Here are some more issues to seriously consider if you are thinking of selling your home by yourself. Part of the value of a REALTOR is that you do not have to worry about these things.

 Exposure - This is a buyer's market, for most parts of the country. In order to sell a home quickly and for top dollar, it is CRITICAL to have maximum exposure in the marketplace because there is so much competition. Some neighborhoods have more than 10 homes for buyers to choose from. How will YOU get the exposure you need? And do you know what your target market is? You can't put your home on the MLS with out the aid of an agent (even one that does this for a fee and provides no other services (some areas have an MLS of thousands of agents). You also can't get your home on Realtor.com, probably the most widely used site for home searching by buyers. how many people are actually going to drive by your For Sale By Owner sign? How will the market know your place if even for sale? There are websites that cater to FSBOs, but many others that only list properties to agents - so you are limiting your Internet exposure (and 80% of buyers these days search on the web for their new homes).

 Qualifying Buyers - Do you know how to determine is a buyer is qualified to purchase your property? What questions do you need to ask? How do you know they are qualified buyers and have the financial wherewithal to meet the mortgage approval criteria? Are you actually comfortable quizzing prospective buyers on their financial status? Do you really want to show you home to a buyer who can't afford it but is having fun dreaming? Or checking out your decorating sense?

 Staging your Home - Is your home really ready to show buyers? Do you know how to create an atmosphere that will encourage buyers to envision themselves living there? What mood does your home convey to people walking up to the front door, or even driving by? Do you know what amenities buyers are searching for and how you can make sure buyers are aware of these things in YOUR home? Are there some design or functional faux pas in your home that needs to be taken care of, and do you know what this is?

I hope you find this helpful in your thinking. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Here are some more issues to ponder if you are seriously considering trying to sell your home by yourself:

Read Part 1 and Part 2 here.

 Marketing - are you a marketing expert? Do you have a digital camera so you can take lots of high-quality photos? Having lots of photos is important, as buyers always want to see photos of homes in listings and property flyers. Do you know how to do a virtual tour (again, buyers like to see this sort of technology and it will provide a competitive edge) and how much are you willing to spend on this? Do you know how to format a quality property flyer that will showcase the features of your home and include photos? You will also need to think about advertising, both in print as well as the Internet. What publications are you going to use and why? How much money do you have to spend on advertising (a small ad with a photo can cost several hundred dollars, or more)? What websites are you planning to use to advertise your property? If you are going to be offering a commission to a licensed buyer agent who brings in a qualified buyer, how are you going to get the word out to the real estate community? In summary, with the competition in this market, how are you going to maximize your exposure in order to capture the interest of buyers in the target market?

 Open Houses - are you going to run an open house? Do you know how to set up and advertise an effective open house? Do you have the time (at least 2-3 hours on the weekend or during the week) you can set aside to sit the open house (not counting prep time)? If the house does not sell you may want to hold multiple open houses - do you have this kind of time? When buyers arrive, how are you going to manage the open houses? What questions can you safely ask? How do you avoid turning a buyer off to your home? How will you qualify prospective buyers that come by? What about the lookers? How re you going to follow-up with all the attendees and do you have the time to do this?

Stay tuned for my my last 2 posts on this topic in the next day or so. Enjoy the rest of your Holiday Weekend!