A seller has terminated their contract with a real estate agent and would like to sell the house by owner. The seller wants to know when they can officially list the home as "for sale by owner" without the agent returning to claim his commission if it sells. The seller should be able to sell the home by owner after 45 days of the terminated contract.
Before you list your home for sale, it's a good idea to get a pre-listing home inspection. A pre-listing home inspection will alert you to items that may need repair in and around your home. Getting a pre-listing inspection will reduce the surprises that could appear during a home inspection commissioned by the buyers.
Selling your home means selling the outside first, so make sure the exterior has curb appeal. Curb appeal and nice landscaping will push buyers to decide to walk in and help you sell your home. Maintaining your home's curb appeal will propel the offers you get, and selling your home may happen sooner than you think!
When you're selling your home and it sits on the market for a few months you may wonder what's wrong with your property. In some cases, the property you're selling may have a fatal flaw such as a lack of a parking space in the city. How can you overcome a fatal flaw when you're selling your home? You can try offering incentives to the prospective home buyers and buyer's agent.
A profit on selling your home is calculated by the sales price minus the costs and improvements. So what if costs and improvements cost more than the sales price? Unfortunately, the difference cannot be considered a loss for income tax purposes.
The term "flipping" real estate has gotten a bad name in the press, as a suspect way of buying and selling property. Buying property at a low price and selling it higher is legitimate, but the practice of "flipping" real estate can be suspect. Some people who flip real estate falsify documents to make the property seem worth more than it really is after making modest improvement, which is why the term "flipping" is better left out of the equation.
A reader comments on Ilyce's initial article about selling primary and rental properties.
There are ways to avoid capital gains taxes when selling your primary residence, but you'll still face a tax burden when selling rental property. If you live in a property for two years before selling it, you can keep your profits tax free. A 1031 exchange is also an option that allows you to defer capital gains taxes.
There are many websites that are designed to help sellers sell their own homes by owner. Unlike a discount broker who might be more involved with your sale, when you sell by owner using a website, you'll be responsible for doing just about everything, including the showings, any negotiation and making sure all the details get done that will enable the house to close. How long you want to try to sell by owner before contacting an agent is up to you.
Ilyce reflects on how some people are making a killing on real estate investments and are very successful at selling investment property. Those who are the most successful at selling investment property seem to understand something very basic about real estate. In order to sell real estate investment property quickly, you have to have something that people want to buy at a price that gives buyers an incentive to move quickly.
