Sunday, May 11, 2014

Preparing Your Home For Sale

By Hedrick Lepsch


Though the housing market has been on pretty good incline in recent months, many people who are trying to sell their homes are still having a hard time making a profit. One thing to consider, that has the potential to save you thousands of dollars when you sell your home is to forego using a real estate agent and selling the home yourself. Though this process may seem like an intimidating process and perhaps more work than it's worth, it's easier than you may think to sell your home on your own. Here are a few tips to consider on how to sell your home without using a real estate agent.

The first and most important step to selling your home without a realtor is to do a lot of research. Read through the purchase and sale agreement from contract when you bought your home, review local listings online and in real estate publications and try reading blogs and books about selling by owner. Your research can help you understand the language and processes of the real estate business and most importantly can help you know what your home is worth, and therefore how much you might be able to list it for.

Most mortgages are set to last for 30 years. Did you know that you can refinance your home and end up with a mortgage that is only ten to fifteen years? This may be a good idea if you are interested in paying that mortgage off before you are retired with grandkids. Frequently, people choose the fifteen year mortgage because it still provides a substantial decrease in the time length while not increasing monthly payments too much. Remember that these shorter mortgages will have higher payments, but it will be worth it when you own your home outright and are that much closer to being debt free.

Just because the mortgage payment is a specific number does not mean you are required to pay exactly that amount. Now, it also doesn't mean that you can pay less than that amount either. However, you can pay more and doing so will reduce the length of your mortgage.

This has become a lot easier in recent years. Take advantage of the Internet and local websites. In a lot of these cases, for a small fee, you can place your listing on the Multiple Listing Service that real estate agents use, which means more potential buyers will be exposed to your home. You can also consider placing a listing in the local newspaper to attract buyers that want to stay in the area.

If you are among the lucky people who get a tax return instead of owing the IRS, why not take that little extra money and apply some or even all of it towards the principal of your mortgage. Big payments like this can help you get ahead and shorten the time frame of escaping that looming debt. Request a statement from the bank that tells you how much you still owe. Use this number and plan ahead to make higher payments each month. Some people have even doubled their monthly payments four times a year.

Regardless, you are going to have to pay more in a shorter period of time to get rid of the mortgage. These are just a few ideas on how you can throw more money at that mortgage monster. If paying off your debts is a priority to you, then utilize these tips to accomplish that goal. It may be a difficult sacrifice, but you will be glad you did it in the end. Get started now with a plan to get ahead!




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