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The Internet is a great place to find out how to sell a home in the convenience and privacy of your own living room. Some of the online services available are free and others will require a nominal fee.
If you are serious about selling a home and want to do everything possible to make it a successful venture, the following suggestions are worth the time and effort.
1. Determine Value
Your experienced agent can supply you with comparable sales that will help you determine what kind of price to place on the home. However, there are online services, such as iOwn.com at rhs.iown.com/buy/rh_buy_index.htm who will provide sales information for free and www.inpho.com for a small fee.
Order an appraisal by a designated member of the Appraisal Institute by going to appraisalinstitute.org/search.htm.
2. Pre-Inspection
An objective, unbiased report on the condition of the structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems will help you avoid unnecessary surprises and may help justify the price. The American Society of Home Inspectors can provide you a list of local inspectors by going to to www.ashi.com.
Print a home inspection guide from www.freddiemac.com/homebuyers/index.html.
3. Home Repairs
If home repairs are needed, www.improvenet.com matches consumers with local contractors and designers through a national database of over 630,000 contractors. The retailer Home Depot is a great source for home improvement advice and ideas. To get started, choose from hundreds of great How-to projects at www.homedepot.com/cgi-bin/prel80/index.jsp.
4. Research Neighborhoods
Community profiles can provide valuable information on your neighborhood that you can share with potential buyers. Sources for demographic, economic, and school information are:
Also, a crime statistics tutorial can be found at www.crime.org and is designed to allow you to easily locate and assess the accuracy of crime statistics.
5. Place it on the Internet
Homeowners can place a free ad on Yahoo at www.classifieds.yahoo.com.
Once you have selected an agent, your home can be put on several other sites like REALTOR.COM, which offers the greatest number of online listings, as well as other listing sites.
6. Qualify Buyers
Online mortgage brokers like E-Loan provide customers a wide variety of lenders and loans programs to insure the best match for their needs. In many cases, the fees charged are less and there may be no up-front fees required. The loan commitment, usually available in 24 hours, can help you negotiate a better price for the home because the seller will feel more secure about the sale actually closing.
Go to eloan.prepsoftware.com/. Answers to your questions about mortgages from a Wharton professor and nationally syndicated columnist and recognized expert on mortgages can be found at www.mtgprofessor.com.
7. Moving
Planning the actual moving requires time to arrange for a mover, sorting what is going to the new home and what is going to be sold, discarded, or donated. Proper packing is important to prevent damage to your valuables. For suggestions and a moving estimate, go to www.moving.com/.
8. Change of Address
9. Find an Agent
A knowledgeable agent is valuable to make certain the process goes smoothly. The training, past experiences, and personal relationships can protect the large investment that you have in your home.
To find out about the professional Realtor® services that Rosemary Chiaverini can offer in the O'Fallon, SCOTT AFB, Belleville, Fairview Heights and surrounding Illinois communities,
send an Email or call me and let me show you what I can do for you.
Internet Seller's Guide - Courtesy Pat Zaby - Used with permission
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