If you are selling your home, will you get an agent or are you thinking about going at it alone? The answer depends on many different aspects. The obvious reason to sell your home yourself is to save the realtor commission fee, which can be a big chunk of change. However, in most cases, a realtor can get a higher selling price than what you can get yourself.
But the question is: Do you have what it takes to successfully sell your own home? You should really weigh the pros and cons to decide if you can take on the task by yourself:
Pros:
- You can save money. You could potentially save thousands of dollars in real estate commission fees. The extra money can help if you still owe on the house you are selling. You won’t know if you can be successful concerning “For Sale by Owner” unless you try.
- You know the house and neighborhood. You will likely be more educated about the strengths and weaknesses about the house. You will also know your neighbors and the surrounding area pretty well, so you can talk about how great they are when showing your house. Plus, you can let prospective buyers know personally about all of the home improvements you’ve done.
- You may already have a ready buyer. In this case, you can save the real estate agent’s full commission because much of the work is already done. Or, you can hire an agent for a reduced fee to complete the transaction.
- You are in control. Some people simply prefer to be in charge, especially when it comes to such a big financial decision.
Cons:
- Selling is very time-consuming. Do you have the time to sell your house? It may be difficult to schedule appointments and show prospective buyers your home if you work full-time.
- You have to take care of all the paperwork. There is a multitude of forms and paperwork to fill out, and an agent can seamlessly keep track of all signed documents. In order to be organized, you must be willing to do the same.
- You have to prepare your home yourself. You may be blind to some of the flaws in your house, and a fresh pair of eyes can help get your house in selling shape.
- You might not know how to market your home. You need to do some research to learn how to use useful forms of advertising such as the internet and classified ads. You also need to hone some important marketing skills to be successful in your sale.
As stated earlier, selling your own home means that you are the boss. You won’t have to succumb to overbearing agents or deal with unprofessionalism of any kind. You can call the shots, but it also means that any mistakes that are made rest solely on you.
If you decide to sell your own home, one of the most important pieces of information for you to know is the value of your home. You can rely on a free home value report from Neighborhood IQ to learn what your home is worth in order to ask for an appropriate price.
