According to Ohio Realtors, the year-on-year growth for Ohio’s Average Sale Price for all homes between 2020 and 2021 increased by 15.8%. And this upwards trajectory isn’t going away any time soon.
There’s never been a better moment to grab the opportunity to cash in on the real estate market – if you can.
While many will call their local realtor to assist in selling a home, you might want to sell a house by owner in Ohio. But why would anyone take this route, and what are the steps to selling your home by yourself? Read on to find out.
Avoiding Large Realtor Costs
A survey conducted by Clever of around 915 Ohioian real estate agents found that the average commission fee in the state is 5.81%. That’s higher than the national average of 5.37%.
This cost does not include the closing costs of the deal, which can be around 1.2%, and provides title services and transfer of taxes. This means you’re paying more than 7% in Ohio for the use of a realtor when selling a home.
If you’re unsure whether you’d like to sell a house by owner in Ohio yet, let’s put this into an actual costing.
According to Zillow, if the home’s sale price is the median listing in your state, you’ll be listing it at $208,800 (rounded up). Paying for a local realtor will cost roughly $12,130.
With the additional closing costs at $2,506, you as the seller will need to pay around $14,636 to sell your home via professionals.
When taking the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route, you will need to prepare the house that you’re selling, but it is time-consuming. Now, let’s talk about the key benefits of putting your house on the market.
Benefits of Selling Your Home FSBO In Ohio
As we’ve covered, selling your home via the FSBO route means avoiding paying commission fees, which is a significant plus in a state like Ohio.
Selling a home requiring renovation work will always cut into your earnings. But by doing it via FSBO, you will save some capital.
Where You List Matters
When listing your home, you must be sure you can access a multiple listing service (MLS). For most trying to sell their home, you’ll first try to utilize the Facebook marketplace or even Craig’s List.
But the simple truth is if you are selling your home, you want to use an MLS.
Real estate experts and eager home buyers use MLS. This means you’ll cut out those who are just browsing.
Faster Process
And the final benefit of selling an Ohio home on your own is that, on average, they sell faster. This is due to the fact that you’re involved in all the operations.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), in 2020, 77% of FSBO homes sold in under two weeks. This speed was down to the fact the homeowners already knew who would purchase the home.
Finding the right buyer is the real estate game’s most significant hurdle. But if you find and sell your home via a cash buying service they can purchase your home within five days.
What are the general downsides of selling your home via FSBO in Ohio?
Cons of Selling Your Home FSBO in Ohio
Selling and marketing your home is difficult. That’s the main reason why there is a realtor industry in the first place.
Selling For Less
The first issue is that FSBOs, on average, sell for less than those sold by real estate agents. According to the same NAR research, a typical FSBO home sold for $260,000 compared to the $318,000 agent-assisted homes sold in 2020.
This occurs for several reasons, but it’s down to these main issues:
- The buyer’s agents are professional negotiators and out-negotiate the FSVO seller
- FSBO list the property as too low or too high, the latter causing the property to sit on the market for too long
- A home inspection report reveals hidden issues, and the seller can’t effectively address these issues
These elements can drive your asking price down in a heartbeat, even in a seller’s market.
Time-Consuming
FSBO is time-consuming, as you need to be in charge of marketing and communication. And when planning a strategy for reaching your core demographic, it can quickly become overwhelming.
Especially when planning on creating signage for the front of the home and online listing.
But before you think of uploading material to market your home in Ohio, you will need to stage a photography session. This means finding a photographer and organizing your home appropriately.
These are all elements that agents are well acquainted with and have a list of individuals who will assist.
Safety
Another significant issue will be safety. Hosting a viewing day can be dangerous, as there’s no way of vetting who will walk through the door. A real estate agent will have experience here as well.
Then there’s the potential you could be a victim of a scammer.
Bad Negotiator
As we’ve mentioned, negotiating on your own behalf against veterans of the industry will be tricky.
But, if you still need to take the FBSO route, as you require all the capital from selling your home this is your best method.
Now, what are the steps to ensuring you take advantage of the Ohio house market on your own?
Steps of Selling an Ohioan Home FSBO
The steps of selling your home in Ohio, or any part of the country, are similar. But with all endeavors, it’s information that is key to success.
Let’s start with property information.
Real Estate Research
When researching information about the Ohioan real estate market, you want to be able to tap into the Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) document.
A CMA will list the surrounding benefits of the property’s location. If you live in Columbus, Ohio, a major drawcard is the Ohio State University and the schooling systems.
Also, a CMA will have a 90-day breakdown of all the properties sold in your neighborhood, as well as the length of the average home that has been for sale on the market.
And a final step is to call in an independent appraiser whose sole role is to inspect the state of the home and give you a value they think a third-party financial institution would be willing to provide as a loan.
Unless you’re sure you can find a cash buyer, you won’t need an appraiser. Now that you know all you need to know, it’s time to prepare the house.
Preparing Your Home
When owning a home in Ohio or anywhere, we often become accustomed to a home’s “quirks.”
These quirks aren’t going to sway potential buyers. You will need to hire an appraiser to list work they would flag as problems.
An appraiser will also research the property, compiling their own CMA document.
Their CMA will encapsulate information gathered from surrounding properties within a three-mile radius.
An appraiser is usually looking for general issues, which would include the following:
- Whether the home has cracks, damage, and leaks
- Size of the house and the property lot
- Landscaping
- Condition of the foundation and roofing
- Number of rooms
- Lighting and plumbing
- Number of fireplaces
- State of swimming pool or sprinkler systems
- Basement
- Finishing details around the home
An appraiser can take up to an hour to complete their investigation and will have to leave to compile a report.
You will receive this report within several days. But once you’ve got the report, you will need to work through the issues and address them.
The cost of these repairs can vary widely, and you’ll only know the real financial damage once you’ve contacted a contractor.
You could circumnavigate this process with a cash buyer, selling your home as-is.
Once you’ve completed the renovations, it’s time to start listing your home.
Listing Your Home
As we’ve mentioned, as an FSBO, it’s in your best interest to pay for an MLS. Once you’ve purchased your packaged deal on the MLS, it’s time to create the write-up.
Your listing’s write-up needs to be solid and informative about the property and surrounding area. Sometimes you will need to edit out some facts, but most buyers want to know the following:
- Closest public schools
- Size of the property
- Shops and amenities
- Does your property have a backyard with a pool?
- Is it a condo, single-family home, or a homestead?
- Can you access nightlife and attractions easily? Or is it a sleepy neighborhood?
- Where’s the closest public transport hub?
- Closest public parks and outdoor spaces
- Is it a family, young adult, or student neighborhood?
- Is it part of a homeowners association?
This is a comprehensive list, but being able to provide as much information as possible will help attract potential buyers.
Now, let’s focus on photos.
For this, we’d advise hiring a qualified photographer. However, if you take the photos on your own, make sure you do the following:
- Use a wide-angle lens for pictures
- Take broad, mid, and close-up pictures; make sure to tell the whole tale of the house
- Locate the room’s focal point
- Use a tripod at all times
Although you can engage other experts to shoot 3D pictures of the house for an internet tour – think Google Maps – good photography says volumes.
After finishing your photoshoot, you need to show the house.
Showing the Home
When showing a home, you will want to complete a few more jobs to ensure any prospective purchasers think your home looks gorgeous.
The first step is to increase curb appeal. Your home’s curb is the first thing prospective buyers see when arriving.
Additionally, good curb appeal will accelerate selling your home.
De-clutter every room of your house to make it simple to move around in and distraction-free. Potential buyers are more likely to purchase your property if they can picture their belongings there.
The least expensive method to change space is a fresh coat of paint. In addition, installing additional lighting is a big bonus, as it will allow buyers to view all the details.
Now that you’ve made sure your home is ready for the market, your Ohio home will get offers within days. But what paperwork do you need to sell a home?
Documents Required for Selling a Home in Ohio
We’d recommend hiring a real estate lawyer because selling a home becomes very tricky with the required documents.
What you’ll need is the following:
- A property survey
- The property deed
- Upgrade records with warranties
- Certification of occupancy
- Loan documents
- The latest bills and taxes
You will need all these documents before you consider entering a deal. The next step is negotiations.
Negotiations
When selling it by yourself, getting an offer on your home is a big deal. Now, you need to negotiate.
Depending on the market, some offers will come in well below the asking price, but as it stands in Ohio, the market is leaning in the favor of the seller.
That said, buyers can still come in with certain conditions that need to be met. Also, be aware when buyers outline certain requirements, it can be difficult to gauge whether or not they are going to follow through.
As a novice, exercise caution as buyers might put you into a situation where they are inflexible.
But once all these elements have been met, it’s time to close the deal.
Closing
By this stage, you’ve almost accomplished your goal of selling your home. Once you’ve agreed on the conditions of the sale, you and the buyer will need to sign the sales contract.
If your buyer requires financial support from a lender, you might still encounter some issues.
The truth is finding a buyer with cash will help you avoid all these steps. But who will buy your property for cash in Ohio?
Sell a House By Owner in Ohio
If you require capital quickly, there’s no better method than to sell a house by owner in Ohio. Choosing to sell with a cash buyer takes all the fuss out of putting your house up for sale. We guarantee to offer you a fair deal for your home.
Take a look at what Selling.House could offer you and make your decision once you’ve spoken to our friendly team.
