Real Estate Investing, Realtors

8 Reasons Why Selling Your House to Investors is Better than Realtors

1. You Don’t Have to Pay Commissions and Fees

Most of the time, sellers have to pay commissions and fees to their real estate agent and the agent of the buyer. So, if you sell your house for $200,000, for example, you’ll probably have to subtract about $12,000 off that price and pay it to your real estate agents. But when you sell to an investor without using real estate agents, you do not have to pay these commissions and fees.

2. The Purchase Won’t Fall Through Due to a Bad Inspection or Financing Issues

Did you know that up to 15% of home sales fall through due to inspection and financing contingency? This means that if problems come up during a home inspection, or if the buyer struggles to come up with the proper financing. the entire sale could be off and you’d have to find another buyer and start all over again. But when you sell to an investor, there’s no inspection or financing contingency.

3. You Won’t Have to Deal with Showings

If you sell through a real estate agent you’ll probably have multiple showings, requiring you to get the house ready and leave your property for a few hours during every showing and open house. This can be a bit annoying! When selling to an investor, there is only one showing.

4. You Won’t Have to Pay for Repairs

Selling through an agent requires that you make repairs. You’ll probably need to repair things before putting your house on the market AND pay for repairs that come up during your home inspection. That’s money and time out the window, but with us, we pay for ALL the repairs and take care of them ourselves.

5. There’s No Appraisal Needed

Most home sales require an appraisal, which takes time and controls how much the home will sell for in the end. With an investor, no appraisal is necessary, saving you time and possibly even saving you money.

6. You’ll Get an Immediate Cash Offer

An investor understands your busy schedule and instead of taking your valuable time and making you wait on an offer, you’ll get an immediate cash offer. When you work with us, we will set up an appointment during which we’ll make you a fair cash offer. It’s fast and easy for you!

7. You Can Schedule the Sale Around Your Needs

With a traditional real estate sale, you can’t choose when someone buys your house. It might be inconvenient timing when the right buyer finally appears. But when you sell to an investor like 8 Day Home Sale, you can choose your exact closing date to ensure the sale of your home fits into your schedule.

8. You’ll Get Cash In Hand Quickly

You can have cash in your hands within approximately a week of closing! If you do things the traditional way, the closing date is generally 30 to 60 days after you accept the buyer’s offer, but with this method of selling your home, you can wrap things up much more quickly.

If you have a home for sale in Washington, DC, Maryland or Virginia and you need to sell it quickly, consider using 8 Day Home Sale.
Call us today for an instant quote!

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Realtors

How to Protect Yourself Against Bad Realtors

Real estate agents get a bad rap – it is easy to see why; they are working in the world of sales. If someone is trying to persuade someone to buy or sell your house fast, it always makes you question their motives. Here are a few tips for spotting shady realtors.

A good realtor should know your area, even your street very well. Unless they are new, there are no excuses for not being an expert in your place of living if they are to represent you and the sale of your property. Protect yourself by asking questions about the area – what is the local school? How does it perform? Are there any parks nearby? What is the neighborhood like? If they stumble over the answers or are vague in their response, this could show a lack of knowledge and they are potentially making up a lot of information.

Listen out for information they should not be giving you. Bad realtors might try and persuade you that the deal is good and sell you on information such as tax breaks or even give legal advice. If you hear any of this be wary. Use a professional for tax or legal advice.

Ask for references. A good realtor should be able to provide these to you easily. Even if you need to sell your house fast, it’s worth following up with a few references.

Do a bit of research, look up the information they have told you about the property. Use tools like Zillow and tax records to ensure what they’ve told you is actually correct. For example, if they say the house was built in 1980, confirm that information.

Make sure you get a home inspection, a bad realtor might advise against this. When buying any property, the best way of protecting yourself against future headaches is by getting a thorough home inspection – it’s the only way of finding out the actual condition of the property.

If you need to sell your house fast, a traditional home sale with a realtor might not be for you. We buy houses directly for cash so you can sell your house fast. Talk to us!

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For Sale by Owner, Realtors

How to Sell Your Home without a Realtor

The time has come. You have made all of the necessary upgrades, from the new granite countertop to the more visually appealing shower tile in the bathroom. You’ve planted some new flowers to maximize curb appeal, and that clutter that you once had in several rooms is now neatly stored away for another time and place. Now, it’s time to put your home up for sale on the market. Save your hard earned cash by not giving an up to 7 percent commission to real estate agents and their firms, giving you more funds to spend on your new house. Sell your home without a realtor! Here are some tips you can use when you put your home up on the market without having to go through a real-estate agency:

Set your sell price.

Do your research. See what other homes with your size, age and other specifications are going for in your area. Scour the Internet and local listing magazines to establish your price. It’s vital to be realistic during this step. If you ask for too much or too little, you could end up selling your home for less than its worth or waiting a long period of time for your home to sell. This is when you will also decide how you want to accept payments, whether it is direct cash, land agreement, loan, etc. You will also want to think about laws in your area and what you will do during the later negotiation phase of the process.

List your home on the MLS.

The Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, is an extensive guide to all real estate for sale in the United States. If you go through a real estate agency, a realtor will usually do this step for you; however, as an individual seller, you can pay a flat fee of $400 to list your home.

Get the word out about your house.

If no one knows your home is for sale, your research and listing will be in vain. Put up “For Sale” signs in the front yard, leave brochures in key locations within your area, place online ads on Craigslist and in your newspaper and more. Creating a website with your home’s description, photos and other information is also a good advertising tactic when selling your own home. Take some time to really think about what makes your home unique, and highlight those features on your website and other collateral materials.

Host an open house.

This can really work in your favor if it’s done correctly. Before hosting the open house, make sure your home is deeply cleaned, from the floors to ceiling. Scrub the kitchen counters and appliances, clean the bathroom grout, shampoo the carpets… anything you can think of. Make your home comfortable without adding too much of your personal touches. Keep your personal effects tucked away when hosting the open house. The open house is a perfect opportunity to advertise your home and its key features.

We’ll be writing more articles in the future about selling your home without a realtor. Remember, 8 Day Home Sale will buy your home directly without a realtor in 8 days or less.

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Realtors

Real Estate Agents Should be Chosen Wisely

Your home is more than the place you raised your family, it is also one of the largest investments you own.  When it is time to sell you deserve the best return possible, but is a real estate agent worth those huge commissions?  For the right one – yes!

So does that mean you need to pay 7% commissions to an agent?  Not if you pick carefully.  Commissions are negotiable, but sometimes lower fees can mean less service as well. Are they willing to accept a flat fee versus a commission?  Will they reduce their rate if you conduct your own open houses?

Treat hiring a real estate agent like any other job interview.  No matter what market you live in, there are lots of agents competing for your business.  Interview at least three or four as you would for any contractor.  Before you meet with them, review the quality of their current listings and call some owners from their recent sales. Review the time on market for their listings, and the percentage of selling price compared to the listing price.

All agents will offer some of the basic services, but what more will they do for you?  Have them describe their marketing plan.  How will they provide maximum exposure for your property?   They need to be more creative than simply listing on MLS.  Will they assist in staging your home? Do they use professional photographers?  How many websites, and other advertising mediums will they use?  How many open houses will they conduct? Will your home be a priority over their other listings?

The first item on a real estate agent’s agenda is the appraisal.  It is often tempting to sign on with the agent who promises you the highest listing price, but is their valuation realistic in your market?  Have them show you comparable listings and recent sales in your marketplace.  How knowledgeable are they about those listings?  Can they accurately compare the features of those homes versus yours?

The worst thing an agent can do for you is to overprice your house. In these instances, the house doesn’t sell, so you lower the price.  Now it has been on the market longer than desired and people will think either there is something wrong with your house, or you will be open to a lowball offer.  In this way overpricing may ultimately lead to a lower sale price!

Time spent in carefully selecting your agent will always be a good investment.

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