The Modern Home Sellers Guide To Selling Your Home For Top Dollar with No Commissions!

Welcome to the Homepie guide to making and keeping more of your money when selling your home!

This guide is here to help you sell your home fast, for more money, and teach you how to keep more of your profit at the end of the process of selling your home.

Before we get started on the practical tips there are some very important industry and technology trends, tips, and tricks that you need to be aware of now that you are considering selling your home.

Selling your home today is a completely different process than it was just 3 short years ago.

Companies like Zillow, Opendoor, and Homepie have empowered the consumer to take control of the massive shift to online commerce to transform the traditional home buying process.

Technology-enabled consumers and companies are transforming the way that everything in the world is sold.  Think about the massive transformation in just the last 5 short years.

• Amazon Prime now delivers almost all your shopping needs and sometimes the same day!
• Autotrader helps thousands of buyers and sellers a day directly communicate with each other to buy and sell the second largest purchase they make.
• Angie’s List helps you find a contractor.
• Airbnb allows owners and tenants to book directly.
• Uber brings you on-demand transportation with the swipe of your finger.
• DoorDash delivers you fresh hot food from your favorite restaurant in less than 30 minutes.
• Facebook Marketplace has taken over the online classified from craigslist and allows you to post, negotiate and sell your used goods to local buyers instantly.

And then, there is the traditional real estate market.

Plodding behind the rest of the market insisting that your communication has to go through a black hole of a third party for you to be able to sell your house. Many professionals still insist on paper contracts rather than DocuSign. 

Technology has finally surpassed the old business model and instant communication to sell your home on an online marketplace is finally here!

Welcome to the future of real estate.

By the end of this short but very informative guide, you will be a “tech-enabled” seller and buyer that can save tens of thousands of dollars when selling and buying your home.

Chapter 1 – CRITICAL HOME SELLING INFORMATION

Before we talk about you taking advantage of the future of real estate we need to do some quick research into the past.

In 1989, the average price of a detached home in California was $196,120. Back then, the average commission a real estate agent charged was 6%. (This was a combination of 3% to the buyer’s agent and 3% to the seller’s agent.)

Almost all homes were sold using a real estate agent.  The process of listing or finding a home was incredibly laborious. A seller could not even access the MLS to list their home on their own.

For buyers, each day, all of the real estate listings were distributed in a thick book to each real estate office in the state, and every morning each real estate agent would have to take hours scouring the incoming faxes to find listings that matched their buyer’s criteria. No search engines. Just brute effort and hard work every day to stay up to date with information.

When real estate agents found a potential home for their buyers it would take a full day’s activity of faxes, pages, and phone tag just to get the listing details to their buyers and organize a showing. When buyers finally found the right home, the purchase process was incredibly complex and required shrewd negotiating skills. Hours and sometimes days of time were spent finding, organizing, signing, faxing, tracking, and filing paperwork. A real estate agent’s network and access to information and support were almost priceless.

Back in the 1980s, it was normal for agents to spend up to half a year with a buyer before they could finalize a successful transaction! A 6% commission was therefore completely reasonable.

For access to their hard work, the market information, network of buyers, and their knowledge of the paperwork it was totally worth it.

At a price of $196,120, a 6% commission was $11,767. ($5,883 to both agents).

Today, the average price of a detached home in California is $640,330. Yet real estate agent commissions remain unchanged at 6%.

This has inflated your fees to a real estate agent to $38,419.00!

This is despite the fact that almost all homes are sold directly online through buyers doing their own research on the MLS, Zillow, and Homepie’s online real estate marketplace. Sellers can get their home in front of almost all the buyers in their market by selecting a MLS marketing package.

With Homepie.com, the process of negotiating the paperwork is now assisted by technology and personal concierges that are free! You also get access to a pre-vetted list of the professionals that agents hire to get your home ready for sale. This list includes home stagers, photographers, marketing experts, and more.

For just a fraction of the price and some assistance from your personal concierge, you can sell your home quickly and easily while still having service providers handle the parts of the home selling process where a service provider is required.

Chapter 2 – IS IT WORTH IT?

There is one more thing that a tech-enabled seller must consider.
It’s the number that most real estate professionals will try to obscure or draw your attention away from.
YOUR PROFIT/EQUITY.

You see, a 6% real estate commission may not seem like a big number but it’s important to understand how the money that you get from the sale of your home is calculated.

The average homeowner in California keeps a mortgage balance of around 60%  ($371,981)

So if we take the average sale price of $640,330
And we deduct the mortgage amount of $371,981
That leaves us with a PROFIT/EQUITY of $268,349.

Now let’s look at that 6% real estate fee again.  6% of the sale price $640,330.
TOTAL REAL ESTATE FEES = $38,419.

When you compare the fees against your profit/equity REAL ESTATE FEES ACTUALLY TAKE 14% OF YOUR PROFIT/net equity!

Here’s another interesting fact.  The average yearly income in California is $62,356.
Source: https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Average-Salary–in-California#:~:text=As%20of%20Mar%2027%2C%202021,%2Fweek%20or%20%245%2C196%2Fmonth.

The fees that are eating 14% of the average sellers’ profit/equity are 61% of the average annual yearly income!!!

 That’s money taken right from the equity you have saved in your home.  It comes directly from YOUR PROFIT/EQUITY.

No wonder over 30% of home sellers now start the process of selling their home as For Sale By Owner!

That fact in itself is enough of a reason why you should work to sell your home yourself before approaching a real estate expert but that is not all!

Chapter 3 – WHY YOU SHOULD TRY TO SELL YOUR HOME YOURSELF BEFORE WORKING WITH A REALTOR

Realtors no longer hold all the information!

The Internet has totally transformed the real estate process and now the internet has all of the buyers you need to sell your house.

All the professionals you need to stage your home and create your photo’s and multimedia are easily accessible through online marketplaces like Homepie.com

And now, for the largest problem that keeps most home sellers from selling on their own, handling all of the paperwork and negotiating your deal.

Negotiating the buyers contract is the most difficult part of the process and was one of the final value points that highly commissioned real estate sales agents had left to justify their fees.

Technology has finally made this a quick, easy, and convenient process!

Homepie.com has developed a technology-powered platform that guides you through the process of putting together your contracts and negotiating your deal.  It’s become so simple you can do it right from your smartphone!

Everything is housed inside our brand new marketplace where you get direct, yet confidential communication with other buyers and sellers in our marketplace.  At any point, if you have any questions you get real-time support from your Homepie concierge.

In today’s market homes are only listed for sale for an average of 10-days before they are purchased.

With just a little bit of effort, you as a technology-empowered consumer you can sell your home yourself and save the 6% fee!

Now that you know the incredible new opportunities that you have to sell your home on your own let’s get into how to sell your home fast and for the most amount of profit possible.

Here Are The Top 5 Tips To Sell Your Home For Top Dollar

Chapter 4 – A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

#1. Invest in a professional photographer that provides HD quality pictures and a video home tour.

When we say HD picture quality, we mean using professional photography to capture those high-quality images needed to sell your home. 

If you browse MLS listings, you can see examples of listings that have used low-quality photos or images shot on a cellphone. These listings are not as attractive to home buyers and tend to sit on the market longer.  

Although hiring a professional photographer might seem like a bit of a hassle, the stats don’t lie when it comes to using good quality photos. Here are stats to prove you should be using high-quality pictures in your real estate listing:

• 97% of home buyers used the internet to search for a home.

• Higher quality images help sell a home 32 percent faster.

• Having more photos on your listing helps sell a home faster. Listings with one photo spend 70 days on the market, but with 15 or more images, listing spends 32 days on the market.

• Homes in the $200,000 to $1 million range that use high-quality photos for their listings typically sell for $3,000 to $11,000 more. 

• 87% of homebuyers searching on the internet find photos to be the most useful tool.

Benefits of Hiring a Professional Photographer

There are numerous benefits to hiring a professional to photograph your home. First, professional photographers already have the proper equipment, including high-quality cameras, professional lighting, tripod, drone, and professional editing software. 

Each industry has experts, and a professional real estate photographer is an expert in making your home look fantastic in images. They will know the angles and lighting tricks to best showcase the rooms in your home to their best potential.

Here is a comparison of a bad vs. good photo. It is the same room, however, the one on the left looks dark, cluttered, small, and unappealing.

The photo on the right looks bright, spacious, clean spacious, and inviting.

Which one would you book a showing to see?

If you are stumped on finding a professional real estate photographer, Homepie.com, makes it easy, with their fully vetted professional photographers starting as low as $99. 

Having professional photos will help you attract potential homebuyers and get your home sold faster.

Chapter 5 – Professionally Staging Your Home

Professionally staging your home will help sell your home faster. It is more than decluttering or depersonalizing your home. Staging professionals know how to reinvent the spaces in your home to make them visually appealing to potential buyers.

Still on the fence about using professional staging for your home? Let’s look at some stats:

• homes with no staging sat on the market for 143 days on average. Once these homes were staged, they sold in 40 days. However, homes staged from the beginning went online and sold on average in 23 days. 

• 40% of buyer’s agents stated staging affected buyer’s views of the home.

• Homes that are not staged typically sit on the market 3 to 30 times longer than a professionally staged home. 

• 83% of buyer’s agents stated home staging made it easier for potential homebuyers to visualize a property as their future home.

Benefits of Professionally Staging Your Home

The statistics show that professionally staged homes present and show better on the market, which translates to quicker sales when compared to homes that haven’t been staged. Photos of professionally staged homes look better on MLS listings and in advertising material. 

Take a look at the example of how professional staging can change the look of a room. The first photo shows an empty space, but the bottom picture, with staging, allows prospective buyers to visualize living in the home and makes the space more inviting.

Professionally staging your home might seem like an expense, but it really is a return on investment. non-staged homes sit on the market longer, and properties that do not receive an offer within the first month will experience a price reduction. Price reductions cost more than the initial staging investment. The cost for not staging can add up to a price reduction of 5 to 20 times more than a professional staging investment. Bear in mind that staging can be done both virtually or with physical furnishings.

Chapter 6 – Sell Your Home Yourself  Before Working With An Agent

Selling your home privately can be done and has many benefits, but there is a learning curve. You need to be familiar with legalities and avoid making costly mistakes that waste time. So why sell a home privately?

 People decide to sell privately to save on estate agent commission fees, saving them between 3 and 6% of a home’s asking price. On average, the typical real estate agent receives a 6% commission on a sale. If you sold your home for $400,000, you would have to pay $24,000 to the real estate agent.

Luckily, there are services that you can use that help you sell your home. Save 6% in agent fees by listing for free on Homepie.com.

How to Sell Your Home Privately

To sell your home privately, you should closely follow the traditional home selling process to maximize your chances of success. Private home sales can require a considerable time commitment, but you can receive a fair market price by following these steps:

1. Prepare your home for sale – you need to view your home from the buyer’s perspective. Buyers are looking at flaws and general appearance. Your home may require some home improvements before it’s ready to sell. The most common enhancements needed are:

• Minor repairs – leaky faucets, windows that stick, loose door handles, lights, or electrical switches that don’t work correctly.

• Repaint or touch-ups – a fresh coat of paint can help any room that looks tired. Choose neutral colors when painting.

• Decluttering – declutter the entire home, including the attic, closets, garage, and basement. You want to minimize the furnishings and items in the house, which helps with the perception of flow when trying to sell.

• Ensure the home is clean – a clean and fresh-smelling home is more enticing to home buyers.

2. Determine Home’s Asking Price – you need to have realistic expectations of the value of your home. When you work with an agent, they will help you determine what list price to ask for your home.  When you sell on your own, it’s best to do the following in order to avoid having a buyer’s appraisal fall short of your contract price:

• Research similar homes to yours to see their listing price.

• Use an online real estate valuation site, such as Homepie.com, to give you a quick estimation of what your home is valued at based on square footage, location, and the number of bedrooms and baths.

3. Negotiate the sale – you will oversee any negotiation directly with the prospective buyer.

Be prepared for offers that are below your asking price, which even might include unreasonable conditions.

That’s ok!  If you are not happy with the initial offer, you simply go back and forth with the buyer, and if they are not willing to meet your terms you just wait for the next offer.

Homepie.com has services that allow you to list on MLS (where most of the buyers come from), and their AI-assisted negotiation tool and concierge service helps you with all your questions while you negotiate directly with your buyers!

4. Handling the Closing – the closing of your house is a legal affair, meaning there is a process, and it is either handled by a closing attorney or the escrow agent. When you decide who the party will be, they will provide you with the required procedures. 

 Selling your home is a large financial and legal transaction, so you want to make sure that you use recommended professionals.  It’s always a good idea to Google the business that is recommended and read the online reviews.

Chapter 7 – How To Market Your Home Online!

Running Ads on Google and Social Media

If you want to get more for your home, you need to create a buzz. The best way to increase your potential sale is by having buyers competing over your listing. Marketing your home is the only guaranteed method for getting top dollar for your home. Investing a couple of hundred dollars in online advertising exposes your listing to tens of thousands of interested buyers.

 Social media, such as Facebook, is a great way to drive online traffic to your listing. You can post multiple ads in Facebook groups and target your audience for people looking to purchase a home in your area. Experiment and have fun with advertising on social media, especially since you can run an ad for $5 a day and get it in front of many people. 

 Why Use Google?

 Google is a top-rated search engine, and by using Google AdWords, you can potentially have your listing at the top right of the search engine page, getting more traffic. These adverts are linked to the seller’s property and operate on a cost-per-click basis. 

 You can keep costs down by creating highly targeted ads that only show when searching Google in a specific region. The average per click prices will vary, but you can budget keywords to never go over your set budget. You can also monitor your campaign and adjust it to make sure you are optimizing the ads’ performance with the highest clicks for the lowest price. 

 Homepie.com is currently offering a promotion where you can get their $500 social selling campaign for FREE when you use their free marketplace.

Chapter 8 – Choosing the Right Time to Sell

The best time to sell your home is when you are ready.  Don’t try to time the market. 

 Many people fail to realize that when you sell in a hot spring market to maximize your selling price, you have to pay an inflated price on the other home that you are purchasing so your additional gain to timing the market is negligible.

 Some sellers will want to take the time to do home improvements and increase their sale price while other sellers will want to just list their home as is and get right into the market to save time.  Both are totally ok.

 To make the most money on the sale of your home you want to make sure that you start the staging and home repair projects on your home as soon as possible.  It’s a wise plan to have your home “market ready” even before you are fully ready to list your home.

 Consider the major repairs or improvements that you can make to increase the value of your home.

 Often these areas of the home represent the greatest price increase to the value.

– Kitchens

– Bathrooms

– Curb appeal and landscaping

– Roofing

– Furnace and HVAC

 These are all areas where people will spend more money for something they love rather than just like about your home.

 So there you have it!  The Top 5 Ways To Get More Money When Selling Your Home.

 Make sure to share this blog article with your friends and fellow home buyers on social media.  Sharing this can be a great way to startup discussions and home improvement ideas with friends inside your groups.

Chapter 9 – Putting Your Deal Together – It’s Closing Time!

It’s time for the final piece of education in selling your home for top dollar and walking away from your deal feeling successful and happy.

These are the top X tips that we get positive feedback from when our Homepie Concierge agents are helping sellers through the process of selling their home.

The Top 3 Rules When Negotiating Your Home Sale.

1. Know your absolute lowest acceptable offer price.

The day that you list your home it’s very important to decide what your absolute lowest acceptable sale price and conditions are while you are in a calm and positive environment.

Take the time to write them out on a piece of paper and put them in an envelope.

Sometimes, when you get an offer it can be tempting to just accept it because it’s there.  Knowing your absolute bottom line ahead of time will make sure that you don’t regret your sale price later.

2. Understand that price is not everything.

Make sure that when you are evaluating offers that you consider more than just the price.

Is the lender they are working with confident that they can get approved for the financing?

Are their unnecessary conditions or terms that you are not comfortable with?

What is the closing date and how does that work with your deal?

These and other items that may be important to you are all important considerations.

Make sure that you do not focus 100% on the price but look at all aspects of your deal equally.

3.  It only takes 1 buyer and there are plenty out there!

Even if you only start out with one offer from one buyer that does not mean that there are not other buyers out there.

It’s totally ok to walk away from a deal if it is not the right deal for you.  Be patient and take advantage of the advertising campaigns and promotional tools available to you.

The right buyer is out there for you and it’s ok to have a couple of “warm up” offers before the right one comes along.

We are excited that you have taken the first step in selling your own home and we look forward to providing you with the marketplace and support that you need to make your experience a positive one.

Head on over to Homepie.com and create your account for FREE today!

Best wishes!

The Homepie Team.

P.S – For a limited time you get our $499 digital marketing package for FREE when you purchase our basic MLS listing package.

Questions?

Our team is available for you through the live chat on our website!