Strategies For Selling Your Petworth Home Online
Thinking about selling your Petworth DC home? There are three primary strategies for selling real estate online. The route you choose depends on your financial goals, your timeline and your willingness to put in some DIY work.
Option 1 – Sell your house with a real estate agent
When you hire a real estate agent, it’s almost a guarantee they’ll market your home online. Most agents, including myself, are members of their local MLS, an online database of professionally listed homes. The MLS syndicates to several sites, gaining exposure for your listing. The best agents are also savvy with other online channels including, Zillow, Trulia, and social media sites — that get your listing in front of more potential buyers.
Full-service real estate agents handle the entire online marketing and sale process for you. Typically, you can expect to pay 5% to 6% of your home’s sale price in agent commissions, with roughly half going to your listing agent and half going to the buyer’s agent (yes, the seller typically pays the buyer’s agent too). Despite these costs, 85% of sellers enlist the help of an agent to sell their home.
Option 2 – Sell your house FSBO
When you sell FSBO rather than using an agent, you handle the online marketing — and everything else — yourself. Approximately 10% of sellers successfully sell on their own. Many FSBO sellers use FSBO-specific websites to gain maximum exposure and reach buyers. You can also use social media and online advertising the same way an agent would.
Selling FSBO can save the 2.5% to 3% in commission you’d pay your agent, but many FSBO sellers still end up compensating a buyer’s agent.
Option 3 – Sell your house directly to an iBuyer
iBuyers are a new way to sell a house online. When you sell to an iBuyer, you aren’t selling to a traditional buyer who intends to live in the house. Unlike traditional buyers who request showings, require financing, want to negotiate and may have specific restrictions about their closing timeline, iBuyers offer a streamlined process. There’s no listing required, and the cash offer you receive is typically based on an automated valuation model (AVM) that determines your home’s fair market value.
Comparing Selling Methods
It isn’t difficult to sell your home online. In fact, it would be much more difficult to sell your home today without going online — remember, almost 4 out of 5 buyers are shopping online. How challenging you find the process depends on the route you take, your level of patience, your financial goals and your technical chops.
Easiest method of selling a home online: iBuyer
When you sell through an iBuyer, you reduce back and forth and remove the potential stress of pre-sale home improvements. You’ll quickly receive an offer and can close on your timeline, freeing up your equity sooner. This is especially beneficial if you’re buying another home in the near future and want to avoid a home sale contingency:
- Submit home facts to iBuyer.
- Receive a no-obligation offer.
- Have a home evaluation completed.
- Accept the final adjusted offer.
- Go under contract and attorney review.
- Sign closing paperwork.
- Close.
Standard method of selling a home online: hiring a real estate agent
Because you’re paying for the complete services of a listing agent, this traditional method of selling can be less work for the seller than other avenues. A full-service agent will handle all marketing, guide you through buyer negotiations and assist you with closing. Some discount brokers offer limited services in exchange for a lower commission, so you want to ask around if that’s what you’re looking for.
- Research agents.
- Interview and hire an agent.
- Discuss and agree on a listing price and have home listed.
- Clean and stage.
- Accommodate showings and open houses.
- Accept an offer.
- Go under contract and attorney review.
- Sign closing paperwork.
- Close.
Most difficult method of selling a home online: FSBO
In a for-sale-by-owner listing, you are responsible for all the marketing, showings, negotiations and contract paperwork. Most difficult method of selling a home online: FSBO In a for-sale-by-owner listing, you are responsible for all the marketing, showings, negotiations and contract paperwork.
- Research the local market.
- Set a competitive price.
- Clean and stage.
- Take professional photos.
- Write a captivating listing description.
- Share your listing on Zillow, Trulia and social media.
- Accommodate and attend showings.
- Screen buyers.
- Negotiate offers.
- Accept offer.
- Go under contract and attorney review).
- Prepare and sign closing paperwork.
- Close.
