Rhode Island Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Has anyone ever tried to sell their house on their own?
How did you make out? Any tips or tricks you found along the way? We just got an MLS number for our house last week and am wondering if I should be doing anything that I'm not already....TIA!!
Re: Has anyone ever tried to sell their house on their own?
My EH and I sold ours in 2005. We used Isoldmyhouse.com but I'm not sure if they are even around anymore.
We made out pretty well. We got asking price.
Yes, I have sold both a condo and a single family home myself, with very good results. Here are my tips--
1. Lock Box-- you MUST get a lock box so that buyers' agents can come in and show your place whenever they want. An electronic lock box is the best, so that they don't even need a code. It also tracks which agents enter your home. That way, you don't have to be around to let them in. Buyers usually don't want to see/interact with the home owner.
2. CLEAN! Kind of a no brainer, but you must keep your place as spotless as possible at all times (hard, I know, but do it) because with the lock box, you never know when someone will stop by. Usually Agents are nice and call to give notice, but we would have Agents call and want to stop over with 5 minutes notice. I NEVER said no-- I just got my butt outta there as fast as possible :-) And this seems fussy, but IRON your sheets. Wrinkly yucky bedding is a huge turn off to home buyers. Silly, but true.
3. Along with clean, you MUST declutter. (This goes for anyone selling a home of course, not just by owner). If you can swing it, buy a small mini storage and put any and all extra items in there. I mean ANY-- extra pots you don't use, clothes you don't wear more than once a week, all extra kids things if you have kids. It is amazing how much faster a de-cluttered house sells over a cluttered one.
4. Sign-- Spend the money and get a nice sign to put outside your house. The cheap-o "For Sale By Owner" ones look kind of tacky and turn many pple off. For $50-$80, you can have a local sign shop print you up a laminated plastic sign to hang that will look much nicer.
5. "Agents Protected"-- make sure in your MLS/FMLS info online that agents have access to, they know the house sale is "Agent Protected" meaning, they'll get a commission. You can set the commission in advance, in the state we moved from, 3% was standard.
6. My Secret Tip-- Very Nice Treats!! (VNT!!) Leave out a platter or cake stand with individually wrapped goodies (Nonna Biscotti, Pepperedge Farms, etc all make nice single serve cookies) or Godiva chocolates, and also keep snooty drinks in your fridge (Perrier, Orangina, along with glass bottles of coke, diet coke). Keep the cookies or chocolates out on a table either in kitchen or coffee table with a note card propped up saying "Welcome! Please enjoy your visit. Help yourself to a treat, cold drinks in fridge!" Be sure to keep a bottle opener next to the treats so pple can open the coke bottles, and have a pretty stack of cocktail napkins. Agents used to RAVE to me about this-- houses NEVER do this, and is makes your home very memorable when pple tour 5-6 houses in one day.
If you want any other tips, feel free to email susieleigh@hotmail.com. I can email you the power point slides I printed out as sales flyers to set out for buyers, etc.
I didn't really do any of this except for the clean, de-cluttered part. I wasn't willing to pay the buyer agent fee so most of our people were on their own without a buyer.
I made a sales flyer similar to what you get when you go to an open house.