4 Best Ways for Selling a Home in Maine

Private transactions are a boon to homeowners who want an all-cash sale without all the public display, and, most importantly, a sale that can close quickly.

Private sales move fast from contract to closing because they’re done with cash. Homeowners won’t need to sit while their buyer applies and qualifies for a mortgage.

Homeowners also won’t have to put up with home inspectors or appraisers.

You won’t need to prepare your home for the sale. You can sell your home in as-is condition in a private sale!

And, just as the name implies, they’re private. You won’t have regular public visits from looky-loos who saw your ad and want to file through your home and look in your closets at all hours of the day.

You’ll have your weekends to yourself, without being exiled while your home is held open to public (and neighborhood) scrutiny.

So, just who purchases homes in a private sale? Let’s introduce those buyers now.

What Are Home Buying Companies?

Home buying companies are professional real estate investors. Oftentimes, it can be a one-man gig. Other times it’s a small firm or large corporation.

Investors buy investment properties in Maine, any type of home — from single-family houses through multi-unit complexes. They purchase mobile homes, prefab houses, and even vacant land.

Many real estate investors in Maine purchase property to restore and then resell. Others focus on buying property for rental income.

Other investors buy homes to convert into rentals for a regular source of income.

The common element for all investors is they buy with their own cash or money from hard money lenders. For the homeowner that means an all-cash sale — that’s speedy.

Investors also aren’t concerned with the condition of the home. Property conditions range from turnkey to rundown and everything in between.

Homeowners who need some special considerations might be interested in selling a property in Maine, including those:

• selling a house before it gets foreclosed
• selling a house with sitting tenants
• selling a house after a bankruptcy discharge
• selling a house that needs work
• selling a home in probate
• selling a house with an IRS tax lien
• selling a hoarder’s house
• selling to downsize from a large to a small property
• selling a house in a divorce situation
• selling a house for a job relocation
• wondering what to do when selling a house privately

Cash home buyers use local investor-friendly title companies in Maine. They have experience handling all-cash sales.

Selling your home to an investor has some concrete benefits. Let’s take a look at them.

Pros of Selling to a Home Buying Company

• Professional real estate investors are known as fast cash home buyers. They can often close in a matter of just days when necessary.

• Selling to cash home buying companies in Maine eliminates the risk of your deal falling out of escrow when a buyer doesn’t qualify for a mortgage.

• You won’t have to worry about doing repairs to your home, whether cosmetic fixes or something more serious. Many investors look for houses to buy as is and repair.

• You won’t be required to pay real estate commissions when you don’t use an agent on your side of the sale and you sell to a cash buyer.

• Investors also typically pay the home seller’s closing costs.

Cons of Selling to a Home Buying Company

• The offers from real estate cash buyers in Maine typically won’t match market value.

There’s a simple reason for that. Let’s be honest, investors must make some profit to stay in business. Another reason is that investors pay your closing costs and factor in the costs of any necessary repairs.

However, and that’s a big however, to compare their offer to what you’d net from a traditional Realtor-assisted sale, you need to look at the net amount you’ll receive from the sale, not the offered sales price.

Let’s break this down further.

In a Realtor sale, you see the offer listed on the contract. That figure looks good, but then you need to subtract the agent commission from that number. You’ll also need to deduct the closing costs from that figure.

Suddenly the offer doesn’t look as enticing.

In an investor sale, the price you see on the offer is the cash you’ll receive. That’s the cash in your pocket.

So, just how do you locate these cash buyers, and how do you make sure you aren’t getting taken by a disreputable investor? The next segment answers those questions.

How to Find an Ethical Home Buying Company

Like any profession, there are investors who will take advantage of homeowners. You can avoid those firms when you use a few resources to prescreen prospective cash home buyers.

Collect some prospects from mailers, media advertisements, and an internet search to begin.

Search by using terms such as “we buy Maine homes” or “sell Maine home for cash.” If you want to narrow your hunt to local investors, add your city to the search.

Once you have a few names, the vetting begins.

Start by consulting the Office of the Main Attorney General to determine if any of the investors on your list have had legal run-ins with their office in the past.

Skim consumer complaint websites such as Maine Better Business Bureau (BBB) to discover any filings there.

Look through comments on platforms like Yelp and Real Estate Bees. If you’re seeing unhappy homeowners, eliminate that investor from your list.

Vetting takes time, but there’s a faster way to sort the ethical from the unethical on your list.

We’ve screened the investors partnering with us, and we’ve vetted them for the very things you’re looking for — professionalism, ethical business practices, and a track record of timely closed sales.

Simply request a cash offer on our website by completing a short form, so we can match you with investors in your area looking for properties like yours.

There’s no fee to you for anything. And there’s absolutely no obligation to sell to any of the investors.

Now, let’s look at the traditional sales approach to compare it to the other options.

Who Are Real Estate Agents?

Real estate agents are your professional representatives for the sale. They are your licensed legal fiduciary hired to act on your behalf during the transaction.

Your agent will take charge of listing, marketing, negotiating, wrangling title, coordinating escrow paperwork, and guiding the sale to close — all while putting your interests first.

Agents using the title “Realtor” are members of the Maine Association of Realtors (MAR), a professional trade group that holds associates to high moral and ethical business standards.

Just like an investor sale, there are benefits and drawbacks to a Realtor-assisted transaction.

Pros of Using a Real Estate Agent

• Real estate agents are trained professionals who can handle just about any issue when selling a house in Maine. Experienced agents who have assisted buyers and sellers for a long period of time are rarely surprised by the turn of events during a sale.

• Realtors have proprietary research databases at their fingertips to assist you in pricing your home and negotiating for the best sales price.

• You hire an agent for their expertise and experience. That allows you to go about your life and leave the sale details to a professional.

Cons of Using a Real Estate Agent

• The cost of selling a house with a Realtor is the major disadvantage of a brokerage sale. Maine commissions will set you back at least 5%-5.5% of the final sales price.

• When you want to sell a property in Maine, it may take some time, even in a good market. If your home is a fixer, it could take months on the market to locate a buyer.

• Agents typically bring buyers from the general public who require mortgage loans. That means at least four weeks of waiting for the lender to process the loan.

The next segment offers some tips to find those professionals.

How to Find a Good Real Estate Agent

Recommendations are the key to locating a quality agent to represent you and your home.

Ask your friends, family, and coworkers for recommendations. If you have neighbors who have recently moved into the neighborhood, ask them about their experience. Their Realtor has experience selling in your neighborhood, and that’s a plus.

Confirm the agents on your list of prospects have valid and active licenses by using the online license search on the State of Maine’s Professional and Financial Regulation website.

Check the consumer temperature for agents on your list. Skim the comments on Real Estate Bees, Yelp, and the local review sites for positive input.

Remove agents from your list who have a number of negative reviews.

The final vetting is critical. Invite three agents to do professional listing presentations at the property. Ask them to work up a marketing proposal for that meeting.

Listen to the presentations, evaluate who you might work well with, and then check their list of referrals. Do the work to call or text with people on their list of recommendations.

Time spent doing that last step can mean the difference between a successful sale and waiting for months for a buyer.

Sign a contract to list with the agent you like best.

Our next sales option has homeowners acting in place of a real estate agent. This approach is known as a “for sale by owner” listing or an FSBO.

Taking charge of the sale as an FSBO has a number of required steps for homeowners to take before the first prospective buyer even tours the property.

Pine Tree State laws require homeowners to present prospective buyers with a written property disclosure before they present an offer.

This disclosure mandates the seller to be transparent about any material damages or health and safety risks associated with the home.

After you’ve completed the disclosure, you’ll need to set a sales price. An online home market value estimator can help you determine a competitive asking price.

You’ll need to do an inventory of your home to determine what needs to be upgraded or repaired to make your property move-in ready.

Buyers from the general public mostly look for turnkey houses, and the closer your home comes to move-in ready, the more successful you’ll be in locating a buyer.

If you plan to sell to an investor, you can avoid the hassle of prepping your property.

After you’ve determined your target buyers, you’ll need to develop a marketing plan to promote your listing.

That’s probably the most difficult step for FSBO sellers, but there are some tried and true steps you can take to attract home shoppers.

Ways to Market Your House Yourself

• Signs: Make sure your signage looks professional and it provides several ways to contact you to arrange a showing.

• Media: Video tours of your home are a popular way to put eyes on your property. Post these on YouTube and Instagram to attract prospective buyers.

• Flyers: Professional flyers that list your home’s features and amenities are excellent physical reminders for your home viewers. Hand them out when potential buyers tour your property.

• Internet advertising: FSBO listing sites offer a way to flood the local media with ads for your home sale. Many are free to homeowners.

Pros of Marketing Your House Yourself

• You’ll save the commission fees on your side of the sale. If your buyer also skips using an agent, you’ll double your savings on your closing costs in Maine.

• You are the director of everything in an FSBO sale. The buck stops with you.

• You can focus all of your efforts on selling your home, as opposed to agents who must work with a full client list during the week.

Cons of Marketing Your House Yourself

• Selling a home appears so simple, but you may become overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork and legal requirements involved in a typical sale. If your sale has unique snags, wrangling the sales process can present even more challenges.

• You are on your own. You won’t have any professional assistance to help you during the sale.

• Any delay, and your buyer may abandon the sale. If you make a major mistake, your buyer may sue you.

• You’ll be responsible for paying the FSBO closing costs. If you’re not schooled about the fees that are negotiable, you may end up paying more than you would have in a Realtor sale.

• You may net even less than you would if you sold with an agent, even considering their commission. This is because you are likely not an expert in pricing a property and negotiating with a buyer’s agent, who is a trained professional, unlike yourself.

You’ve found your ideal house, and you want to make an offer, but there’s a problem. You currently own a home, and it’s not on the market.

What are your options? You can buy the home by using a conditional sale. That allows you time to sell your house, but it also risks that another buyer might come in and make an offer to buy “your” home.

Home sellers aren’t excited about contingency offers. They may turn you down or be less flexible on the sales price and buying terms.

The other option is to quickly list your home for sale and hope you find a cash buyer immediately. That’s a lot of dominoes that need to fall — and right away.

You have another path to buy your dream home. That’s to sell to Maine iBuyers.

A Pine Tree State iBuyer will purchase your home for cash, allowing you to take that cash equity in your current home to buy your dream house.

Once you’ve closed the deal on your new home, the iBuyer will finalize the sale on your current house.

That’s a wrap on the descriptions of the four main options for home sellers in Maine. Our next segment details the steps involved in a typical real estate transaction.

Before Signing a Purchase Contract

The heavy lifting when selling through an agent or as an FSBO comes before anyone ever tours your home.

Buyers from the general public mostly look for turnkey properties, so readying your home for sale is critical.

You may need to paint, redo landscaping, and make repairs — sometimes big repairs like a new roof or flooring.

If you’re focused on selling to an investor or iBuyer, your home won’t need any prep. They buy properties in as-is condition.

When your prep is done, you’ll need to complete the property disclosure, and if you’re using a real estate agent, they’ll review the document.

When selling a property in Maine, homeowners, regardless of the sales method, must fill out a disclosure.

If you’d like more details about Maine’s disclosure rules, you can find that information in our online article, “How to Sell Your Home As Is in Maine.”

Once you’ve completed those details and have decided on a sales price, you’ll focus on locating buyers.

Marketing the Property

The buyer you targeted will determine the marketing plan for your home.

The general public typically requires signage, online and traditional advertising, broker previews for area agents to tour your home, and open houses where the public can visit your property.

If you’ve decided to sell to an iBuyer or an investor, you can skip everything on that list. Simply contact the investor, and you’re set.

Accepting an Offer

Your agent will wrangle all offers if you’re using a brokerage. The offers will come to you when selling as an FSBO, to an iBuyer, or an investor.

Your offers will be accompanied by an earnest money deposit that demonstrates the buyer is serious about the sale.

That money will be deposited into a special account. When you accept the offer, it will move into an escrow account and be applied to the sale price.

Buyer Due Diligence Period

Your transaction will move into overdrive during the due diligence period.

Your home buyer has the right to hire professional home inspectors to examine your home. They’ll also order a property title search and a title insurance policy and take out hazard insurance coverage for their new purchase.

When your buyer pays cash, you won’t have the delays that a home mortgage requires.

If you’re selling to a buyer who requires a mortgage, you may wait about a month while your buyer shops and applies for loans, and then must jump through all the required hoops to have that loan approved.

Your house will need at least one appraisal during the due diligence period when selling to a person who requires a mortgage to buy.

Once all those requirements have been completed, your buyer will take one last walkthrough of your home a day or two before finalizing the sale.

Under federal law, you and your buyer will sit down for a review of the Uniform Settlement Statement and charges related to the sale.

If you’re selling to an investor, you won’t see commissions or closing costs on your tab. If you’re closing an agent sale, you’ll pay both those fees.

FSBO sellers are on the hook for their closing costs, and perhaps the agent commission fee for the buyer.

Closing

The final closing (or settlement) step requires buyers and sellers to sign documents, transfer funds, and to transfer keys, garage door openers, and codes to the property.

Some escrow officers require signers to come to a physical office, while others complete the signing virtually.

You aren’t required under law to have a real estate attorney present for the closing, but both buyer and seller have the right to hire a legal professional for this step in the sales process.

The last step in the closing is filing the new property deed with the county Registrar of Deeds.

The title or escrow agent will handle this duty, but It’s recommended that sellers follow up a few weeks later to ensure the transfer was recorded.

We’ve discussed how to sell a home in Maine and the steps involved in selling your property.

It’s now time to begin collecting the names of agents, investors, and iBuyers so you can start your vetting process and move on with your home sale.

We’re here ready to help with our vetted partnering investors in your area. We can save you time and effort in your hunt for professional cash buyers.

Our team has years of experience in fast closings using cash and a long list of happy homeowners.

It’s free, no fees, no obligations to sell, no commissions to pay, and the request is a breeze to complete.

Request cash offers for your house now and get started packing to move!