If you are reading this, probably you are one of the homeowners who is having a hard time in selling a property in Brooklyn, or you are about to embark on the journey. Everybody knows that there are a lot of inventories on the market right now. And you will have to compete against foreclosures out there, which are heavily discounted.
If your property is located in Brooklyn NY, especially in Bed-Stuy (Bedford Stuyvesant) or Bushwick areas, whose Zip Codes are 11212, 11213,11216,11233, 11238, 11206, 11221 and 11237, you must have been definitely having a tough time, since the foreclosure rates are much higher than in the rest of Brooklyn. But still, even in this downturn market, you can sell your house fairly quick, if you focus on your selling strategy carefully.
There are basically 3 ways to sell your house. The first step is to decide which way you will take. This is critical. You MUST be honest with yourself in selecting one that fits your personality and character. Now, in order to make a wise choice, let’s discuss pros and cons for each. Here are the 3 Ways to sell your house:
1. Selling Yourself (For Sale By Owner)
2. Hire a Real Estate Agent
3. Work with Investors.
1) Selling yourself
The most important Pro for selling your home yourself is “Money.” Selling your home without the help of an agent means More Money in your pocket! You save the commissions and fees. In Brooklyn, NY, this is significant. Because the commissions would be tens of thousands dollars for you. If you successfully sold your house for $500,000 (the average price in local Brooklyn Area), you would have to pay the agent 6{ef6a2958fe8e96bc49a2b3c1c7204a1bbdb5dac70ce68e07dc54113a68252ca4} of the selling price or $30,000. It’s a significant amount of money, with which you could buy a nice brand new car.
Another advantage is that you are able to decide the times for open houses and showings. It is also completely up to you where and when you want to advertise. However, there are also disadvantages to selling yourself. Selling a home takes a lot of energy and time dealing with potential buyers, open houses, closing sales and of course dealing with legal issues. Real estate agents are familiar with all the above and they can handle them for you. Their experience can impact the sale. In order to save $30,000 in commission, would you hire an attorney, a title company, and an insurance company by yourself to make a deal happen? Are you really a good negotiator to ask for an offer? If you are NOT that kind of person, things would be very tough for you.
2) Hiring a real estate agent
Pros are already covered the above. Cons are that in this competitive market for the sellers, agents may not able to help you sell fast. Most agents are taught only very conventional ways of marketing homes. Putting your property on MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and put up a “For Sale” sign in the yard, and maybe do some advertisement in newspapers. But that’s about it. And the next step is just wait and wait and wait… Because of the terrible economy, where the demand for homes has substantially subsided, you shouldn’t be surprised if it takes 6 – 8 months to have your home sold through an agent.
Therefore, you really have to hire an experienced real estate agent who has closed on at least 20-30 properties a year. You can get the agent’s license after taking a 4-day-course. Having the license doesn’t mean an “expert” in selling a house. The truth is only 5-10 percent of the agents know what they really doing.
3) Working with Investors
One of the pros in working with investors is that it is by far the fastest way to sell your house. In fact many homeowners will come to investors after their listings expired with the agents, meaning they couldn’t sell their houses through agents for 6 months or longer. And they would regret, “Why didn’t I come to investors first, instead of wasting my time.”
Some homeowners just have to liquidate their properties as soon as possible, due to an imminent foreclosure, divorce, relocation, etc. Most of the time, Investors will pay you cash and they can close within 2 weeks or even less.
Another pro is that investors often take your house “As Is.” That means you don’t have to fix anything about your house. If you sell it to a retail buyer, they may demand that you fix whatever the problems your house has before purchasing. If your roof has a problem, it would cost you a significant amount of money and time. But Investors usually have a rehab team and they can handle all the repair work by themselves. That would be a huge plus for those who have no money or time to fix the house.
However, you should know that investors have to make money as well and the number has to make sense for them, too. So you might not always get the amount you are hoping for.
After considering the 3 ways of selling, if you decide that the speed is the most important thing for you, I would highly recommend you to work with real estate investors.
How to Find Investors
If you go to REIA (Real Estate Investors Association of New York), everybody is an investor. They will listen to you and would be interested in buying your house. Or you can find them on the Internet. Type in, “Sell My House Fast Cash in Brooklyn NY” on Google.com, you will find dozens. And also, sometimes, you see Bandit Signs on the street that read “We Buy Houses Brooklyn.” Contact them and see if they can make you a good cash offer.
If you are interested, as one of local Brooklyn investors, I would be more than happy to work with you, too. If you wish to contact us, visit our website www.Sell-My-House-Brooklyn-NY.com I wish you the best of luck.
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