Private Home Selling Hints

If, even after reading the opinion on selling privately, you've decided to have a go at selling your home yourself, you might find these private home selling hints usefull.

Selling Property Is About People

Selling a home is all about the people. The property will simply fulfill someone's needs.

The above statement might seem like lunacy untill you really think it through. When you put your home in the market, you are actually shopping for a person with a need that can be fulfilled by your property, AND a person with the means to give you what you want in return for fulfilling this need.

Read the article on buying property to get an idea of the different motivations that might move a buyer to buy your property. Honestly ask yourself what kind of buyer would be interested in your property. This will help you target your marketing to reach those potential buyers that are most likely to buy the property you have to offer.

Remember to focus on the potential buyer's needs in the marketing, advertising, showing and negotiations about the property. A private seller should be looking for the best compromise between meeting his/her own needs as well as the needs of the buyers.

Be "professional" in your dealings with potential buyers. A sense of hostility from the private seller may make the buyer less willing to compromise. Being too familiar with buyers might be an invitation for an unscrupulous buyer to take advantage of the private seller's hospitality and inexperience.

Finding Buyers

You need to know where buyers come from to design and implement a workable marketing plan. Buyers hunt houses, not estate agencies. If your property is properly marketed and the price is market related, the buyers will come.

The Real Estate Home Hub Network is a real estate portal website for property buyers, private sellers and real estate agents, and features FREE listings for both real estate agents and private sellers. They allow up to 3 photos per listing and unlimited listings per user. Websites like these can be invaluable in the marketing of your own home.

Taking Offers To Purchase

This is the part of private selling that scares most private sellers. Actually both private sellers and property buyers who buy from private sellers have good reason to get nervous here! The Offer to Purchase is a contract. It is the WHOLE of the contract of sale. Private sellers should know how to get it right the first time, because renegotiating a contract of sale at some later date can be very problematic!

It is not enough to stuff a blank offer form in a prospective buyers hand and hope that they will come back to you! Many property buyers that could potentially make an offer to purchase your home need to be sat down and asked to do so. If a private seller neglects to do this, they risk never getting an offer from some willing buyers.

Before or after every viewing, it is important to have a sit-down with the potential buyers. Invite them for coffee if you have to, but take a moment to talk to them. The kitchen- or dining room table is the best place for this. This "sit-down" is buyer time. Refrain from speaking about yourself or your property. You want to know more about the buyers in front of you.

Ask questions about the buyers AND truly listen. You should be trying to establish a trust, but to gain their trust, they first have to get to like you a bit. People like other people who are truly interested in them, their needs and their interests. Memorize a list of questions to ask, if this is not your strong point. Ask about their current home, their jobs, pets, parents, hobbies, sports, pet hates etc. This can take quite a bit of time, so don't be in a hurry.

After building a bit of mutual interest and trust, walk them through the house again. The house might not have changed, but the buyers' attitude toward the house and the owner (you) might have improved. So, after viewing the home, sit down again. Ask them to give you their honest opinion of the property. Take notes, because the reactions you get might prove valuable. If everyone remarks on the broken toilet door, it might be a good idea to get it repaired, lest a few small repairs cost you thousands in the eventual selling price.

Now, after going through this whole process, take out the printed offer to purchase. Don't ask them if they would like to make an offer! Just start filling in your own details so long. Buyers aren't stupid! They will realise what is going on. Ask them how much they would like to offer. Don't ask them IF they would like to make an offer.

They might want to discuss things a little more, so do it! A buyer that lifts his/her hands in surrender and wants to "come back" to you, won't. You are both around the negotiation table just then. If you let them leave without making an offer, they probably never will. The buyers obviously have concerns about making an offer, so discuss it. If they ask for some "time" to think it over, tell them that you are willing to go and switch the kettle on again, to give them as much time as they need. But time will not change anything about your house. If you have given them all the answers they require, but they still won't make an offer, they most probable won't come back later. If they are not interested in your property at all, they will tell you so now. Let them know that it's okay if they dont want to buy!

If they name a price, jot it down on a writing pad before filling in the space on the offer to purchase. You still need to find out about the deposit, bond amount, occupation date and special conditions they want to add to the agreement. Discuss everything in detail. Now confirm and tick off all the important terms of the offer to purchase. Only after doing all of this, you can fill in the terms exactly as on the writing pad.

As private seller, you have to know the meaning and consequences of every clause in the contract that you decide to use. Go through the contract with the buyer. Summarize the meaning of each clause in a single sentence. Then allow the buyers some time to read through the offer to purchase. They don't have to read it, but you have to allow them time to do so, if they wish.

Have the buyers initial every page and sign in full in the spaces provided, and get a witness to verify their signatures. Tell them that you will discuss the offer with your spouse or an advisor and get back to them as soon as a decision has been made. It is always easier to say no to a bad offer without the buyer present. So, set it up so that you can shift the blame for not accepting an offer onto a third party, if needed. Proceedings can be kept much more civil that way. The last thing you want is an argument in your dining room with a rejected buyer who feels upset.

It would be wise to line up a willing neighbour to act as witness. Get witnesses that are not part of your family would be safest. A witness does not need to know the terms of the agreement. Witnesses must be able to verify (in court, if needed) that the signature on the offer to purchase document belongs to the buyer. That is all!

Buyer Qualification

After drawing up an offer to purchase, you need to do a bit of buyer qualification. Private sellers usually put the cart before the horse here. At this stage you are only interested in the buyer's ability to get a home loan. Don't talk as if you have already accepted their offer!

Now is the time for the really personal questions. Explain to the buyers that you need a bit of personal information to allow you to make an informed decision about their offer. Don't shy away now! Ask for all the information you need to properly qualify them. Ask for copies of their Identity Documents, pay-slips, financial statements and bank staytements, if needed. If the prospective buyers don't have some of the information handy, arrange to FETCH it from them. You don't wat to rely on them SENDING it t you, because that might never happen.

All these documents and information are important if your contract allows you to apply for financing on their behalf. Always allow them three working days to apply for a home loan themselves, but if they don't apply, contact a bank or bond originator to start a home loan application on the buyer's behalf (if the contact allows this).

If you don't feel comfortable asking for such personal information, real estate agents and bond originators are willing to do it for you, at no cost to you, or the buyer. The banks actually pay people to do the dirty work for you! So, contact a bond originator immediately, should you feel uncomfortable asking some very personal questions!