# Best way to sell your house privately?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

anyone have any experience doing same? what's the best way to go about it?
(this would be in a somewhat slow market...but in a popular area..)


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## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

There are all kinds of web-based articles about selling your own home, just Google "sell home privately in Toronto ( or whatever city ).

Personally, I took a word-of-mouth approach when selling my deceased B.I.L's 80 yr old Toronto house. When neighbours came to give condolences, I asked if they knew anybody in the neighbourhood that might have a family member interested in moving into the area. I said I preferred that to it being sold as a 'tear-down'. It worked; one of the neighbours bought if for his daughter - or so he said. I heard from another neighbour that it has been rented to two families. At least it wasn't torn down to build a monster.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

THANKS UK...i'M NOT QUITE IN THE SAME SITUATION...
I KNOW THERE'S LOTSA SITES TO GOOGLE. JUST THOUGHT I'D TRY TO GET SOME INPUT FROM THE CMF HERE..
oops sorry bout the caps!


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

I had to sell my brother's house in North Toronto. Through my own efforts, I had lined up 3 developers in the area who would buy it as a tear down. No fees.

I also consulted 3 realtors. I decided to go with the young Irish realtor. She knew what she was doing and what the market would bear. In 2 weeks, she had it sold for $50k more than I could have got privately. Granted I had to pay her fee but it was worth every nickle of the $25k she earned. The winning bid was also a tear down and there is a beautiful three story house there now.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

ok....what's the best way to sell A NON-TEAR DOWN privately? ......


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Get rid of all the furniture (moving it into storage if necessary) and clean up the floors and walls. The place will look bigger and cleaner. When my sons saw my Dad's place before the sale, they were amazed at how good it looked without the clutter.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

I have used the 5 Day method successfully and it was in a market that was not very hot. It works, it allows you to sell your house in 5 days without paying commission but you do have to do some work and you have to be ready to accept market value.

http://www.5-daysale.com/

I might add that I did the sale in 2008 when there was no web site and this idea was new. All I did was buy the book and follow the recipe. No other help was available and none was needed.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

I would list with Comfree. Don't know if they're out your way, but its $800 to get a listing on MLS. You can choose what you want to pay the buyer's agent. You can choose a flat fee of like $5 or 10K, or the standard 3.5/1.5%, or something that suits you better, like 0% for the first 500K and X% above (assuming yuo want a sell price in the mid to high 5's.). Usually realtors will scratch that out and send the offer in with their preferred commission.

Clear everything out, clean it up, and get some nice photos taken. You can send some photos away to get digitally staged. It's not expensive and it will be with much nicer furniture and decor. On fiverr you can probably get it for 10-15$ a photo.


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## tored (May 15, 2018)

I have also sold via an agent, when their fee was amply covered by the price they achieved, but also not in today's market.

Personally, I don't care what EAs 'do' for their money, so long as they sell my house at a price I'm comfortable with. I'm not in the business of moral censure


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

Check into propertyguys. Its not free but much less than traditional RE agents. You can also likely list on MLS for fee (think I paid about $800, and then like nobleea suggested set up a decent sell commission for agents)

I got a deal on Pr. guys as my neighbour here had the local franchise. That's how I sold my last place. I also spent the money and got a professional appraisal which was higher than agent listing suggestions. Sold at exact top of the 15K range from appraiser.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

The key is one needs to get an MLS listing to get the exposure, make sure you have professional looking photos, and have all the data points correct on the listing that conforms to the local Real Estate Board (how to calculate square footage and what to include, and what has to be excluded), and you have to offer a commission to the buying agent. Comfree or Property Guys is not a bad way to go. 

In all the houses I have bought over the past 40 years, I have never looked at private sales. I want financial recourse against someone for inaccurate data on the MLS listing and I want the local RE Board's contract for the Offer.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

nobleea said:


> I would list with Comfree. Don't know if they're out your way, but its $800 to get a listing on MLS. You can choose what you want to pay the buyer's agent. You can choose a flat fee of like $5 or 10K, or the standard 3.5/1.5%, or something that suits you better, like 0% for the first 500K and X% above (assuming yuo want a sell price in the mid to high 5's.). Usually realtors will scratch that out and send the offer in with their preferred commission.
> 
> Clear everything out, clean it up, and get some nice photos taken. You can send some photos away to get digitally staged. It's not expensive and it will be with much nicer furniture and decor. On fiverr you can probably get it for 10-15$ a photo.


We are considering that in another year, using Comfree or Property Guys. We are absolutely going to put it on MLS. Great photos should help and we will de-clutter although we don't have much extra stuff (errr, crap).


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

AltaRed said:


> In all the houses I have bought over the past 40 years, I have never looked at private sales. I want financial recourse against someone for inaccurate data on the MLS listing and I want the local RE Board's contract for the Offer.


In one house, the MLS listed the second mortgage at 6.75% and the closing documents showed 8.5%. Our lawyer admitted that he missed it and wrote us a cheque every month for the difference for 2.5 years.


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## Koogie (Dec 15, 2014)

A friends wife (former realtor) works for Comfree now in their HQ. Most of the staff seem to be former realtors and they have been and are pretty busy for the last few years as you can imagine.

As I understand it they do have different levels of service or hand holding they offer. Including photo packages, MLS listing, etc...

OP has nothing to lose by talking to them.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Koogie said:


> OP has nothing to lose by talking to them.


I agree. I just wanted to dispel any illusion that one really has the ability to sell privately...without some services. 

I think the biggest illusion is the (lack of) number of buyers who won't insist on a realtor representing them.. in which case, the private sale vendor is going to have to offer the buying agent a commission. A buyer does not pay his/her agent anything so why not insist on having an agent represent them?


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

Koogie said:


> A friends wife (former realtor) works for Comfree now in their HQ. Most of the staff seem to be former realtors and they have been and are pretty busy for the last few years as you can imagine.
> 
> As I understand it they do have different levels of service or hand holding they offer. Including photo packages, MLS listing, etc...
> 
> OP has nothing to lose by talking to them.


Except they do not appear to offer service in NL where OP is located.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

RBull said:


> Except they do not appear to offer service in NL where OP is located.


correct Rbull


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

If you are in NL word of mouth usually best option ,sharing with locals on facebook who have out of province friends and family works in our small community back there.


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

I sold my house privately about 5 years ago. Signed up with a private company who has their own web-site. Here in QC, you cannot list privately on MLS.
None-the-less, the result and experience was very positive. The fee I paid gets you a full listing on their web-site, professional HD pictures taken from a photographer, a for-sale sign customized with your phone number, access to all pertinent documentation to conclude the sale and legal assistance if needed.

*Here is what I find worked well and my advice to anyone selling privately:*

- Be knowledgeable about real-estate. Know your comparables and ensure your asking price is reasonable. Once its set, you do not want to change it so ensure you do your homework prior.

- De-clutter, de-personalize, neutralize your home even before pictures are taken. You do not want your junk lying around the house. Take down personal picture frames or replace with neutral picture frames. Keep the house tidy, interior AND exterior. Fix anything that is broken. If there is one area you should not ignore, it would be your front entrance. People make up their minds within the first few seconds they step foot in a house. That's why changing the front entrance door is the most effective reno yielding the highest return on investment.

- Get a pre-sale inspection if you are not knowledgeable enough. It would be a wise investment. You can tackle any issues beforehand avoid surprises when in the negotiating process. You can show the report to potential buyers and pointing out any issues that you rectified.

- Be available and answer all calls and emails promptly. Remain professional with all communications - even if the the client isn't.

- Organize "open-houses". Make sure you announce them well in advance and put posters or signs strategically around the neighborhood (use balloons!). People find open-houses welcoming and are more likely to stop by for a visit. Also, when they see there are others visiting, it puts a sense of pressure on them since they see there is lots of interest in your property.

- Be honest, transparent, organized and professional. People are more likely to deal with you if you make it pleasant for them.

- Don't take any negative comment personally. 

- Make available a bunch of pamphlets of your listing on the day of the open-house. Try to get the family and/or pets out of the house during visits. You don't want your dog sniffing anyone around while they visit. Give them the freedom to roam around and talk among themselves. Be available to answer questions. At the end of the visit, try to retain their name, number or email address. You will want to follow-up with them and question what they liked or didn't. Maybe the price is too high? Maybe that pink wall is eye-sore? Adjust accordingly.

- Finally, ensure your listing remains 'active'. Keep re-posting it on sites like Kijiji or even Facebook. As long as people know your house is for sale, it remains fresh in their minds and gets them to spread the word. You can't just list it and forget it.

Its not as easy as people think but if you follow basic rules, you'll do just fine.

Good luck!


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Reposting
Make sure the older listing gets removed. Nothing like having an old listing hanging around a site. Do all the sites you used.

Rent a cube van and put all your excess furniture and belongings in it during open houses. Make the decluttering permanent until it is sold.


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## chantl01 (Mar 17, 2011)

We've sold our last couple houses by ourselves and it's not that difficult. For pricing, hire a professional appraiser. It will cost you a couple hundred dollars but they are qualified to give you a better appraisal than an agent who is not also a qualified appraiser. Setting an accurate asking price is key - you don't want to have to drop the price to attract potential buyers, as they will wonder what's wrong with the place.

Declutter. It's absolutely true, you need buyers to be able to envision themselves living in your home. When they start talking amongst themselves about where they could place their furniture, you've succeeded.

If you go with a sell-by-owner service, buy their top of the line package. It will include professional signage, an MLS listing, professional photography and possibly even staging or pricing advice. Make sure your ad includes language about working with a buyer's agent - either state a percentage commission you will offer, or specify that it's negotiable. If you end up showing the place yourself to buyers who later bring their agent along, you are well within your rights to offer only a fixed amount as a commission, since it's you who actually sold the place. The agent won't want to fight too hard, if their buyers have their heart set on buying the property, as it will make them look bad.

Be responsive to potential buyers. Bend over backward to accommodate their requests to visit and re-visit the property. Be prepared to engage with them as much or as little as they like while they view the home. Make sure you have a professional style one-page feature sheet to hand them on their way out of the door.

Have fun with it. Think about what aspects of the home drew you to it in the first place, and play those up with potential buyers who may have the same preferences/needs!


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