Do you want to sell your house in Duluth but are not sure where to start?
Selling a house can be frustrating, especially if you are currently facing challenges in your life. Some people have the luxury of doing pre-sale renovations and hiring the best real estate agents to ensure the sale; however, not everyone in Duluth can afford this. If you fall in the latter, we are delighted to say that you still have other options to go with, and we lay them out to you in this article.
Before going into the options, we recommend that you first understand your current financial situation. Even if you sell your Duluth house on your own, you still need to prepare for a few minor expenses such as your MLS subscription, legal consultant fees, and some closing fees. Once you’ve understood how much money you can budget for your sale, the next thing to do is set a time frame. How fast you want to sell your Georgia home will matter as you weigh your options below.
Seek Help From a Real Estate Agent
If you want to sell your house on the market and have top-of-the-line convenience, you should go for a real estate agent. Real estate agents are commission-based, so you only have to pay them once the property is sold. In Duluth, the average real estate commission rate is around 5.98%, and it has been stable since 2015.
If you hire an agent, the agent will be the one to list your house on the market and wait for interested buyers. But, if your agent is diligent enough, your Days On Market (DOM) can be shorter than the average. To get an agent who can ensure a fast sale of your home, you should interview various candidates first and consider the following factors:
- the agent has to be familiar with Duluth (bonus points if he/she has previously sold a home in your area)
- the agent should be able to present you with pricing and marketing options that are feasible with your current situation
- the agent should be responsive to your queries and concerns
- the agent should be able to communicate with you clearly
- how fast the agent closed previous sales
Sell the House Yourself (FSBO)
If you are not comfortable about selling your house with an agent (and paying commission), you can think about selling the house by yourself. You don’t need to get a license to sell your own house, but it does entail a great deal of work — staging, listing, negotiating with buyers, preparing the closing documents, appraisals, etc.
The closing process can be quicker, though, if you already have a buyer. According to NAR, 77% of sellers who knew their buyers were able to close a deal in less than 14 days. Nevertheless, if you need to sell and list your Georgia home on the market, here are some of the most important things to remember:
1. Is Today a Seller’s Market in Duluth?
A seller’s market occurs when there are too many buyers but only a few houses on sale. If you are not a real estate expert, there are tools that will help you understand the market. But generally, it would be difficult to make a precise estimate of when it is going to be a seller’s market in Duluth, because, there are so many factors that come into play (e.g., economy). The best thing to do here is to follow the news and reports of real estate analysts in Georgia, online.
2. How Much Are the Other Houses for Sale in Your Area?
If you sell your house, be it by yourself or by an agent, you cannot simply set a random price. You cannot overprice your house too much compared to other similar houses in the area, because your buyers will most likely consider the cheaper ones. On the occasion that you’ve made considerable upgrades in your house that make it stand out from all the other houses, then you have yourself a good reason to ask for a high price.
3. Create a Compelling Listing
Your listing is your buyer’s initial encounter with your house. Hence, it should be inviting and well-curated. There are two important components in a listing: text descriptions and photos. The power of photos in listings is so immense that realtors are even turning towards virtual staging. To write descriptions that sell, here are a few tips:
- highlight best features
- avoid offensive words
- describe accurately (do not just use “large space”, “clean floors”, etc.)
- create a story to spark your buyer’s imagination
- use words that add value like pristine, new, luxurious, etc.
- take note of grammar and punctuation
- focus on what you can give to your buyers
4. Repair Only the Essential Parts
Essential parts include the foundations, walls, ceiling, electrical and ventilation systems, etc. — components that risk the safety of occupants when left unrepaired. This is important because in case you come across a buyer who is planning to rent out your house, they wouldn’t need to worry anymore about violating Georgia Property Codes. You are actually giving them more value, which could convince them to offer you a higher price.
But as mentioned in the first sections of this article, not everyone can afford house renovations. Some professional home buyers will likely recommend that you just sell your home to them instead if this is the case; but we encourage you first to explore what renovation lenders can offer you.
5. Gather Best Practices to Sell A House in Duluth
Real estate agents are highly recommended not just because of their technical knowledge, but also because of their ability to connect with people. As such, different agents have different approaches to negotiating and selling a house, and you can surely learn a thing or two from them. If you don’t personally know an agent, you can search for training videos and webinars online (even if some training materials have admission fees, it will still be worth it in the end).
Look at iBuyer Websites
iBuyers are direct real estate buying companies that buy your house for cash quickly. These companies offer a remote way for you to directly sell your house, which means that you don’t have to discuss with them face-to-face to be able to get an offer. All you need to do is fill up their forms online and wait for your price offer. iBuyers are beneficial for people who need cash as soon as possible; however, expect that you will be offered a lower price than the fair market value.
In addition, you won’t have that much chance for negotiating the price and, you’ll most likely have to renovate your house if you want to sell to an iBuyer because they usually avoid fixer-upper properties.
Connect With Other Professional Home Buying Companies
If you think that FSBO, real estate agents, and iBuyers are too hassle for you, you can also reach out to us. We also buy houses fast for cash, even in an as-is condition. The benefits of selling your house to us are:
- No home repairs needed
- No contingency clauses
- Fast transactions
- No hiring of real estate consultants needed
- No need to draft closing documents yourself
- No people going in and out of your house