SO YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR HOUSE…YOURSELF.

LET ME TEACH YOU HOW.

Disclaimer:
You can sell your home for more money and have to do very little on this list by just hiring a Realtor to do it for you.
Just think of the time, stress and MONEY you could save (yes, you will actually SAVE money)! You could also save yourself from so much more reading.

No?…Okay then. Read away.

As a realtor it’s a little strange to be putting a page like this together but I figured that if people are going to try and sell their homes themselves, the least I can do is teach them how to do it the right way.

It’s no secret that hiring a Realtor to sell your home is highly likely to provide you with better results than selling it yourself, but as a fellow DIY’er I respect the fact that you think (as I have done on many projects) “This can’t be that difficult. I’m going to give it a shot”. Good on ya, I love that can-do attitude. You’re going to need it.

My goal with this article is to provide you with a step by step guide on what you can do to TRY and maximize your private sale, but you should know that even if you execute every step on this page perfectly, it is highly likely that you still won’t achieve the same result as hiring a professional to do it all for you. I’m sorry, but its true. You’re just at too much of a disadvantage. Here are the main reason for that:

  1. There is no way for you to match the audience size that a Realtor can expose your property to.

  2. There is no way for you to put your listing directly in front of in-market buyers.

  3. You don’t have access to all the current market data.

  4. You are (most likely) not a professional marketer.

  5. You do not have buyers already working with you looking for properties.

Think of it this way, it’s like you’ve shown up to the race track in your base model Honda Civic and everyone else is driving a Ferrari. Sure, you can drive the track and do it well, but you’re not likely going to win the race. So, if you’re someone who can afford to lose some money, and enjoy wasting time let’s carry on!

MOTIVATION

Why do people want to sell their homes themselves in the first place? MONEY.
It always comes back to dollars and cents. I honestly can’t think of another reason as to why you wouldn’t hire a professional for this titanic of job if it wasn’t because of money.
You likely think the commission is too high. That it is is a ridiculous amount of money to pay someone to put a sign in the ground. Well, you’ll come to see there is so much more than just putting a sign in the ground. Also, Your Realtor doesn’t get to keep all that money. Half of it pays for the buyer!
See, FSBO’s (For sale by owners) see commission as a cost, when they should really be looking at it as an investment. Sometimes it’s best to pay a professional to do the service for you, especially if you only have ONE OPPORTUNITY to do that job.
Think of getting a tattoo, even if you were someone who could draw really well, would you do it yourself? Why not? You could save a ton of money! Artists are expensive! Heck no, you’re not doing it yourself! That is way to risky! What if you mess it up? What if something goes wrong?
Selling your home is no different. Once it’s sold you can’t go back and re-sell it again if you find out you could have gotten more or if the buyer turns around and sues you. Don’t just think about how easy it will be if everything goes according to plan (it rarely does). You need to be thinking about what to do if it goes sideways. Remember, you don’t do this all day every day. There’s a good chance you make at least one mistake, and good luck calling a Realtor to clean up your mess half way through your sale. Don’t be that foolish. This is the largest investment you will trade. Don’t risk it.

As a local area professional I pay attention to every home that sells in my areas of expertise, MLS sale or private. When I find out what a private sale goes for almost every time, I shake my head in disbelief. FSBO’s sell their homes to save the commission and then end up selling for far less than what the commission would have cost them in the first place, PLUS they had to do ALL THE WORK!

Not investing in the commission will cost you more in the long run. If you’re reading this thinking you may be able to save yourself $20,000 in commission, ask yourself, is it worth it if you end up selling for $30,000 less than if you had used a Realtor? You’re actually down $10,000! Always think of the NET number. The commission is an investment, and remember, it only gets paid IF the Realtor successfully does their job! What have you got to lose?
Would you go to a steakhouse, pay twice as much for your meal and then go into the back and cook it yourself? No.

Still not convinced you should use a Realtor? Fine.

Lets get into what you should do to TRY and get the most for your home, privately.

STEP 1: PREPARE THE HOME FOR SALE

This part of the journey is CRUCIAL. If you don’t do this part right, forget the idea of multiple offers and getting what you wanted. This is where a lot of the battle is won or lost when it comes to getting top dollar for your home. If your listing is not properly prepared, buyers will not see it for its full potential. They will have a difficult time picturing it as their own and therefore will not become emotionally attached to it. If you cannot create that emotional attachment there is little chance a buyer will go all in on a property.

1. DE-CLUTTER THE ENTIRE HOME:
This is a tough job to do but it is absolutely necessary. You need to remove all personality from the home. The goal here is to make your home look like a show home and that no one lives there. Take down those family portraits, clear off cluttered and dusty book shelves, remove extra furniture and rearrange the space to ensure that every room has a defined purpose and if you have empty rooms and spaces hire a professional stager to come in and set up each room right. Counters should be minimalized and all personal items (toothbrushes, pictures, nick-nacks etc) should be put away.
Realtor Benefit: My listings come with the insight of a Professional Stager and I’ll even pay for half of the cost! I can also advise on what exactly buyers will like and won’t like to see in your home.

2. FINISH ALL THOSE LITTLE JOB YOU’VE BEEN PUTTING OFF:
It’s time to finally get the trim finished on those renos from three years ago and touch up the dings and dents in the kids rooms. There should be no outstanding work in your home when you bring it to market. Buyers WILL pick up on those jobs and just see price tags in the form of discounts off your already in-accurate price. Do not give them any more ammo to justify an even lower price. Sometimes you may have to add jobs to this list. For example if you’ve painted your kids rooms lime green and bright pink because that was their favorite color growing up, its time to cover that up. Get the walls back to a more neutral color. Choose an off white or a light gray as these colors allow the furniture in the rooms show off your personality and they pair well with pretty much everything. Go room by room and make a to-do list of what needs to be done and get to work.
Realtor Benefit: When I list a home, I create a room by room list of things that need to be addressed for my clients. This takes away the guesswork and the potential of them doing work they didn’t need to do. I can also connect my clients with great trades who can handle the larger jobs like electrical and plumbing work. (Which you likely won’t hire, because you’re a DIY’er! Don’t forget to take out those permits!)

3. MAINTENANCE CHECK THE WHOLE HOME:
Take the time to make sure that everything in the home (that you plan on leaving behind) is in proper working order. Typically, all of your appliances will remain when you sell so make sure there is nothing that needs repair. If something is broken, it’s best to fix it, if you can’t (or don’t want to) you will need to disclose it on a form later on (and buyers will again, use this to justify a discount. Sharpen up those negotiating skills!).
It’s best to go room by room and check everything and again make a list of anything that needs attention. Also, this is a great time to make sure the furnace filters are clean and the HRV has been cleaned up. If you have water treatment appliances make sure they are also good to go.

Take note of your mechanical set up and note everything that needs to be legally disclosed. If you know of certain issues and choose not to tell the new buyers about it, you could find yourself in a courtroom real fast and it’ll cost you far more than the commission.
Realtor Benefit: Some things need to be disclosed and some things do not, having a Realtor list your home ensures you have the proper guidance when it comes to telling buyers about home and to make sure you don’t end up on the wrong side of a lawsuit.

4. DEEP CLEAN THE ENTIRE HOME
Now that you have finished all those little (or big) jobs, you’ve staged the home, you’ve noted all the deficiencies, changed the filters and decluttered the entire home you’re almost done step one. Congrats! All that is left to do for step one is to clean the home like it’s never been cleaned before! There is no such thing as TOO CLEAN when it comes to selling your home. I always say, clean it and then clean it again. Remember buyers are not your friends. They are ruthless when inspecting properties and will pick out every little flaw. A home that isn’t properly cleaned comes across to buyers as a home that wasn’t properly cared for, weather or not that’s true is irrelevant.
Don’t forget the outside of the home. Make the yard look its best, winter or summer. If you are selling in the winter months make sure the driveway is scraped down and properly shaped, ensure sure the pathways are cleared and that all outdoor areas like decks and patios are accessible.
Realtor Benefit: All of my listings come with professional cleaning services INCLUDED. In the winter months Driveway scraping is also available.

STEP 2: PRICE YOUR HOME…AS BEST YOU CAN

I don’t have a lot of advice for you here. Hire a Realtor.
You could ask your neighbours, or take a look at Realtor.ca and see what comparable homes are listed at. Just remember that list prices aren’t sale price. The two rarely end up being the same number.
Just don’t mess it up. You can do everything else perfect but if you price it incorrectly, your home won’t sell.

Remember, it’s free for buyers to work with a Realtor. The vast majority of qualified buyers who have their stuff together will be working with an agent and that agent will be expecting a pay cheque when their clients buy. The commission that you would normally pay to the Realtor for selling your home has a dedicated portion that goes to the buyers agent. This motivates that agent to show your home to their clients. Private sales that do not offer a commission have very little incentive to be shown by Realtors working with buyers…which is pretty much all of them. If they do happen to come and take a look, they’re going to ask you to pay a commission, or they’ll reduce their offer. Also, Realtors use the MLS to find properties for their clients…which your home won’t be listed on. How are they going to find your home?

Realtor Benefit: This is what we do all day long. We see and follow the market trends, we have access to sold data, we have connections, we’ve sold your neighbours homes and WE HAVE THE BUYERS! We have different strategies for unique seller situations and most importantly, we also pay the buyers agent for bringing you a buyer!

STEP 3: PREPARE YOUR MARKETING

So you’ve prepared the home for sale, you managed to get through all of that work. Awesome. You even managed to come up with what you think is a good price. Great.
This is where things will start to fall apart real fast for most people. You need to let people know that your home is for sale. There are several different ways to go about this. Firstly you need to figure out who the perfect buyer for your home is, learn where they are and then put marketing for your home in front of them. After that you need to create the marketing in the format that they want to consume. High quality photography, video, drone and professionally written copy is a great place to start.

When it comes to the photos, don’t take them until all your prep work is done. Utilize HDR technology (or bracketing) to ensure your photographs are properly exposed to show off the entire room. Avoid taking the photos when the room has harsh shadows. Take all the photos from the same angle (tip: this angle is not from your eye height). Compose the shot from an area in the room that will define the room you’re shooting and show off as much of it as possible. Avoid close ups but show detail. Do not include pets in your photos. Not everyone likes animals.
A great video tour is key to attracting buyers. Video is the number one most consumed content type on social media. Explain the home as you go, note upgrades and make sure the video is stable, properly lit and not too long (or too short). Don’t be boring when speaking or people won’t stay engaged.
Easily shareable content for social media is also very important. These items should show off the best images and also highlight key features about the home. Make sure to size them properly so that when you post them they show properly on their respective media channel.

Realtor Benefit: It’s our job to market homes properly. Speaking for myself, I’m a professional photographer with over 15 years experience, a licensed drone pilot and formally educated in television production. I also spent 10 years as a digital marketer and continue to work in this field as a Realtor. I possess a rare combination of skills and abilities that allow me to market your home better than the majority of Realtors in the market, and definitely you (not being rude, its just true). We know how, where, what and who to market to in order to create the largest audience possible for your listing. All of my listings come with high resolution HDR photography, drone photos and a professionally shot and produced guided video tour. See some of my work here: MY LISTINGS

STEP 4: SHOW YOUR HOME

Feedback straight form those who have sold their homes privately has told me that the number one pain in the butt for private sales are the showings. They will ruin your life until your home sells. Good luck scheduling any kind of life until your home is sold (which as a private sale will likely take 2x as long than if you were to list it with a realtor…if you’re lucky).
Buyers want to see homes at all times of the day. All of your competition is being shown by Realtors all day long. But you don’t have a Realtor so you need to be available to show the home. How are you going to show it when you’re at work?
When you finally get home, tired from a long day do you really want to spend your evenings showing your home to random strangers? Not likely.
However, if you do, make sure to accommodate the showing requests as best as you can. Be available, keep the house show ready at all times until its sold. You never know when someone will want to come and see it. Have information available for buyers to take with them. Create a feature sheet that showcases good info as well as photos. Set a time limit on the showings. Anyone who books, tell them they have 30-45 minutes to look through the home or else you will have strangers in your home FOREVER. If they’re interested they can book a second showing, but use your judgment on the quality of the buyer. Most people will want to see your home in the evening and weekends but you’d be surprised at how many buyers shop during the day. The scheduling and back and forth alone is enough to make most people hire the job out to a Realtor to manage. If you’re not prompt in getting back to people, they’ll just move on to the next house.

SAFETY FIRST: This is a MAJOR ADVANTAGE for hiring a Realtor. You are allowing random strangers into your home. By hiring a Realtor we keep your sale safer by guiding pre-qualified and vetted buyers through your home without you there. If you are taking people through your home, get some information about them, ensure you have a friend or neighbour know and check in with them before and after the showing so they know you are okay.

WHAT ABOUT AN OPEN HOUSE? I would recommend you leave an open house to a Realtor. Allowing random strangers to come through your home in large groups at the same time comes with its own set of risks and challenges as a private seller. While this is no different than when a Realtor hosts one, Realtors have it advertised and prospective buyers know the homeowner won’t be there. There would be nothing worse than getting into a heated discussion/negotiation with someone while you have other buyers walking around your home. Also, buyers may shy away from coming if they know the homeowner is there. In fact you may find that buyers shy away from your listing in general as most won’t want to deal directly with a homeowner over a professional for fear of one party not knowing how things work or what to do.

Realtor Benefit: We can conduct showings while you’re at work and we handle all the scheduling and communication between all the agents. We just need a simple schedule of times when the house is not available and from there we handle the rest. My clients are provided with a daily schedule of the showings so they know who is in their home and when at all times. For evening showings, my clients are able to go and get things like grocery shopping or have dinner out while we show their home. They are able to fully relax during the process.

STEP 5: LEGAL FORMS & DISCLOSURES

Get familiar with the legal side of things, and if you are going to sell privately, make sure you choose a good lawyer at the very least. Just a heads up, lawyers will charge more to process a private deal than one done by a Realtor as they will have to do all of the paperwork that your Realtor would normally do (Just a little more money out of your pocket for those keeping track). As mentioned earlier, you will need to disclose certain things when selling your home on a statutory document called a Property Disclosure Statement (PDS). This form asks you 19 questions about your home that you as the homeowner must answer truthfully. Some of the questions are:

  • Are you aware if the property, or any part of it, currently does not comply with municipal or other regulatory requirements (such as zoning, health, occupancy or environmental by-laws or regulations, building or fire codes, or other protection-related codes, by-laws or regulations)?

  • Are you aware of any additions or alterations to the buildings or improvements on the property that were made while you owned the property and were made without the required building, electrical or other permit, or without obtaining a final inspection from the regulatory authority?

  • Are you aware of any cracking, shifting or movement of the structure of any building or improvements on the property, including the foundation walls and basement floor, that is not readily visible?

  • Are you aware if any building on the property contains or do you have any reasons to believe that it once contained asbestos insulation, zonolite/vermiculite insulation, radon gas, lead plumbing, aluminum wiring or mould?

Failure to improperly disclose certain things on this form could have you on the wrong side of a lawsuit and spending precious time in a courtroom on top of costing you thousands of dollars on legal fees depending on the situation.

Realtor Benefit: A realtor can advise you on what needs to be disclosed and what does not. We can guide you through the whole process so that you don’t have to stress or worry about incorrectly marketing your home. We handle all of the paperwork and know how to complete all of the required documents quickly, correctly and in the format that your lawyer will want to see. We also facilitate all back and forth between the buyers agent and their lawyer.

STEP 6: NEGOTIATE

When you get an offer there is a lot to consider. All offers in Manitoba need to be completed on the prescribed Offer to Purchase document. No, an e-mail with how much they are will to offer will not cut it. While this can be binding under contract law there are many other questions that need to be answered in order for the deal to fully close, and close properly. This is where a Realtor really helps, but you wanted to do this yourself. Don’t stress out. it’s going to be fine….probably.

Don’t just look at the price, its important to consider all aspects of the offer. The possession date, their conditions, and the inclusions they are asking for. I’ve seen some buyers ask for everything from a seller…like literally everything. Their forks and knives, their clothes hangers and their laundry baskets. Read the offer carefully. How are you qualifying the buyer? Are they pre-approved? if so, through whom? Is that bank/mortgage specialist reputable? Have they provided a pre-approval letter? How much is their deposit and down payment? Where is their money coming from? is it in Canada or is it coming from another country? (happens more than you think).
If you do counter their offer, make sure that it is a realistic counter and never do verbal counters. EVERYTHING needs to be documented in writing. If the buyer has an agent that you have to deal with (likely the case as its free for the buyer) you will likely be severely out-matched. The agent may try to take advantage of the fact that you are a homeowner with no real representation and attempt to convince you into accepting certain things that an experienced agent would see right through. It won’t always be aggressive and intimidating, but rather more likely to be very nice and polite. You won’t know until it’s too late.

Realtor benefit: This is one of the major areas where hiring a Realtor to represent you truly pays off. Our negotiation skills can keep money in your pocket and ensure that the deal for your home lines up with your needs. Not having a Realtor for this part of the transaction is like representing yourself in court. It’s not likely going to play out in your best interest, but rather the best interests of the opposition.

STEP 7: CLOSE

Congrats! You’ve negotiated yourself a great deal (hopefully), now comes the time for you to do all the running around that your Realtor would normally do for you. You will need to get your offer and all the supporting documents to your lawyers office. Make sure to have it prepared properly in the format that they like. Ensure that your deposit cheque clears but don’t spend it, in fact it will likely be made out to your lawyer and held in trust. If the offer you accepted is conditional and the buyer does not fulfil those conditions you will have to return the deposit and your house will have to go back on the market. (Yay, more showings!)

Communicate well with your lawyer and ensure the home remains in the condition that it was in when the buyers saw it. DO NOT paint, frame up walls, remove walls or alter the home in anyway. True story, there was an older couple who sold their home to a young family. It was to be their first home. The older couple thought they would do the young family a favor and paint the exterior of the home a nice pale green for them. They honestly had the best intentions in mind when they did it, they thought they buyers would be thrilled. They were not. The sellers had to have it painted back to the old color and they were out the cost of having to paint the home twice.

Once you’ve signed everything with the lawyers you’ve closed the deal, then you wait until possession day. This is likely one of the most stressful days of the entire process because the buyer has the opportunity to check your work and make sure that everything works as you said it did. If something doesn’t you’ll be on the hook to fix it. Once all is good you should receive your funds from your lawyer in roughly 2-3 weeks after the new buyers take possession.

Congrats, you made it!

There you have it. How to sell your home in 7 not-so-easy steps.
Like I said at the beginning, even if you execute all 7 steps perfectly, you still won’t get the same result as if you had just hired a Realtor and you will have to do all the work and manage all the stress…

Now that you have all the information, you have a simple choice to make.

Option A: Get maximum selling price and do very little work
Option B: Get LESS than maximum selling price, do ALL THE WORK.

The choice is yours.

STEP 8: BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION

For those who like the idea of option A, lets just start by having a chat. No obligation, I’m happy to come and take a look at your home and help you understand the benefits of allowing a professional to take care of this major investment move. I can even help you out with pricing.

Save your DIY energy for the new home you’re moving to, I’m sure it needs a new deck, paint, a man-cave, some landscaping…