Occasionally, a letter arrives from a reader of my syndicated column, asking for full instructions on how to sell a house without using a broker -- return envelope enclosed for my reply.

But when someone asked Louis Armstrong for a definition of jazz, he answered "If you have to ask, there's no way to tell you!"

Certainly some people do sell on their own, enjoy the challenge and are pleased with the results. But they aren't the ones who expect me to teach them how in a single letter.

You can eliminate the broker, but you can't eliminate those things the broker does. Some you can do yourselves; the rest will probably be done by your lawyer. You'll need to work extra-closely with an attorney.

Finding someone who wants to buy your home is just the beginning. Allowing enough time to find the highest offer, making sure the buyers are financially qualified, agreeing on a proper contract for sale, and seeing the transaction through the paperwork down to final closing are the largest part of the job.

Your most important single step is setting the right price. Set the figure too high, and no one will look at the place. But if your house sells in one day because you priced it too low, you've out-smarted yourselves. Read the ads for your neighborhood to help you get a feeling for price. Pay for a professional fee appraisal of the market value of your house.

Figure out how much income a buyer will need in order to qualify for a mortgage on your home. Learn to ask people about their finances before you start negotiating, or even showing the property. Otherwise you are just wasting everyone's time.

Remember that oral agreements for the sale of real estate aren't binding. Find out what groups are protected by human rights law in your area. Learn what provisions must, by law, be included in a sales contract in your state, and never sign anything without showing it to the lawyer first.

Don't admit a passing stranger who might knock. Show the property by appointment only and ask for phone numbers "so we can call back and confirm the time", a safety precaution.

Watch out for callers who don't even care how many bedrooms you have, and are interested only in whether you'll sell with nothing down -- and hold the mortgage yourself.

Insist on a satisfactory credit check on the buyers before you accept any purchase offer. Otherwise you could find your property tied up for months in a contract that eventually goes nowhere.

New salespeople are required by every state to take courses in basic real estate, and to work under a broker's supervision. Go to the library and take out all the books you can find on selling one's home, and a couple of general real estate textbooks. Agents do a great deal of studying--if you are going to do the agent's job, you should too.

Published: January 4, 1999

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