PART ONE - CONSIDERATIONS

Right, you think estate agents are charging you too much in commission fees and you would like to sell your home privately instead. But you are probably a little unsure of how to go about it? After all, the agents earn huge sums; they must have a hard job right? Well, no actually.

Follow these straightforward tips and start to think about all that money you will have saved when you sell! Some of the following information will be common sense to you, or knowledge that you already have, but to think out a selling plan and follow it through leads to many considerations, and I hope that you will gain some insights that perhaps eluded you before, if so then my job will have been done. Now let us eliminate those agents and save a big chunk of that equity you have been nurturing since you bought your home!

1. Get Information:

- You have to put yourself in the shoes of an agent, since you are now your own agent. Speak to friends, relatives, neighbors and agents themselves if you can, and get an insight into other people’s experiences, good and bad. Knowledge of other peoples errors or failings are excellent ammunition for success.

2. Get you pound of flesh:

- Estate agents can still be used, but to YOUR advantage, nothing is stopping you from selling privately, even if your property is on the books of one or more agents. If they do not introduce the buyers, you pay no commission. So ask agents lots of questions about your home and how they are going to go about selling it, and what their thought are about every aspect of it that you can think of, from its market value, to its main selling features and/or drawbacks.

3. Price to sell:

- You WILL have to justify the price if you over-value your home, so take into account the fact that you do not have to bolster the price to account for an agent’s commission. And do you homework by finding out what price other homes in your area have sold, or are already on the market for. And of course use those agents again to appraise your home. A valuation is NOT an obligation to use them.

4. Learn the lingo:

- And no, I do not mean Spanish, although that may help some. I mean 'agent speak'... Key phrases, and certain words that draw your attention to their ads and add credibility. Or information that stimulates your interest, will likely have the same effect on others reading about your home!
N.B. Be honest though! You WILL have to justify any claims that you make!

5. Learn why some ads 'stick':

- You will, if you take enough of an interest in the local publications, notice properties that seem familiar to you as re-appearing week after week. Others may only be advertised for a day or so, and more still do not even reach the papers. So try to think about why that is. What is it about the sticky ones that make them so hard to move. It may be simply the price, but often wording and presentation will play a big part, and will play just as bigger part for you and your home. Try to uncover these clues and use them to your advantage.

6. Take the plunge:

- You can read information like this forever, but at some point you will have to act upon what you learn, and preferably before you forget it all!

There are tools for helping you to get your property advert published in a professional way to a large audience, for very little outlay.

The free-ads newspaper in your area, local notice boards in shops and businesses and even the local 'watering hole', and 'Enquire Within' boards or notices your garden gate or wall and your car window will all help you to reach your target audience.

For an even larger circulation though, you will need to seek the services of the 'world wide web'. And daunting as this may seem there are now FSBO (for sale by owner) websites whose sole purpose is to help you and people like you to gain maximum exposure. They are becoming more and more popular now and a good example for Spanish properties in particular is www.spanishsalesdirect.com