BY OWNER
HOW TO SELL YOUR OWN HOME
AND SAVE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN COMMISSION
James P Hart and www.diy-realtor.com

Published by DIY Realtor
www.diy-realtor.com
Copyright © DIY-Realtor 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
without the prior written permission of DIY Realtor other than in the normal course of quoting copyrighted material.
You are free to distribute this report provided it remains intact, including this copyright notice. You are expressly
forbidden from charging a fee for this book and if you have been charged a fee please contact the copyright holder.

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
Do you really need to pay INTRODUCTION
the thousands of dollars of
It's a cliché, however, buying and selling homes can be the largest financial
commission for a document transactions most people do in their lifetimes. Of course this also tends to
you can create yourself... mean a stressful time for many people. This is one of the reasons realtors exist
today. They provide assistance with things like the legalities, however, once
you are familiar with them it is not difficult to do it yourself.
In the following pages you will see a summary of things to consider before
deciding if going down the for sale by owner route is appropriate for you.
It is not as easy as selling your unwanted stuff on eBay or Craigslist, then
again, it is not as difficult as realtors make it out to be either. There are many
people like you, who are considering selling their homes themselves and many
who have already done it and saved thousands of dollars.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
Some great businesses have CREATE A MARKETING PLAN
been started with marketing
This isn't as daunting as it sounds and if you follow a few basic steps, you will
plans thrown together on have a plan to follow until the house is sold. A plan is important because you
scrappy bits of paper need to make sure things some things are dealt with in a certain order and also
when time is limited, you have already considered the issues and know the
desired outcomes.
At this stage you need to consider whether for sale by owner (FSBO) route is
for you. Some things to consider include:
●
others in your neighborhood have done it
●
you have a lot of traffic past your house
●
you have the time to do it yourself
●
you can take your own photos
Do you want to save thousands in realtor's commission? If you have answered
yes to all of these, or most of them, then the FSBO option is definitely worth
considering.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
Technically (single Below are a few items to help you get an idea of what is involved.
property webistes) pay for
Create a timeline
themselves with savings
Creating a timeline helps you see, all in one place, everything that needs to be
from other areas
done and if some things are dependent on others being completed first. It also
helps to get your head around all the tasks and ensure things don't slip through
the cracks.
Establish a marketing budget
You will still need to spend some money on items such as creating and printing
flyers, local newspaper classifieds, sign for the front yard and maybe an online
FSBO type website.
There are also the dedicated websites like the packages provided by
DIY Realtor. Other costs can be reduced because people can be directed to the
website where there is more information. No need for long classifieds to
describe your property, a brief description (less cost) and a link to the website
is sufficient. They pay for themselves with savings from other areas.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
Realtors often overprice a Research the neighborhood
property to get the listing
You might have lived in the neighborhood for years, however, do you really
then work to reduce the know all the benefits? Walk and/or drive around your neighborhood and look at
it from a different perspective. Put yourself in the shoes of a first time visitor
vendor's expectations once
and make note of the types of amenities, public areas like parks and beaches,
they have signed schools, hospitals, shops etc.
Open homes or appointment only
Open homes are good for getting more people through the door, however, the
drawback is more work. In the end it is your decision and perhaps a mix of
both is the best option. Schedule maybe a couple of open homes in the first
few weeks on both the weekend and during the week in the evening.
Setting the price
Research your neighbohood is to see what other properties are selling for and
this helps you put a value on your home. Realtors have access to sales data
and is one of the benefits. Is it worth a few thousand dollars? Probably not.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
don't just do the scatter gun ADVERTISING
approach and think that if
Advertising comes in so many variations and it can be difficult to narrow it
you do a bit of everything down to a few methods. Classifieds and other print adverisements can be
that is will work out the expensive if you have a long description so a wise use of words will save
dollars. This is where a single property website advertising package like the
best
DIY Realtor property websites can help to save money because you can direct
them to the website address in the advertisement and it doesn't cost more to
include ten words or a thousand words on the website.
Signs
There are reasons why realtors are quick to get a sign in the front yard of a
property and that is because it works as far as letting people know a property is
for sale. The internet means people can seach online, however, there are still
people who drive around neighborhoods looking for houses .Most printers will
know exactly what you need when you say you want a for sale sign for your
house.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
don't just do the scatter gun ADVERTISING
approach and think that if
Advertising comes in so many variations and it can be difficult to narrow it
you do a bit of everything down to a few methods. Classifieds and other print adverisements can be
that is will work out the expensive if you have a long description so wise use of words will save dollars.
This is where an advertising package like the DIY Realtor property websites can
best
help to save money because you can direct them to the website address in the
advertisement and it doesn't cost more to include ten words or a thousand
words on the website.
Signs
There are reasons why realtors are quick to get a sign in the front yard of a
property and that is because it works as far as letting people know a property is
for sale. The internet means people can seach online, however, there are still
people who drive around neighborhoods looking for houses. Most printers will
know exactly what you need when you say you want a for sale sign for your
house.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
A short distinctive Classified advertisements
description designed to
If your local newspaper still runs real estate classified advertisements and there
spark the potential buyer's are plenty of properties listed, then it is a good indication that people looking to
buy in the area still use them as a source of information.
interest followed by the
contact details Always be thinking of the benefits when writing your advertisements. Appeal to
the buyer's emotions and don't just sell the house, sell the lifestyle. Remember
in all your advertising to mention that the property is being sold by owner and
include your contact details or refer them to your website.
Single property websites
Single property websites are exactly what they sound like and are websites
dedicated solely to one property. If you have the necessary web development
skills then you can do this yourself by registering a domain (url) name,
organising a hosting account, creating the site and then uploading the photos
and description of your home. This isn't for everyone, so a market has opened
whereby single property websites are created and then the home owners can
add their content and update it as necessary.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
Be careful of the cheap The benefits of a single property website include:
basic packages as they ●
flexibility in the way you can describe your home
usually don't include all the ●
ability to upload a larger number of photos and possibly video
unique site and visitors will remember it more easily
necessary features and you
●
●
a more memorable domain name such as www.123rodeodrive.com rather
need to upgrade at a cost. than www.fsbodirectory.com/56385453
It isn't necessarily the ●
eliminate the unnecessary enquiries by giving plenty of detail
●
more control over the website
cheapest any more...
●
seach engine friendly
●
depending on the service, such as the DIY Realtor packages, no
programming skills are need
●
usually, no extra software is required
The cost of single property websites is very reasonable and based on the
exposure, it is much cheaper than newspaper classifieds and other forms of
print advertising. The best way to take advantage of them is to drive all your
other marketing efforts to the website. Always include the website address on
your marketing materials and encourage potential buyers to visit the website
for more information. This way they pay for themselves because of the savings
in other advertising costs and your time because people can look before calling.
www.diy-realtor.com

BY OWNER - How to sell your own home
A single property website is WHAT NOW?
a great way to achieve the
Hopefully this report has given you plenty of food for thought as to whether a
result you want for sale by owner selling method is for you. As can be seen, there is nothing
difficult about the process and most tasks can be completed with a bit of
common sense and work. If you wish to maximise the amount you end up with
in your pocket and save on realtor's fees then the for sale by owner approach
is definitely worth considering and if you go down this route then a single
property website can be a real advantage.
The expanded report goes on to give further advice aboutpreparing and
showing your home, plus dealing with potential buyers. It is free and there is
no obligation to purchase anything. As an added benefit, you will also receive a
link to get an extra 10% off the advertised price of the DIY Realtor website
pacakge to sell your home online.
Good luck and here's hoping you have a successful sale.
www.diy-realtor.com

You can get an expanded
version of this report for free,
plus a further 10% off the
purchase price by using
the link below
Click to get the expanded version of this report