances accept cash as part of the transaction. FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) is keeping an eye on suspicious movements of cash and I am authorized to ask for and retain the personal information of all Sellers and Buyers.

Be Careful of Scam Artists

Sometimes Scam Artists hunt for Private Sellers because they think that there will be less scrutiny in the transaction.

A client of mine whose brother helped her sell privately accepted a long conditional offer. A week after it fell through we listed at $399,000. Imagine our surprise when a Bank called to say they had an offer sitting on the desk of their fraud department for $540,000 of the property. The conditional Buyer was trying to finance a house for $150,000 more than the value. Thankfully, the transfer was held up by the Bank’s scrutiny.

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