First, let us say that saskhouses.com has never been an anti-agent website. We recognize that, for a variety of reasons, many people do need a Real Estate Agent to help them sell their homes, but we also believe that many people are in a position where they could sell their homes or properties themselves. We want to provide those people with the advertising and tools to help make that possible.

Often, people are surprised by how easy and uncomplicated the process of selling their home is.

A few tips for preparing your home for sale include:

• Clean, clean, clean and de-clutter so that your home seems more spacious, and so that buyers find it inviting and can imagine themselves in it.
• Make small fixes … like repainting dingy walls, replacing old light switches
• Stay vigilant about maintenance: from the moment you start showing your home, keep the lawn moved, shrubs trimmed, gardens weeded, rooms spotless and clutter free. First impressions are VERY important.

Staging for photos:

Once your home is clean, you will want to stage each room for photos. It’s nice to have a pop of colour in each room as digital camera’s like contrast. On saskhouses.com photos display best horizontally – so make sure you hold your phone (camera) sideways rather than vertically when taking pictures. Make sure you turn on all the lights, to give life to the photos. Stand in corners to give a view of the room that shows it most clearly.

Tips for taking pictures of your home

Here are some of the advantages of selling privately.

1.  You are in control of the process

When you sell privately, you are in control of the process. One of the complaints we hear a lot from people who have tried selling with a real estate agent is that they were kind of in-the-dark about what was going on with their sale. They didn’t know how many people were contacting the agent, they couldn’t arrange showings on their own, and they often went days or even weeks without hearing anything about their sale.

When you sell privately, you can arrange showings and open houses whenever you want, and you’ll know exactly what kind of response you are getting, because you will be getting the calls and emails yourself.

2. You get to meet the buyer

For some reason, the real estate industry doesn’t want sellers and buyers to meet each other, but we think there is no one better qualified to show your home or property to potential buyers than you. You know the property better than anyone else, so why not show it off yourselves. You will get to see for yourself how many buyers there are, and how they respond, rather than asking a third party for that information. And once you do have a deal, it’s nice to have met the people who are going to be moving into your home, or taking over your property. Sometimes, they even become future friends.

3. It is less complicated

When you sell using a real estate agent, it can be a pretty complicated process. You’ll have to sign quite a few documents, but they all deal with your relationship with the agent, not with actually selling a property. Then, you have to wait for the agent to arrange showings or open houses, and you have to leave your home every time someone wants to see it.

If you sell privately, you can deal with buyers directly, and arrange showings or open houses at times that work for you.  You can negotiate with the buyer verbally. Once an agreement is reached, you put it in writing on one easy-to-use form, and take it to a lawyer. No contracts, no commissions, and the lawyer will look after the rest.

4. It is empowering

The Real Estate Industry has done a pretty good job of convincing people that selling a property is a really complicated process, but in reality, it is the same as selling anything else. The only difference with selling a property is that you need a lawyer to make sure you get your money, and the buyer gets the Title. But you need that if you use a Real Estate Agent too.

You’ll be surprised how easy and uncomplicated selling a property actually is once you try it on your own, and you’ll be amazed by how empowering the process is as well.

5. You can save money

Selling privately can save you a lot of money. Commissions charged by Real Estate Agents vary, and they are negotiable, but any time you use a third party to sell anything, you need to pay them for their services.

In Saskatchewan, the typical Real Estate Commission on the sale of a property with 2 agents involved is 6% on the first $100,000 of the sale, 4 % on the second $100,000, and 2 % on everything after that. Plus GST & PST. So on the sale of a $400,000 property, the typical commission would be about $15,540. That’s a lot of money that could go towards the downpayment of your next home, or anything else you might want to use it for.

When you sell privately, there are no commissions to pay after selling your home, so you get to keep all of the proceeds of the sale of your home.

What is your Success Rate?

Our success is measured by whether you get views on your listing.  We sell advertising, so we measure our success in stats. We can promise if you advertise your home for sale on saskhouses.com that lots of people, and potential buyers, are going to see your home. We provide you with all the tools you will need to sell your home. The rest is up to you. Which is why we are For Sale By Owner not for sale by saskhouses.com.

From past experience, we can tell you that the success rate of saskhouses.com sellers is comparable to the success rate of people who use an agent to sell their home. When the housing market is hot, lots of houses sell, and often, they sell very quickly, with or without the help of an agent. When the market is cold, it is much harder to sell, and it often takes longer to sell, with or without the help of an agent.

At saskhouses.com, we have had lots of customers come to us after months of trying unsuccessfully to sell their properties with the help of an agent. On the flip side, we have also have customers leave us and use the services of an agent after months of trying to sell their properties privately. Sometimes they come back again a few months after that!

The bottom line is that there is no easy, quick, magic, or guaranteed way to sell your home. The process is the same, whether a person uses an agent or not. The home is advertised, buyers respond (hopefully) to the advertisements, negotiations are undertaken, and hopefully an agreement is reached.

Don’t I need a Real Estate Agent to Sell my home?

The real estate industry has done an excellent job of scaring people into thinking they would be crazy, or stupid, to sell or purchase a home privately. Just take a look at some of their recent ads. Buyers who bought without using a real estate agent are trapped in their homes by an alarm shooting out laser beams, they are woken in the middle of the night by a swat team bursting into their bedroom, or a gang shows up on their doorstep demanding that they join the gang, all because they were foolish enough to buy their home privately.

The reality is, is that you don’t need to use an agent to sell your home. If anything, it will complicate the process of selling your home, because it adds a middle person to a process that doesn’t require a middle person. All you need to do is find a buyer, agree with them on a selling price, and the conditions of the sale of the home, and take the agreement to a lawyer.

How can I know how much to ask for my home?

You don’t need an agent to tell you what the asking price should be for your home. In fact, if you ask 3 agents to give you an asking price for your home, you will probably get 3 different answers. There is no way to determine exactly what the asking price, or selling price of your home should be. But there is a way to find out what the proper asking price should be, give or take a few thousand dollars. You don’t need to know what houses in your neighbourhood sold for last month, or last year. You only need to know what you are competing against right now.

These days, in the age of the internet, it is very easy to see what you will be competing against. First, take a drive around your neighbourhood, or community, and write down the addresses of homes for sale that are comparable to yours. Go online, and find out how much they are asking. Go to Real Estate Websites. Look for similar properties in your neighbourhood, or your community, and find out how much they are asking. These are the properties you will be competing against. Not against the properties that were sold 2 or 3 months ago. So you can do all of the research yourself, quite easily. Make sure your home is priced competitively with the properties you will be competing against. Set a price that is competitive, and reasonable, and make sure it is ready to show to prospective buyers.

Here is some more information on how to set the asking price for your home.

How much can I save?

The typical Real Estate Commission Fee Structure in Saskatchewan is that Real Estate Agents will share 6 % of the first $100,000 of the Selling Price of a Property, 4 % of the 2nd $100,000, and 2 % of everything after that. Here are some examples of how that would work.

• Sale Price – $200,000 – Real Estate Commission – $10,000 + GST + PST = $11,100
• Sale Price – $300,000 – Real Estate Commission – $12,000 + GST + PST = $13,320
• Sale Price – $400,000 – Real Estate Commission – $14,000 + GST + PST = $15,540
• Sale Price – $500,000 – Real Estate Commission – $16,000 + GST + PST = $17,760

But I don’t know anything about selling properties?

Selling a property isn’t much different than selling anything else. You need to find a buyer, and agree on a price and conditions with them. The only difference with selling a property, is that once you have an agreement, you will need a lawyer, and the buyer will need a lawyer, to make sure you get the money from the sale of your property, and that the buyer gets the title to the property. You can if you want to, but you don’t need to involve a real estate agent in the sale of your property or home.

Who will show the home to buyers?

You will! And why not? After all, no one knows your home better than you. When a buyer comes to see your home, make them feel welcome, and show them around. Or, let them wander around on their own. Answer any questions they might have, and ask them what they think. Make sure they know about the features of your home that you love, about improvements you have made, or anything else you feel they should know when they are considering the purchase of your home. For some reason, the real estate industry never wants the seller and buyer to meet. Instead of negotiating directly with the buyer, the industry wants all negotiations done by two third parties, one supposedly fighting for the highest possible price, and the other fighting for the lowest possible price. Why not just deal directly with the buyer yourself?

What about the paperwork? Isn’t it complicated?

The only paperwork that needs to be completed is an Offer to purchase form. It states the Seller’s Name, the Buyer’s Name, the Property Address, the agreed-upon Selling Price, and the conditions attached to the sale. Example – “appliances and window coverings are included, the pool table in the basement is not included.” It will also include things like how long the buyer has to put the financing in place to purchase the home, and whether a home inspection is required as a condition of the sale. Once completed, and signed by the buyer, the seller, and a witness, you take it to your lawyer, and the lawyer will look after everything after that. It’s pretty straight-forward. And it can all be done at your Lawyer’s Office if you like, just to make sure everything is done exactly right.

How will I find a buyer?

You will find a buyer by letting people know that your home is for sale. You can put a For Sale sign on your front lawn, or in a window. You can advertise on For Sale By Owner websites. You can hold Open Houses. You will want to do everything you can to make sure as many people as possible know that your home is for sale, and then, to give them every opportunity to see your home, and to make sure they are impressed when they do come by to take a look.

It is pretty much the same thing that a real estate agent does when you hire her to sell your home. She puts a sign on the front lawn, or in the window, posts the listing on the internet, and waits for a buyer to contact her. The nice thing about doing it yourself is you will be in control of the process, and you will know exactly what kind of response your efforts are receiving.