In a seller’s market, it’s difficult to justify hiring a real estate agent when you can save money with a bit of work and know-how. Realtors take a commission of around 6% of the sale price in most markets. This means you could be losing thousands of dollars out of your home equity.
Granted, you’ll have to put more work into the sale than if you hand it over to an agent. But none of this work is highly specialized, and isn’t it worth a little extra work to put an extra 20 to 50,000 dollars in your pocket?
In this article, we’ll break down the steps required to sell your Arkansas house without a Realtor so that you get the best price with the least hassle.
Protip: We’ll also cover how you can sell your house fast directly to a cash buyer, and skip all of the for sale by owner stuff.
Finding Your Home’s Fair Market Value
The first step is a hugely important one. Getting the market value right ensures that you are getting the money you deserve for your house, without having it sit on the market for months (if you price it too high). There are a few ways you can find the right number.
Look Online. In today’s digital world, there are a number of sites that offer property value estimates for free, like Trulia or Zillow. The only issue with this is that they really are only estimates, and might be off by up to thousands. Simply type your property address and see what comes up. Just know these aren’t always accurate.
Hire an Appraiser. Before finding potential buyers licensed appraiser will give you the best and most accurate property value estimate. You will, however, have to pay their fee out of pocket. This can run anywhere from $550-$950. This isn’t practical for most home sellers.
Have a Real Estate Agent Do a Competitive Market Analysis. This sale price estimate should be fairly reliable, and agents will typically do it for free. However, because they will want to sell your home you’ll have to listen to a sales pitch and say no. Several times. 🙂
Prepping Your House for Sale
Before putting your house on the market, you’ll want to give it a real walk-through. Look at the space as though you were a critical or reluctant buyer or a buyers agent. Think about things like curb appeal, any minor repairs that need attending, and spaces that may need sprucing up. Most people don’t keep their homes in mint condition all the time, so attend to anything that is looking tired or less than ideal in the home.
If any of your rooms are painted in bright or bold colors, you may want to invest in a paint job. A prospective buyer usually prefers neutral tones. Attack any cluttered areas, either storing or tossing superfluous stuff that takes up space. Give the entire house a really deep cleaning. You want the house to look immaculate and smell fresh before your open house or any showings.
What else might be needed? Here are the most common repairs and the costs involved in fixing up a house, pre-sale.
If you’re in a rush and have the money to do so, you can hire a home stager. They run through your house and make sure it’s in a condition to sell. This can often help sellers command a higher sale price. And with no commission to pay a seller’s agent, this means less closing costs and a better bottom line for you.
Finding a Buyer Through Advertising
Now comes the tricky part. There are a couple of ways that you can handle this piece. You can sell online, as there are sites like Zillow or HomeFinder that allow you to advertise your house. You can also take the old-fashioned route and create attractive flyers and brochures. These can be handed out to friends and acquaintances, or left at certain businesses (always ask first!) If you create brochures, make sure that you share all relevant information and add some attractive photos of the property.
You may also choose to set up an open house. Just be sure to give yourself plenty of time to plan and prepare your house. Typically you’ll want to schedule a week in advance and make sure that you have clear signage directing purchasers to the house. An open house works best if scheduled on a weekend day.
Almost every home gets sold via the MLS. This is one of the key advantages the real estate agent brings to the transaction. However, it’s at a steep cost. There is a better way to sell your Little Rock house without a Realtor and bypass these issues altogether. Let’s get into that now.
A Simpler Alternative to Finding a Buyer in Arkansas
Open houses, home sale websites, flyers, and other advertising avenues are perfectly good ways to find a buyer, and if you have the time and energy to put into the sales piece, go for it!
Listing agent services take less work but result in buyers closing costs as well as sellers closing costs, broker fees, and even an attorney fee if something goes wrong. However, if you’re looking to save time and hassle and live in the Little Rock, Arkansas area, a better way to offload your home would be to sell to Gary Buys Houses. If you live in another state, you can also find reputable companies that buy houses for cash – but do your homework and due diligence before “signing on the line.”
Selling to Gary Buys Houses out of Little Rock guarantees a fast sale, which means you get your money quickly. We will buy your house in as little as a week, and just as it is. This means that you can forgo the repairs, updates, and work of the previous sections.
At Gary Buys Houses, we keep it simple – a fair cash offer paid faster than pretty much any other company! You don’t have to navigate the whole real estate market, find and pay a Realtor, do a bunch of paperwork or wait for months while your house is upgraded and advertised.
Just reach out to the professionals at Gary Buys Houses and get your house sold quickly and easily, all while enjoying some of the best customer service around.
Conclusion on Selling House Without a Realtor
While the culture of the real estate business would have you believe that you must list with a Realtor sell your home on the MLS, this simply isn’t true. Real estate agents are costly and can have a long market time while buyers secure inspections and financing. If you are looking to sell your home fast and make the most out of your sale, selling it yourself is absolutely possible.
And even when selling for yourself there are better options. You can do the legwork and advertising as a FSBO, or you can choose to sell directly to a company that buys homes in Little Rock and its surrounding areas. Get in touch with us today to get a free, no-obligation offer on your Little Rock area home today…and skip the Realtor.
