The Dos and Don’ts of Selling Your House Without a Realtor in Texas
Are you considering selling your house without a realtor? Explore our guide on the dos and don’ts for success in the Lone Star State’s real estate market.
Keyword(s): selling house without a realtor
Has your family grown so much that your current home in Texas has become too small for everyone? Or maybe the one you live in is too big, so you want to downsize. Either way, you’ve decided it’s time to sell your house.
One of the first things you’ll likely do is look for a realtor. You know you’ll have to pay them a commission, but were you aware this can be around 5% to 6% of your home’s sale price?
That’s a hefty amount, which you can avoid shelling out by selling your house without a realtor. Instead of doing that, you can go with the for sale by owner (FSBO) route.
To increase your chances of success, you should first familiarize yourself with the dos and don’ts of the FSBO process. This handy guide will walk you through them, so read on.
Do Understand the Responsibilities of Selling Your House Without a Realtor
If you opt for the FSBO route in Texas (or any other state), you’ll have to do everything a real estate agent or realtor would otherwise do for you. These include but aren’t limited to the following tasks:
- Preparing all necessary paperwork for selling a house
- Determining current home market value
- Setting the selling price
- Photographing and marketing the property in house listing platforms
- Coordinating showings
- Negotiating the price
- Closing
With all those steps, it’s no wonder selling a home in Texas or elsewhere can take weeks or even more than two months. That’s unless you already know a sure buyer or if you sell your house as is (we’ll explain this in more detail below). In any case, prepare yourself and ensure you have enough time to do all the above if you take the FSBO route.
Don’t Under or Overprice Your Home
According to forecasts, Texas’s home prices will likely average around $340,000 in 2024. That’s only the average, so your home can sell for less or more.
Either way, you shouldn’t “guesstimate” your home’s selling price without any basis, as this can lead to under or overpricing. You can lose a lot of potential profit if you underprice your house. On the other hand, you may put off buyers if you set a price that’s way higher than what your home is worth.
To avoid such issues, consider getting your home appraised and valued. These processes will give you a more accurate assessment of your property’s market value.
Do Prepare a Seller’s Disclosure
Under Texas law, you, as a home seller, must make specific disclosures to a buyer before the closing process. These disclosures inform the buyer about problems you know are affecting your property and could affect its desirability or value.
Everything you must disclose is under the Texas Property Code Section § 5.008. Some of these include the following:
- What elements your property has (e.g., central air conditioning, solar panels, or a swimming pool)
- If you’re aware of any defects the above elements have
- Any known structural problem that requires repairs
- If your property has a history of pest infestations
- If there’s evidence of toxic gas (e.g., radon) leaks in the home
Those are only some potential issues you must inform a potential buyer about, provided you know their existence. You must list all of them in the disclosure form, which you should give to the buyer before signing the contract. Failure to do so gives the buyer the right to terminate the deal with you.
Don’t Forget to Update Your House Listing
Just because you’ve listed your home for sale doesn’t mean you can no longer change its price.
Price trends can increase or decrease while your home sits on the market, and your asking price should reflect these changes. Otherwise, you could underprice your home and lose money or overprice it and lose potential buyers.
An excellent way to stay updated on real estate trends is to look at the prices of other comparable houses near yours. You should find this information online on common home listing platforms, including the ones where you’ve listed yours.
After listing your home for sale, you should also update your listing if you’ve made additions, upgrades, or repairs. This way, you could increase its price based on the value of the finished improvements.
Do Consider Selling Your House As Is
Selling a house as is means selling it in its exact, current condition. You won’t have to perform any upgrades, additions, or repairs. For those reasons, it’s among the fastest ways to sell your house in Texas without a third party.
Who can you sell your house to as is, then?
One of your options is a reputable cash home buyer. These are businesses that specialize in purchasing homes for cash. They can complete the entire process, from evaluating your home to closing, within days.
Selling a home as is and for cash is especially ideal if:
- You don’t want to spend more money fixing or improving your home before selling it
- You need to sell your home as quickly as possible
- You want to avoid real estate agent or realtor commissions
- You want to sell an inherited but unwanted property
A reputable cash home buyer can even help you if your property is about to undergo foreclosure. Just let them know about your property, and they’ll contact you within 24 hours with an offer and a solution.
Sell Your House Fast Without a Realtor
Selling your house without a realtor is possible, and you may even make more money. Still, depending on how you go about things, it may take longer than if you hired one. However, if you follow the dos and don’ts of FSBO, you may be able to sell your house quickly and even more profitably.
Beaumont Cash Home Buyers can help if you want to sell your home ASAP. We buy properties in Jefferson and Orange Counties, TX, in all conditions, including as-is, for cash.
Just tell us about the house you want to sell by calling us or filling out this form. If it meets our criteria, we’ll give you a non-obligatory offer within 24 hours!