Selling your Columbia SC home yourself and going the "For Sale By Owner" route is a well-intentioned concept. The most common reason people do it is to save money on commission — the sales fee that is split between real estate agents and brokers.
Who doesn't want to save money? But the reality is, many sellers who sell "By Owner" end up losing money and go through a great deal of stress in the process.
Selling your Columbia SC home is a multifaceted process — much more than just putting a "For Sale" sign in your yard and listing it online. Even if you have experience in real estate, you'll probably be selling yourself short by selling your Columbia SC home without the use of a licensed, experienced agent. Let's look at some of the ways how.
Reasons Not To Be Selling Your Columbia SC Home Yourself
Pricing.
Real estate agents know how to price the market using reliable, real-time data. Some FSBO homes are underpriced because the seller doesn't realize the true market value.
Most FSBO homes are overpriced — sellers often get greedy or unrealistic because they love their home for sentimental reasons or read too much in the news. A real estate agent takes emotion out of the equation helps you set your price based on current data and market conditions.
Exposure.
It's a seller's market right now. It's not uncommon for real estate agents to get multiple offers on a properly priced home shortly after it goes on the market. But that demand is created through exposure — exposure that leads to more potential buyers becoming aware of the availability of your home for sale.
FSBO severely limits that exposure. A real estate agent has the ability to market your home on avenues such as the MLS (multiple listing service).
Negotiations.
First, there's the complicated issue of agreeing on a sales price or of handling multiple offers. That's actually the easy part. Navigating and troubleshooting the many steps that result in a successful closing is where a real estate agent's expertise is vital. The most difficult part of a real estate transaction is from the contract to the closing — a place where deals can very easily fall apart. A qualified real estate agent has a wealth of experience of inspections and negotiations under his or her belt. The average seller may have only been through this process once or twice.
An experienced professional real estate agent can guide you through selling your Columbia SC home and avoid the countless pitfalls and liabilities that can catch a homeowner by surprise. These problem areas could include legal, logistical and even ethical issues that homeowners can fall victim to. Real estate agents have been educated, trained and certified to handle all of these issues.
If these factors don't scare you, then perhaps For Sale By Owner is the route for you. If they do, then you just might want to consider hiring a licensed real estate agent to help you in selling your Columbia SC home.
For more tips on selling your Columbia SC home, see our section on Columbia SC Home Selling Tips to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.
Ever wonder why your Columbia SC home isn't selling and others around you are snapped up in a matter of days from the time they go on the market?
While a lot of it has to do with price and local inventory, a whole host of factors can combine to make a home sit and stagnate on the multiple listing service without showings or offers.
Maybe your house is not painted purple, but the longer your Columbia SC home sits on the market, the more it gets stigmatized. People start to ask, "What's wrong with that house?" and "Why hasn't it sold?" Here are some possible reasons:
Your Columbia SC Home is Priced Too High
Pricing your Columbia SC home too high is the main reason a home just sits. Many sellers have unrealistic ideas about what their home can bring, others simply can't afford to take anything less because they are underwater on their loan.
It's always price for condition or price for location. That's one of the main reasons a Columbia SC home will just sit and stagnate.
Your Columbia SC Home Is Dated
Everybody's taste is different, so less is more when it comes to decor at sale time. Loud patterns and bold colors can be big distractions. Other buyer turnoffs include time-capsule interior treatments such as mirrored walls, cheap wood paneling and 1970s kitchens.
Your Columbia SC Home Is In Poor Condition
If a home looks as if it's going to cost half as much to repair or renovate as it does to purchase, it's going to take a long time to move. Buyers are a lot more reluctant to take on a project, especially if there are houses around it that don't need as much work.
The same goes for strong odors in the home, such as pets or mold. Either fix it or chop the asking price to accommodate for someone else fixing the problem.
Your Columbia SC Home Suffers From Bad Design
With some homes, it's a strange or inefficient floor plan that may be killing the sale. Cosmetic things like old linoleum floors or a rough interior can be easily fixed. If you have to walk through one bedroom to get to another one, that may qualify as functional obsolescence.
Your Columbia SC Home May Be in a Bad Location
You've heard it a million times when it comes to real estate: It's all about the location, location, location. There's not much you can do when your location includes overhead high tension power lines, or you're close to a power plant or waste-treatment facility. If your location just comes down to the neighbors not keeping up their property, you may have some recourse if your Columbia SC home is part of a homeowner's association that oversees the neighborhood and takes action if owners allow their properties to become run down.
These are just a few of the many reasons your Columbia SC home may be sitting on the market and not selling. If any of these things are things you can do something about, now is the time to take action to correct what you can.
For more tips on selling your Columbia SC home, see our section on Columbia SC Home Selling Tips to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.
If you're considering selling your Columbia SC home, you've probably seen all the hoopla about sellers getting multiple offers on their home and are wondering, "can this really happen?"
The short answer is, yes, it most certainly does happen, but not to sellers of a typical Columbia SC home who don't take the time and effort to prepare properly.
Steps for Getting Multiple Offers on a Columbia SC Home
Spruce Up. Your house probably could use some spring cleaning, regardless of the time of year you are putting your Columbia SC home on the market: repainting the inside, repainting the front steps, power washing the outside, and cutting the bushes back.
Get someone who is not so attached to the house as you are to stop by and take a look at it from a prospective buyers viewpoint. Have them tell you what is a turn off to them and fix it!
Use A Seasoned Real Estate Agent. Don't get emotional when three offers come in. Let your real estate agent be the unbiased person to explain which of the multiple offers are in your best interest. The higher priced offer may not be the best offer if it's loaded with contingencies. A cash offer for a lower price might be the best deal for you to accept. Someone not so attached to the Columbia SC home is better able to advise you when you have multiple offers to think about.
Build up excitement. Consider putting out the word in the neighborhood that you're going to be putting your house on the market ahead of actually doing it. Have your chosen real estate agent start spreading the word before actually putting a sign in the yard. Consider listing your Columbia SC home on a Monday or Tuesday and not allowing anyone to actually see the home until Friday to generate some added excitement about the home.
With Columbia SC home inventory being lower than usual, your chances of getting multiple offers are high, IF your home stands out. Don't just put the home on the market without making proper preparations first.
Columbia SC home sellers are joining the rest of Americans saying now is a good time to sell a home than at any time in the past three years, a rise in confidence that could lead to more inventory of homes for sale and, eventually, smaller home price gains.
"Sentiment toward selling a home appears to be catching up with the strengthening housing market," says Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.
More Columbia SC Home Inventory
U.S. home prices jumped 12.1% in April year-over-year, marking the 14th consecutive month of gains. The supply of homes for sale in April was up 4% to 10% from January, when adjusted for seasonal patterns. More inventory will mean price increases will slow down.
Tight inventories of Columbia SC homes for sale have been a big driver of price increases. Now, higher prices are finally drawing people into the market. In addition, rising interest rates are causing some to get off of the fence before rates go even higher.
In many areas, during the first week of June, there were fewer new listings on the market than at any time in the previous 13 years.
For Columbia SC home sellers, one in four homeowners with a mortgage owed more on their homes than the homes were worth in the first quarter, and that is starting to change.
Even two months ago, it was definitely a seller's market. Now, buyers can be a little more picky unless they are shopping for lower priced homes and competing with investors for those lower priced properties.
Columbia SC home sellers need to be aware of the changing tides, and make sure their home shines in comparison to others on the market. We may have just witnessed one of the shortest "Sellers Markets" in recent history. Stand by for more news as it relates to the markets, as we'll always keep you up to date on changing trends right here on our website.
Columbia SC home buyers 
are becoming more and more savvy, and when it comes to a home warranty, most are asking the seller to provide one. A home warranty puts your buyer at ease, so you can focus on selling the aesthetics of your house instead of the technical or structural integrity of it.
An extended warranty for appliances will cover manufacturing defects, but what about if something major breaks – and it isn't covered by the manufacturer's warranty? That's where home warranties kick in and take up the slack.
Offer a Home Warranty When Selling Your Home
A home warranty will also cover things insurance won't even begin to think about covering, like plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems. Let's look at these a little closer, and why you should consider offering a home warranty when selling your home:
Plumbing
When pipes leak, or burst, many homeowner's insurance policies exclude the cost of a plumber and the cost of replacing the pipe. It may cover water damage, but this varies by location. A home warranty fills in the gaps of a homeowner's insurance policy – providing coverage for a plumber to come out and fix what needs to be fixed, along with other costs associated with fixing the pipes.
As much as we want PVC piping to last forever, it doesn't. Joints are usually what fail, but the piping itself can fail if the water freezes or there's some other structural damage caused by external forces.
Electrical
Electrical wiring isn't something that's covered by homeowner's insurance, so you're pretty much on your own when it comes to wiring. However, a home warranty will cover this, and will provide you with enough money to fix electrical problems other than just fraying wires.
Usually, wiring is the last thing on your mind in a home. It's hidden in the walls, and you never think about it until or unless lights start acting funny, and electrical appliances stop functioning properly in your home, or worse — there's an electrical fire.
HVAC Units
There are fewer things more frustrating than an air conditioning unit blowing warm air in the middle of summer. The blistering heat makes it hard to think about anything other than getting it fixed. With a home warranty, you don't need to think. All you need to do is make a phone call. Same goes for your central heat in the winter.
Because HVAC units typically come with warranties, you probably won't need to use a home warranty for a while – however, it will come in handy when the manufacturer's warranty expires.
Appliances
You have a limited warranty on your appliances. The problem is the limited warranty often only covers manufacturing defects. Even when it's more comprehensive, the warranty eventually runs out. Home warranties fill in the gaps here, since you can continually renew your home warranty beyond the manufacturer's warranty – thereby providing coverage if your expensive refrigerator, dishwasher, or stove breaks down.
We have other Columbia SC Home Selling Tips in the column to your right under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.