Selling a home yourself sounds great on the surface. Premier one, a leading source for Charleston SC homes for sale, tells us that before you decide to sell your home on your own, consider the following points first.
1. Most buyers work with agents. They look through MLS listings. If you don’t list with an agent, most buyers will never see or hear about your home. It’s hard to find that “right” buyer or get top dollar when your invisible to most of the market.
2. FSBOs get lower offers. It’s only logical. The buyer is simply thinking that you will take less because you are desperate.
3. You pay to advertise. All the costs the real estate office normally pays are yours if you sell it yourself. How much will you spend on ads if it takes a a year to sell?
4. You don’t have the resources. The agent has books of sold properties to look at, for example, to determine the best price for your home. You can get that information by digging through county records, but you do have to value your time too, right?
5. You may not know the market. What is the target market for the houses in your neighborhood?
6. You don’t know all the laws. What about written disclosures, and who pays the real estate transfer tax? Just because you sell it yourself doesn’t mean you get to ignore the laws.
7. You aren’t a good salesperson. What are you going to do when a potential buyer criticizes your home? How do you highlight the good and gloss over the bad? If you are not that good at selling, how could you possibly expect to move a house that is several hundred thousand dollars?
8. Real estate agents have the experience to negotiate. When have you ever negotiated a deal? Do you know the basics of the counter-offer without angering your buyer? A great salesperson is trained in these real estate negotiating skills.
9. You may not even save a penny. Documents, newspaper advertising, signs for the yard, and more – it’s all your expense when you sell it yourself.
After all this hard work, you still wind up getting low offers, and negotiate poorly?
So now you see why most for sale by owners eventually utilize a real estate agent for help. You can learn to do many of the things an agent does, but is it worth it to spend all that time and maybe not even save any money? Don’t sell it yourself unless you really know what you’re doing, and you’re ready for the hassle.