One of the problems you may encounter when selling your home without an agent is not being able to find a buyer. This can cause all sorts of problems, like having to make house payments… which is even worse if the house is vacant. Another problem if the house does not sell is that you may not be able to move into the house you wanted until your current one sells.

Of all the reasons a home might not sell if you sell it yourself, there are 2 that make up the most problems that will keep you from finding a buyer.

1. The price

If your home is priced too high relative to market ranges, you will find yourself with a limited supply of buyers who will pay above market price. This is even more important in a regular to slow market. Sometimes during really hot bubble markets it is possible to get a higher price out of the “buying frenzy”, but usually those periods are few and far between. Most of the time you will be in a normal to slow market where you will need to be competitive to attract buyers in that economy.

Now, if you don’t know how to price your property to sell it fast, this is an easy way to find out. Go to online real estate sites like Realtor.com or Zillow.com and find 3-5 houses in your neighborhood that have sold in the last 6 months. For each sale, take the sale price (not the list price) and divide it by the square foot to get the price per square foot. Take the price from 3 to 5 per square foot and add them together, then divide by the number of properties you used to get the average price per square foot. Then take this average number and multiply it to your square footage and get a round price. Take this price and multiply it by 0.98 and this should give you a pretty accurate price on your home’s sales price. Now, if you have some major improvements or additions, or if your house is not similar to the ones in your neighborhood, you will have to adjust to this. If not, this simple formula will get you closer to the price you need for a quick sale.

2. Marketing

The second most important aspect of selling your home by owner is aggressive marketing. Now if you signed up with an agent and were on top of your game, you wouldn’t have to worry about that. However, if you’re handling the sale on your own, then you’ll need to disclose your property information…and convincingly. That is, you need to focus on the benefits of why buyers would be better off buying your home over all the other properties on the market. Most people just post an ad in their local newspaper’s classifieds (which don’t get nearly as much attention as they used to) or just post some photos and a description on Craigslist and wait for their phone to ring non-stop. The reality, however, is much more different.

Of all the ways you can market your home, including listing online on different housing sites, nothing beats signs. Pound for pound, the signs will give you the most exposure from qualified buyers. The key is to do them right. This means ugly hand-drawn signs are posted at busy intersections with just the right words that make shoppers pick up the phone and call you. Also, having a handwritten sign, preferably in bright colours, on your front lawn will generate a good volume of interest from eager buyers.

There is another factor, although not very well known, that can cause your home to sell quickly for full market price… even higher at times. And that’s selling with a lease option (also known as rent-to-own). This is simply giving a qualified renter/buyer 12-24 months to qualify for a mortgage. As you know, mortgage standards have gotten extremely strict these days. And many good people, who have the income and are qualified, have just gotten approved yet. It simply gives them a lease term to get their financing so they can pay it off in cash when their loan comes through. Selling rent-to-own this way is also nice, since you get the full net market price, since you don’t pay any commissions or fees when they collect it.