Selling your house is something you’ll probably only have to do a few times in your life. Unless you know a local Dallas real estate agent who will sell your house for free (or a hugely discounted commission), it can be an expensive process.
I am guessing that you landed on this page about “How to sell your house by yourself in Dallas Texas” because of a few reasons…
- You have no or very little equity in your house and can’t afford to pay agent’s commissions
- You have equity, but want to try to save money by selling the house yourself before you think about hiring an agent
- You’re in foreclosure (or heading that way) and need to sell fast without incurring thousands in agent commissions
- You can’t wait the months and months it sometimes takes to sell a house in the Dallas area in this market so you want to try to sell it faster
If any of those apply to you, there are still ways to sell your Dallas Fort Worth house all by yourself. This article will provide some guidelines to help you sell your Dallas area house yourself.
Sell Your House By Yourself In Dallas Texas – Let’s Dive In
Know The Dallas Real Estate Market Well
The first and most important step is doing market research on your neighborhood in the Dallas Texas area. Doing your homework will help you come up with an appropriate price for your house. Staying informed will also help you avoid common seller mistakes.
- Visit various home marketing sites (Zillow, Eppraisal the Chase home value estimator, etc).
- Calling a real estate agent or two to see what your home is worth.
- Study up on the various market pricing techniques.
If you don’t want to hassle with valuing your home… give us a call at (817) 345-6444 and we’ll give you an honest valuation of what your house is worth on the retail market (if you’re going to wait the 3-6+ months to find the perfect retail buyer).
Evaluate the Market
This step is similar to conducting market research, but you should only focus on similar houses within your neighborhood.
Are there many houses for sale in your neighborhood? If so, what is the average list price?
Are there foreclosures in your neighborhood?
Too many foreclosures can reduce property values in your area.
Assess the house
Identify what makes your home unique and highlight those features when you market the property. As a seller, your house should be in great condition if you want to sell for top market value. The following items help determine what a buyer is willing to pay for your home.
Does your house require repairs?
How does your home’s foundation look? Do you see cracks?
Does it need to be repainted inside or out?
How is the condition of the roof?
Is the landscaping well-maintained?
Is the house outdated? (you know…those popcorn ceilings)
Once your research is complete, you should have an asking price in mind. Be careful not to over-price your property. Even if you lower your price after so many days on the market, you risk losing even more money if your listing becomes stale.
Use Photos
Dallas buyers are obsessed with media! Obviously, photos are a no-brainer for every seller. Having great pictures of your house online could be the difference between getting the right buyer quickly and waiting months to sell.
Whether you hire a professional photographer or do it yourself, make sure to…
Take interior and exterior photos.
Choose various angles to showcase the layout of your home.
Snap photos during different times of day to demonstrate the flow of natural light.
Consider Walk-through Videos
Walk-through videos of the house are considered more transparent than taking photos. They really help buyers “get a feel” for the layout of the home.
Get Your House “Listed” On The Local Dallas MLS and Start Marketing
There are a few low-fee real estate brokers in Dallas Fort Worth who charge a few hundred bucks to put your house on the local MLS. This gets your house in front of real estate agents quickly, but be prepared to pay a 2-3% buyer’s broker fee.
Place ads in the local newspaper, signs on the roads, and hold an open house.
It’s a lot of work to sell your house by yourself in Dallas Fort Worth!
The truth is that many Dallas house sellers think they’re saving money and time by marketing the house themselves. In reality, they often end up losing money, especially since a lot of sellers are covering the mortgage while the home is listed.
When you sell your own house here are some things you need to consider…
- If you’re not a good marketer or aren’t ready to spend a bunch of time marketing your house right… selling it yourself may not be your best bet
- If you don’t do a good job preparing the house and the marketing materials… and working with buyers to really build the value of your house in their minds… you may actually sell the house for 3-8% less than you may get for the same house an experienced person marketed the house for you
- Too many sellers never think about holding costs or opportunity costs… every month that your house doesn’t sell means another mortgage payment, tax payment, insurance, utilities, etc. If your mortgage payment is $1,500/mo… and $1,300 of that is interest… if it takes you 7 months to sell your house… that cost you an extra $9,100 (not to mention taxes and insurance you paid during that time). So, if you were able to sell that house more quickly… would it make sense for you to provide a buyer a discounted price today so you can close quickly and move on? Something to think about.
If you’d rather not put up the hassle of trying to sell your Dallas house yourself… and would rather sell it quickly for a fair price without paying any commissions or fees…We’d love to make you a fair, NO OBLIGATION and NO HASSLE cash offer on your house.
We can close quickly… which would save you thousands of dollars vs. trying to sell the house yourself.
Also, when we buy local Dallas houses we do all repairs that are needed (we pay for it ourselves) so you don’t have to worry about that.
If you want to see what we can pay for your house, give us a call today at (817) 345-6444 or fill out the quick simple form through the link below.