Here is the truth about selling your home FSBO. Indeed you can save money from other traditional selling solutions but selling your home on you own is not for everyone and should not be used in every situation. Below you will find the basic steps in selling your home by yourself.Selling You Home Steps: Attend Your Local FSBO Seminar: In every major metro city there are FSBO companies that operate the local FSBO advertising market. These companies can be helpful but in my experiences they give you vague information and charge you for everything. FSBO seminars are not for everyone and will cost a few dollars, usually between $25-$45 per person. It is a 30-60 minute presentation by a FSBO company employee on how to sell your home. Most of the presentation is directed on how their company can help you and the products/services they provide. If you want to save some time and a little money do your own research or finish reading this post and you will know all the steps involved in selling your home on your own.Determine Market Value: For this step I am a firm believer you should spend a little time or money. It is not as easy as driving through your neighborhood and seeing what your neighbors home is selling for. Determining market value is much more complex and should be done very carefully. Market value of your home should consider all the details about your home including but not limited to; square footage (above grade and below grade square footage have different values), floor plan, upgrades, neighborhood, school districts, curb appeal, surrounding amenities, age of home…and the list goes on. Because this is a very important task I recommend to avenues in determining the market value of you home.Use a Real Estate Agent: If you have already made up your mind that you will be selling your home FSBO I would recommend not wasting a realtors time and taking advantage of their resources. Realtors work hard and I’m sure you would not like it if someone asked you to work for free. If you are open to the possibility of listing your home with a realtor then I would suggest asking a local realtor for a listing presentation. Real estate agents have some massive advantages over us when determining market value of a home. For one, real estate agents are in the business of selling homes. The do not get a pay check unless their listings sell. They also have access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is a database that contains all the homes currently on the market and all the recently sold homes. If you are open to the possibility of listing your home with a real estate agent ask one to give you a listing presentation. Their presentation should include the market value of your home. They will also explain their services they offer. If after the listing presentation you like the idea of using them for their services, then great. Hire them and let them take over the work. If after the listing presentation you still want to sell your home FSBO, well now to you know the market value of your home.Have An Appraisal: I recommend hiring a professional home appraiser and having your home appraised. This appraisal will cost you between $200-400 depending on your location and your home, but it is worth every penny. Besides you will have to pay for an appraisal anyway when you get an offer on you home. Note that you can not always use your initial appraisal as the appraisal needed when you get an offer. It is law that the buyers lender order the appraisal so they know it is legit. If the appraisal company you used is also used by your buyers lender then you can use the same appraisal. An appraisal is a report that will give you your home value and include a minimum of three comparable properties in your area. These comparables are the homes the appraiser used to determine your homes market value. I always get an appraisal for the homes I sell. Then I market my homes a little below appraisal and I have proof of my claim.Get a Home Inspection: I think it is always best to get a home inspection before actually marketing your home. A home inspection will cost you between $200-450 depending on the size of your home. A licensed home inspector will check everything in your home from the electrical outlets on the walls to the crawlspace. I always get a home inspection before I market my properties so I can see what items I need to fix. Some times there is a not so good surprise like moisture in your attic or things you may have not been consistent on like having your HVAC serviced on a regular basis. Once you get your home inspection back (2-5 days after the home inspector is complete), fix as many of the items as you can. This will ensure a clean home inspection when your buyer has your home inspected.Set Your Selling Price: Depending on the condition of your home, the current market value, and your selling situation you should now set your selling price. Don’t forget to take into account selling fees; typically 1.5% closing fees, appraisal fees, negotiation room, and realtor fees. Why realtor fees you ask. Because sellers pay realtors and buyer do not you can expect your buyer will most likely be represented by a realtor. Depending on your location in the US typical realtor fees are 3% of selling price.Stage Your Home: There is an art to staging a home and many people have professional jobs just staging home for sale. If you list your home with a good realtor they will help you with this task. If you are selling you home by yourself then your main task will be to clean, clean, clean. Also use some of the tips from the pros like removing all family photos around the house. This helps potential home buyer see their family living in the home. Don’t forget to move your staging outside the home and into the front and back yard. Put new bark in the flower beds, plant some fresh vibrant colored flowers, trim the bushes growing above the front windows, and basically give your home some great curb appeal.Market Your Property: Now that your home is in great condition and will impress the masses it is time to spend a little money and get the word out that you are selling your home. In my opinion this is where many FSBO’s hit a brick wall. Marketing is the most important step in selling your home. Some people would say sale price but I am a firm believer that marketing is much more important. If you have a great sale price and no one knows your home is for sale, you will not receive one offer. There are many ways you can market you home for sale. Marketing is much to large of a subject to describe in detail so I will list a few, just remember don’t be stingy when using your money for marketing. I would suggest budgeting a minimum of 2% of your selling price for marketing. Some great avenues to get the word out that your home is for sale; signs, classified adds, bulletin boards, community magazines, Internet, and don’t forget the never absent home flyer.Show Your Home To Potential Buyers: This is the part many home owner don’t like doing. After you have spend many hours and a great sum of money getting your home ready to sell now you have to show your property to potential home buyers. Receiving phone calls, scheduling viewings, answering the same questions over and over to potential buyers, talking with unmotivated people, and listening to complaints about your home are just a few of the tasks you will be faced with. This is also the test for your previous work. If you set your selling price well and have good marketing your phone will ring.Receive Offers: If your buyer is represented by a realtor then you will not have to worry much about how the paperwork is completed. The buyers realtor will ask where and when to deliver the offers and you will receive them. You will need to read through the offer and understand the agreement/contract completely before being able to make a decision. If your buyer does not have a realtor you will have to help them put the offer together and walk them through the paperwork. You can also receive offers from local real estate investors like ExpertHomeOffers.com for free.Counter Offer or Accept: Depending on the offer you received from your potential home buyer you will need to counter offer or accept their offer. In a high buyers market it is typical to receive 3% lower than your asking price. Once an agreed upon price and terms is on paper and signed by both parties it is time for some more work.More Paperwork: It is federal and State law to have a Seller Disclosure Form and a Lead Base Paint Disclosure form completed for all transactions.Title & Escrow: Contact your local title and escrow company and get your home scheduled to close. A title company will check for liens on title and organize the closing. Fees for title and escrow vary depending on your home location and your relationship with your title agent.Fix Buyer Requests: Once your buyer has completed their home inspection you can bet they will have a few items they will ask to be fixed/completed before the close date. Because you previously had a home inspection completed there should be no big surprises on the buyers home inspection report.Close and Receive Your Check: Well the process is almost over. Many times there are hick-ups with closings. It could be your buyer does not qualify to purchase your home and can not get financing, then you have to start the process all over again. Or you could be one of the lucky ones and have a smooth transaction from start to finish. If the closing does proceed as planned you can expect to receive your proceeds from closing in 1-3 business days after closing. Congratulations! you have just sold your home.Summary of Cost:
Attend Local FSBO Seminar: $90
Determine Market Value (Appraisal) : $300-$400
Home Inspection : $200-$450
Fixing Inspection Issues : $500-$3000
Staging Home : $150-$1000
Marketing Property : 2% Sale Price
Buyer Discount : 3% of sale price
Buyer Realtor Fee : 3% of sale price
Closing Cost: 1.5% of sale price
Assuming a $100,000 sale price the typical cost to sell a home FSBO would be between $10,650 and $14,440. This is definitely not cheep and this money does not include your time and effort, particularly the money you could have made while at work and not dealing with the sale of your home. As you can see selling your home on your own can be quite a challenge, take valuable time away from other tasks like family or work, and cost a substantial amount of money. For this reason real estate agents and professional home buyers exist. Many people hire a real estate agent to help them through the gigantic task of selling their home. Even with a real estate agent the task of selling your home can be daunting. This is why selling your home to a real estate investor can make a great deal of sense. When you sell your home to a real estate investor you do not have to worry about any of the details and usually don’t have to worry about the condition of your home. You can contact a real estate investor like http://www.ExpertHomeOffers.com and within 48 hours have a signed offer on your home. If you really need to close fast because of your selling situation some real estate investors can pay cash and close on your home within days. No fixing up your home, no dealing with non-motivated buyers, no worrying about your buyer getting financing to close, and the list goes on.
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Home Based Business Opportunity – How to Find Yours in 7 Steps
Our mailboxes are flooded with direct mail “hype”. We get phone calls promising us “simple” proven home based business opportunities. The internet is full of promises to make us “millionaires”. How do you sort it all out? Who can you believe?What we really want is a realistic way to make extra money and eventually say goodbye to our “job” and be boss free. You can sort through all the hype. Here are 7 steps to find your own home based business opportunity.1. The Why- To start to sift through all the offers available, you must know… the why? Write down your top 25 reasons for starting a home based business or wanting to work from home. Find out what you really want your life to be like. What do you expect?2. The What- review your reasons why. The list should give you an idea of the direction you want to go towards. Do you want to make something like jewelry or soy candles? Provide a service like catering or house keeping? Maybe sell a product or become an affiliate for some info product? Possibly set up a website or a storefront. You will find some areas that are yeses, maybes, and definitely not interested.3. The How- Armed with a list of your whats you can now search for the how. Use the search engines and review your options. Take your time searching until you find home based businesses that interest you. Don’t rush this step… explore a lot of options.4. The Promise- There is a lot of “hype” surrounding the “promise” of “easy money”… make $100,000 to $200,000 your first year”… “earn $1000 a day”. I believe the old adage “If it sounds to be good to be true… It Is!”There are a few resources you can use to find out what other people have experienced with the product or program. The best is ripoffreport.com. It has real world feedback and rebuttals on programs etc. Another good online resource with a lot of information is Internet Fraud. The Better Business Bureau may provide some information but, they are usually local or state organizations. They often don’t have much information on the national programs. Another way to get more knowledge is to do a search on the business,the person,or subject and find relevant comments. Be careful of the online “reviews” as a lot of them are affiliate marketers wanting a commission for the sale of the product. You can usually tell if there is an active link to a sales page in the “review”.5. The Investment- All home based businesses require some money to get started. You may need cleaning supplies, brochures, a website, a product to sell, or a storefront. Write down a list of everything you can think of that you may need. When you talk to the representative of the company their “enthusiasm” can distract you from finding out the “hidden fees”. There may be a monthly maintenance fee, a website charge or upfront or backend money that will be due. Refer to your list when the sales pitch is over to see if your questions were answered.6. The Commitment- There is a commitment for any new business. How much time can you devote daily or weekly? You will also have to “learn the ropes” of your business. Will you start off part time until you can replace you “job’s” income? Or can you financially afford to make this business a full time adventure? Energy and enthusiasm are the easy parts.7. The Decision- You now have enough information on some home based business opportunities. Which business appeals to you the most? Which one do you see yourself enjoying doing? Remember you don’t want it to seem like a “job” down the road. Now… go ahead and get started!You now know the 7 Steps to find your own home based business opportunity. Mixed with your new enthusiasm there is an element of fear. Don’t worry! You can learn anything you put your mind to. You will get better at your business each and every day. Join the 50,000,000 independent business owners in the United States. If they can do it… so can you!Our mailboxes are flooded with direct mail “hype”. We get phone calls promising us “simple” proven home based business opportunities. The internet is full of promises to make us “millionaires”. How do you sort it all out? Who can you believe?What we really want is a realistic way to make extra money and eventually say goodbye to our “job” and be boss free. You can sort through all the hype. Here are 7 steps to find your own home based business opportunity.1. The Why- To start to sift through all the offers available, you must know… the why? Write down your top 25 reasons for starting a home based business or wanting to work from home. Find out what you really want your life to be like. What do you expect?2. The What- review your reasons why. The list should give you an idea of the direction you want to go towards. Do you want to make something like jewelry or soy candles? Provide a service like catering or house keeping? Maybe sell a product or become an affiliate for some info product? Possibly set up a website or a storefront. You will find some areas that are yeses, maybes, and definitely not interested.3. The How- Armed with a list of your whats you can now search for the how. Use the search engines and review your options. Take your time searching until you find home based businesses that interest you. Don’t rush this step… explore a lot of options.4. The Promise- There is a lot of “hype” surrounding the “promise” of “easy money”… make $100,000 to $200,000 your first year”… “earn $1000 a day”. I believe the old adage “If it sounds to be good to be true… It Is!”There are a few resources you can use to find out what other people have experienced with the product or program. The best is ripoffreport.com. It has real world feedback and rebuttals on programs etc. Another good online resource with a lot of information is Internet Fraud. The Better Business Bureau may provide some information but, they are usually local or state organizations. They often don’t have much information on the national programs. Another way to get more knowledge is to do a search on the business,the person,or subject and find relevant comments. Be careful of the online “reviews” as a lot of them are affiliate marketers wanting a commission for the sale of the product. You can usually tell if there is an active link to a sales page in the “review”.5. The Investment- All home based businesses require some money to get started. You may need cleaning supplies, brochures, a website, a product to sell, or a storefront. Write down a list of everything you can think of that you may need. When you talk to the representative of the company their “enthusiasm” can distract you from finding out the “hidden fees”. There may be a monthly maintenance fee, a website charge or upfront or backend money that will be due. Refer to your list when the sales pitch is over to see if your questions were answered.6. The Commitment- There is a commitment for any new business. How much time can you devote daily or weekly? You will also have to “learn the ropes” of your business. Will you start off part time until you can replace you “job’s” income? Or can you financially afford to make this business a full time adventure? Energy and enthusiasm are the easy parts.7. The Decision- You now have enough information on some home based business opportunities. Which business appeals to you the most? Which one do you see yourself enjoying doing? Remember you don’t want it to seem like a “job” down the road. Now… go ahead and get started!You now know the 7 Steps to find your own home based business opportunity. Mixed with your new enthusiasm there is an element of fear. Don’t worry! You can learn anything you put your mind to. You will get better at your business each and every day. Join the 50,000,000 independent business owners in the United States. If they can do it… so can you!
Quick Tips For Getting Your Home Based Business Online
The advantages of starting a home based business outweigh the time and small expense involved in setting up a viable business. For the long term, the overhead costs for starting a business in your home are very low. The government provides several tax incentives for individuals who have businesses set up in their home. There are some strict rules and regulations that must be met to qualify for the home-based business deduction but once confirmed, the tax refunds for having a home based business are very lucrative.In addition to the tax advantages, home based business owners have no daily transportation expenses. home based business owner has unlimited flexibility in balancing work and family commitments. Using technology for communication and business processes makes working from home a sensible and practical solution to the high price of gasoline, commuting time and costs of buying new clothes.Home-based businesses play a crucial role in the free enterprise system. These entrepreneurs contribute to the overall economy as well as the financial viability of their families. The ultimate dream of a home based business is to provide financial independence for the owner, their family and the community at large..Some of the most widely recognized software retailers and cosmetic companies had their beginning in a garage. Companies like Apple Computer, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Microsoft, Lotus and even the cosmetic giant, Mary Kay, were initially started as home based business enterprises.But, like any other type of business, a home-based business requires initial preparation, start-up capital, registration and ongoing marketing. Home based business are traditionally set up as a sole proprietorship. The home based business owner has to be an expert in all phases of the business. At some time in the business start up process, the home based business owner must know the details of the operational, strategic, legal, financial and marketing concerns.The following checklist covers the essential points to help you stay focused so that you can set up your own home-based business.Plan to SucceedEvery business needs to create a comprehensive business plan. The business plan will focus your efforts from selecting a product to sell all the way to the actual marketing of the product. This plan will cause ideas to generate and perhaps new methods of distribution for your business.The basic business plan contains a, executive summary, mission statement, marketing plans and profits that you want to achieve. The business plan is the blueprint that will guide you to your desired results. It is of utmost importance to prepare a draft of your business plan. The business plan will keep you on focused on your goals. If you intend to seek any type of funding for your business, it is imperative that a business plan is part of the start-up process.Selecting the Business StructureThe selection of your long term goals for your business will determine which structure you chose for your business. The choices include:o Sole Proprietorship
o Partnership
o CorporationThere are several different types of Corporation structures that you can choose. There are specific tax implications for each of the choices listed. Deciding on the business structure for your home based business enterprise is perhaps one of the most critical decisions you will make.You can search online to find out the specific requirements for each of the business structures listed. Your decision will have far-reaching consequences and will depend on important factors like capital, ability to do business in specific locations and the type of your business you are starting.To register or not to register?It is important for all legitimate business to register their business name. For tax and other proprietary purposes you should secure all necessary business licenses. Registering your business protects the name of your business. It is also important to become aware of the compliance requirements in your area. Local zoning regulations should be acquired to assure you that the business does not contravene local zoning laws.Insurance for Your Business?It is just smart to purchase insurance for your new business if you need to acquire financing. Business insurance is a prerequisite of lending institutions in case you plan to borrow money for your startup operations For online businesses that do not sell physical products, having insurance is a choice.Purchase Equipments Remember to keep all of your receipts when you purchase any office equipments or supplies. Your new computer, fax, printer, cell phone stationary supplies, and business cards are necessary business tools and are all tax deductible for your new business.Time ManagementHome-based entrepreneurs also require better time management skills than a corporate employee. Home based business owners must learn how to leverage their time and money. It is easy to get off track when your office is located in your garage, a den or the basement. Decide how much time you will devote to your business each day and stick to your time schedule.Automate as much of your business as possible so that you are always available to your customers. Schedule each phase of your business day and set up systems that will automatically reply to inquiries. Automation of your menial tasks is a critical element in your overall time management strategy.Web SiteBusinesses are longer restricted to brick and mortar locations. There are no limits to the number of customers that home based business owners can acquire. The home based business owner can no longer limit themselves to doing business in their local community. The Internet allows global business interaction from anywhere in the world. Having one website may not be sufficient to accomplish the level of success that a home based business owner requires.Home-based businesses compensate for their lack of a physical presence with a virtual presence in the World Wide Web. This presence may take the shape of several websites on several domains.Organization & AutomationTo conduct business in a professional and efficient way, it is important to organize everyday tasks into simple automated processes. Your home office should include everything you need to complete a transaction. It is easier to stay on top of daily tasks when the work-space is well organized. It is so much easier to complete the daily grunt work when these menial tasks are automated.Inventory and SuppliesFor home based business owners who sell physical products, it is important that these products are kept in a specified location. If you use your garage to keep stock you need to know the exact dimensions of your garage that is designated for this purpose. The best way to handle stock is to have the company send and maintain the bulk of your inventory. This eliminates a time lag for your customers. If you sell digital products, this process is handled automatically.Open the Door and Let Business BeginYou are now ready to open the virtual doors of your home based business to the global community. You have completed all the steps to insure that your business will be successful. You have a product, a website that allows you into the global marketplace.