Steps to Sell Your House 

Detail your house:
If you were to sell your car, you would either, have your car professionally detailed or you would detail it yourself. Your house has a higher value than your car, so why wouldn’t you detail your house?
Your house not only should be picked up, it should be clean. Shampooing the carpets can help make the sale. Shampooing can not only improve the appearance of the carpet, it can help remove bad odors. Remove all items cluttering your house. The tables and counters need to look ready to use. Decorations are great, as long as the do not take over. All of the rooms need to be free of clutter. If an item in your home is not needed and this item might be loved by some and hated by others – remove it. When showing your home, you want your house to appear as a home, but not your home. Buyers need to visualize a home but a home with a clean slate. This means most of your personal items (family pictures, awards, souvenirs, etc.) need to be removed. Also, remove extra furniture from your house. You need to make each room in your house appear big enough for the buyer’s things. Eliminating furniture will make the area appear larger and more accepting of the buyers. Remove any questionable items that could turn off buyers. HutHound.com, recommends removing these items from the entire property. This might mean renting a storage unit until your house sells. Your house needs to look lived in, but lived in with ease.
Start with the kitchen. The kitchen is one area of the house buyers will normally base their purchase decision on. Remember when removing clutter, to remove everything from the outside of the refrigerator. Most people use their refrigerator for showcasing art and note pads. Your kitchen will look neater without these items. Make sure your cabinets are organized. Remove unused items from the drawers. Your kitchen needs to appear to have plenty of space for potential buyers.
If you are using an area of your house (basement, garage, extra room) for storage, it is time to take care of the stored items. All of these areas need to let potential buyers dream of what they could do with the areas. Consider a garage sale or using a storage facility.
Most people use their closets for storage as well. Don’t forget about the closet. Even huge closets look inadequate when cluttered. Remove items to make your closets look like they can handle any of the buyers needs.
Get the rest of the interior ready.
1. If your house needs interior painting – paint with a neutral color(painting is the best way to freshen up a house).
2. Check to make sure all of the doors and windows operate properly.
3. Replace broken glass.
4. Replace burned out light bulbs.
5. Fix leaking faucets.
6. Kitchens and bathrooms can make or break a sale. Touch up these areas and make sure appliances are spotless.
7. Shampoo the carpet.
8. Wax the floors.
9. If you have roof leaks – repair them and make sure to repair the ceiling also.
10. Use air fresheners – especially if you are a smoker or have pets.
11. Clean the windows – inside and out.
12. Replace the bath shower curtain.
13. Make sure curtains and window coverings are open.
14. Don’t leave any room without furniture. Rooms need to have furniture but not overcrowded.
15. If your furniture is old and looks bad – consider renting or borrowing furniture until your house sells.
16. If you are not sure how to set up a room, or need furniture, consider contacting a home stager. Home stagers are knowledgeable of how to best set up a room to attract buyers. They also can provide temporary furniture. Home staging is a valuable part of successful home selling.


Trim your shrubs and trees. Edge the sidewalk. Fertilize the yard and keep the yard watered. Cut the grass twice as often as you have in the past. Plant some flowers. Many Sellers will hire a lawn care provider while their house is listed. Patch and repair driveway and sidewalk cracks. Does the exterior siding look acceptable? You will need to consider the cost of residing or repainting your house against the gains of selling your house. Your house needs to look as good, hopefully better, than other homes in the area. The buyer’s first impression is created when they are still in their car. The outside of your house needs to look great always. Many times prospective buyers will drive by a home they are interested in, without an appointment, just to see if the home is of interest to them, without hearing a sales pitch.
The garage needs to be clean and organized. Lubricating the overhead door can help with vibrations and noise. Most Buyers will check the operation of the overhead door.
Is your welcome mat personalized? If so remove it.
If you have a pet, make sure the lawn is void of any droppings.
When you have detailed your house, invite someone over and ask for his or her advice on how it shows. Always listen and watch for body language when your house is being shown. You might find that the darling antique artifact you have loved is actually turning off buyers.

Putting a price on your house:
Be realistic when determining a price for your house. Without the use of a realtor, you should be able to keep more of the selling price. With this in mind, you should be able to reduce the price of your house by 3%, making your house more of a bargain than a house listed with a realtor, futhermore collecting 3% more than you would have if you used a realtor (average realtor listing commission is 6%).
Compare your house with other houses for sale in your area. Compare features and square foot prices. If the other houses are listed with a realtor, you should be able to offer your house at a reduced price making your house more attractive to potential buyers.
While selling your house yourself, you will probably get calls from real estate agents giving their sales pitch for their services. Claiming they have a potential buyer for your house is a common statement. Real Estate agents can help you sell, but they usually require a hefty commission. Prior to agreeing to contract a selling agent, review the online realtor linked to HutHound.com. The most you will be required to pay is a 4% commission. Most of the advertising – listing on HutHound.com and the MLS can be done for free. There is little reason to commit to an additional 2% for this service.
After you have decided on a price –NEVER EVER reveal your absolute bottom line. Not to anyone – including friends and relatives. Many times someone who knows a friend of the seller, becomes the buyer. Secrets can be kept secrets if you never include anyone with your thoughts.
Use a yard sign:
Always use a yard sign to help sell your house. A yard sign purchased at a local store will let people driving by know that your house is for sale. Use a HutHound yard sign to compliment your advertising. Using a typical sign looks cheap and will make potential buyers wonder – “what else did the sellers do to save money.” Using a sign purchased through HutHound.com, will help advertise your house, but will also help potential buyers find your listing. You place your listing number on the HutHound sign, and buyers will look for your listing on-line. This will eliminate wasted time answering phone calls from buyers that are not interested in your house. A yard sign will also help locate your house when a potential buyer has seen the listing online and would like to inspect. The buyers will drive to the area and look for the HutHound sign.


Create a title:
Create a short title that will attract buyers looking for your type of home. Example: Home within walking distance to school, Home with beautiful mountain views, etc. Title should only include the most important features of your house. Short titles drive potential buyers to further investigate and possibly find another item (an item you thought of less importance) your home offers that is also a real selling point for the buyers.



Create the ad:
As well as the title, the ad should be short and to the point. List any items of value your house has that isn’t listed by the drop boxes. Be realistic and list the items you think will drive a buyer to you. If your ad contains too much fluff (fantastic colors, nicest carpet available, the best community near the city) buyers will sometimes overlook these listings not wanting to waste time and possibly believing the listing is stretching the truth.
Many buyers are trying to compare houses in a short period of time. If reading your ad is like reading a book, it will be difficult to use your house for one to compare. Interested buyers will ask for more information and when they do, that is the time to let them know about everything your house has to offer. At that point, the buyer will be willing to take time for further investigation because the buyer has already picked your house as a potential purchase.
State other advantages offered like help with the closing costs and any discounts you are willing to give. Statements like “seller motivated to sell” often grabs a buyer’s attention.
Pictures are worth a thousand words:
Usually, the very first thing that a potential buyer sees that attracts them to your house is the picture in your ad. That is why HutHound.com highly recommends including a picture of your house with your listing. Many Buyers will not even look at listings that don’t include a picture. Not only including a picture with the listing is important, the quality of the picture is equally important. Usually sellers will want to use a picture of the front of the house to use as the main picture.
If the selling feature of your house is other than the front of the house (ocean view – etc.), then place a picture of the featured view as the main picture. Many times the actual highlight of the real estate has nothing to do with the house. The house might be removed by the Buyer to make room for the Buyer’s dream house. The Buyer might be just looking for the piece of property or location.
Wait for a nice day with plenty of sunshine. Wait for the best time of day when the sun is behind you and shining on the face of your house. Prior to you snapping a picture, take a look at your house from the curb. Make sure the lawn is freshly mowed. Trim the shrubs. Once again – depersonalize your house - remove any yard ornaments (some buyers love them and some hate them). Your lawn should be cleared of everything possible. Make sure the garage door is down. Make sure the driveway is clear and no cars are in site.
HutHound.com also suggests the use of interior pictures on your listing. Only use pictures that will compliment your house. Make sure the room is clean and not cluttered. Remove any extra furniture prior to snapping the picture. Everything in the picture, other than your house, is just a prop. Make sure all of your props help the sale not hinder the sale. Use a high quality digital camera set to the highest resolution and take multiple pictures. Change the angle and height of the view. Change the zoom for additional pictures. Then pick the best pictures for your ad.

Offers:
HutHound.com buyers often would rather deal with the house owner rather than a realtor. Communication time can be greatly reduced without the middle party. Be completely honest with the potential buyer. After a level of trust has been acquired, both the Seller and Buyer will be more comfortable and less stressed. Most Buyers know that when they are dealing with a realtor, the realtor will only tell them what they have learned from you, the seller. Without the trust between the seller and buyer, how can a realtor convince the buyer to trust the realtor, when in reality they really need to trust the seller who they have never even met?
Getting the Buyer’s trust can usually be done. Appear relaxed. Don’t hide issues. Most home inspections will probably discover what you were trying to hide anyway. Once the inspection reveals the problems, the buyer will have lost trust in you and either cancel the transaction or investigate harder. Be a good seller – a good reputation can help you in the future. Honesty is a rare selling tool and when used, honesty can set you apart from your competition.
As a seller, try not to get emotionally involved. Some potential buyers will not like something about your house. Some will voice their concerns. Understand that the potential buyer’s opinion, is just that – their opinion. Everyone has different taste and arguing about differences will not help. Try to be polite while trying to find something about your house that the potential buyer likes. Remember – if you were the buyer, you probably wouldn’t continue your interest in a house after you had been insulted.
When you get an offer for your house and decide that you would like to counter offer, counter offer with a short acceptance time allowed. You might get another offer from another buyer right after you counter offer the first buyer. This new offer could be within your acceptance range and you won’t be able to accept as long as you have a counter offer that is out waiting for acceptance. Only write one counter offer at a time and allow each counter offer to expire before writing a new one to another buyer. Understand - when a buyer wants to negotiate the price – they are interested in your house. Most real estate prices are negotiated. Welcome the negotiations and work with bona fide buyers. While negotiating, remember – how long has my house been listed? How many offers am I getting? What is the market like? Can I give here and get there. Most negotiations are give and take.
Sellers are required to disclose any and all defects in your home prior to selling. Many states require the use of a Disclosure Statement. Make sure you get a signed copy of the Disclosure Statement back from the buyer. This is your proof that the buyer has seen the statement. Many sellers hire a home inspector to provide a list of defects. Most buyers hire an inspection service which relieves the seller from spending that money. Don’t think that disclosing defects will make a buyer run. No buyer looks for perfection – it doesn’t exist. A buyer might think that the defects will create a negotiation. Remember negotiations are good. An absent buyer equals a for sale sign without the “SOLD” title.
HutHound.com suggests only serious offers with a fair earnest deposit be considered. The earnest deposit shows good faith from the potential buyer. A seller should not be asked to take their house off the market and possibly pass up future offers without a good faith deposit. A normal earnest deposit is 1%-5% of the purchase price. This earnest deposit should be held by the Title Company.
While the Real Estate forms supplied on HutHound.com are intended to offer a fair deal to both the buyer and seller, it is common for both parties to obtain professional legal help. HutHound.com offers users many ways to help with the real estate transaction without intentionally giving an upper hand to either the seller or buyer. HutHound.com suggests each party obtain any and all professional advice desired to complete the transaction.
Make sure the purchase agreement has covered every detail. It is better to over state issues than under state them. You can eliminate future litigation and possibly losing a potential buyer due to unclear issues.
Don’t hesitate to call the Title Company for help with the purchase agreement. If the seller and buyer are confident and don’t require the help of professionals, the Title Company listed can take care of all of the transaction details regarding the paperwork without bias.
If the buyer has requested inspections (on the Real Estate Offer), the seller will need to make the house available for inspections within the time frame stated on the Real Estate Offer. The repairs (if any) will need to be taken care of by the party responsible for repairs stated on the Real Estate Offer.
Make sure as a seller, you abide by the State and Federal Housing Laws. It is against the law to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, family status, national origin, etc. Consult an attorney if there is any doubt whatsoever regarding legality.



Prior to Closing:
After the seller and buyer have agreed on a price and the seller has provided the disclosure statement to the buyer, the pre-closing details can begin. Any inspections should take place as soon as possible. The Title Company should be contacted to review the forms and contracts. An escrow account should be opened to hold the buyer’s deposit at the Title Company. The Title Company should start the search for liens on the title. The buyer should contact the mortgage lender and have the events required by the lender ordered after inspections have been made and all parties are in agreement with the results of the inspections and any repairs needed. If repairs are needed, the seller and buyer need to agree which party is covering the costs (hopefully stated in the Real Estate Offer) and when the repairs will be made and by who. The lender might require an appraisal and survey, and these acts might take some time to complete. Local agencies (including but not limited to – Health Department, City, Township, State laws and ordinances) might require items to be performed whenever a sale is to take place. Check with your local agencies to make sure you have covered any items needing to be done.
Once the buyer is approved by the lender, the buyer must provide a preliminary loan approval letter to you.

Closing:
The closing should be schedule with the Title Company after the Lender has everything they need. The Title Company can handle all of the title work and they can also make sure all of the paper work is in order. If the seller or buyer feels the need to be represented by an attorney, they should do so. The Title Company is to act as a neutral transaction agent and not favor either the seller or the buyer. If so desired, all of the real estate transaction can be completed without the use and expense of an attorney, but not advised.

Tips For Grabbing The Buyer
Your property description and classified ads needs to be constructed properly in order to get buyers looking at your house over the competitions. These ads need to be short and sweet, direct and to the point. You need to include the basic information about the property and leave out extra information. Sellers have more luck when the Buyer reading the ad is left curious and wants to know more. The basic information will get the Buyer’s attention and if the ad does not include statements that will have Buyers eliminating your property from their search. Remember, when most Buyers think of their ideal house in their budget, they have not even seen or really know what that dream house is.
The basic information needs to include: the price, the location, and the number of bedrooms. As stated before, short and sweet. List your selling price, and if you are willing to negotiate at the beginning of your ad. Next tell the Buyer the location of the property. Most serious Buyers will skim over the classifieds while looking for houses in their budget and within their desired locations. Remember, you are trying to get Buyers interested in your property – serious Buyers, so you want to give the Buyer the information they are skimming for – up front. Many Sellers are reluctant to state the price early in the ad. The Seller believes they want to hook the Buyer with some of the features. More times than not, Buyers are looking at many properties for sale and will not stop to read a lengthy ad unless they believe they are looking at a potential purchase within their budget.
After you have stated the price and location, you need to state some nice features of your property. Start with the number of bedrooms your house has. Now mention garages, fenced in areas, and if appropriate, a peaceful neighborhood. You should also list any newly remodeled areas. Fireplaces and patios are usually good points that won’t send a potential Buyer packing, even if they weren’t interested in those features.
If you leave the Buyer guessing, but curious, it won’t be long before you get to show them the other features you think are important. Try to remember – everybody is different and some of your house features may be loved by some and hated by others.

Your ad needs to be short and sweet, to the point and uncluttered. Here are a few examples:
$175,000, ROCKFORD, beautiful 3 bedroom house, garage, fireplace, great neighborhood, by owner. Call 555-1234 or visit HutHound.com and enter ID # ----------------------.

$199,000, HOLLAND, lovely 3 bedroom house, fireplace, country setting, by owner. Call 555-1234 or visit HutHound.com and enter ID # ----------------------.

$240,000, THREE RIVERS, large 3 bedroom house, new bathroom, garage, fireplace, quiet neighborhood, by owner. Call 555-1234 or visit HutHound.com and enter ID # ----------------------.

An ad like these will give the potential Buyer the information they are searching for and at the same time, never giving the Buyer a reason to eliminate your house from their search.