You may have heard of the acronym “FSBO” doing rounds in many real estate conversations. This stands for “for sale by owner,” and there are several packaged services enticing homeowners to be their own realtors to avoid paying someone else a commission for facilitating the sale.
Is saving this money worth taking on so much work and responsibility to get the best price for your property? Here are reasons why you should work with a realtor to sell your home fast.
How Does Selling Without A Realtor Work?
Selling a home without the help of a real estate agent works almost the same way as when you’re working with them. These transactions only differ in the listing phase.
After finding a realtor to work with, they will list your home on the local listing service. Most of the time, however, only licensed realtors can have access to these listings. This means that homeowners can’t list their properties on their own.
But, FSBO sellers can pay other real estate companies a fee to list their homes on the said listing. These services can be affordable but since they don’t come with a representation, most homeowners decide to sell their homes to dependable companies such as The Local House Buyers or list their homes in other listing services.
True, you can save money when you sell your home by yourself. However, this needs a huge amount of time and effort, and chances are, you won’t get a higher price for your home like you would if you had the help of a realtor.
You’ll also need to advertise and market your home, so look into distributing real estate flyers to help you in the process of attracting prospective buyers. Looking for a suitable buyer will generally take a long time unless you decide to sell your home for cash to home buyers.
Unprofessional Dealings
You may be selling your property without an agent, but it does not mean that your buyer has not hired a professional. If a buyer’s agent is aware that a property does not include a professional colleague to negotiate with, they may purposely discourage an offer.
Even if the client wants to see your home, the for sale by realtor sign will put off their agent. This is because the buyer’s agent will reflect on hassles they have experienced in the past while trying to close a deal without a professional colleague on the other end of the transaction.
They might tell the buyer that it is not worth the risk and ignore your listing.
Agents Sell Your Home Without Emotions
Selling a home is an emotional process, even if you are thick-skinned. You have put your savings, time, and effort into the property. Therefore, it will always be an emotional experience that can make you more likely to make silly mistakes.
For instance, you may overprice your home or refuse to counter a lower offer because you are offended by it. Alternatively, you may also give in too quickly to a low offer if you are on a strict time crunch to sell. At times, buyers can be harsh to deal with.
You may not enjoy having strangers attend a viewing and criticize your property’s layout and design. Many sellers take this personally because rejection always stings.
Hiring a realtor to follow up with all communications and negotiations can ensure that you do not get taken for granted. They will find the best buyer for your property and the highest payment you deserve since they also get a higher commission when you make more money.
Although one cannot entirely avoid constructive criticism from a buyer or their agent, it always helps sellers feel better when they have a professional on their side to get the best deal.
Selling Is a Full-Time Job
Unless your property is located right next to a royal palace, a lot more work goes into the selling process, and putting up a “for sale” sign is not enough. Can you run home quickly after work each day if someone wants to view your property?
You may have to keep rushing out of meetings to answer phone calls from buyers or their agents. After surviving peak traffic to reach home for a nice family dinner, can you muster the energy to invite people for viewings and market your property online?
Many sellers do not have the experience to sell their homes. A real estate agent would have easily answered yes to the questions mentioned above. However, a non-professional may find the experience exhausting and demotivating.
If you are ready to get a load off your back and are typing “realtors near me” in a search engine, you are already one step ahead to getting the best return on investment for your home.
Then you do not need to drop everything to meet buyers. Your agent can get a lockbox for your front door with the keys to show people around even if you are not home.
That way, you never have to deal with the overwhelming process and can go on family holidays and weekend breaks while viewings are being conducted.
Agents Have Large Networks
Although any seller can list their property online using sites like Zillow or Craigslist, nothing beats the skills agents have. People who browse through Zillow will have zero incentive to spread the word about your listing. A real estate agent has relationships with buyers and other professionals to do all the marketing for you.
This way, you can gain access to a larger pool of potential buyers who will pay a competitive price for your property instead of settling for any money when not enough people show interest. With so many people ready to attend viewings to see your home, you will not have to wait long before an offer comes your way. Additionally, an agent can help you with remote closing so that your whole selling process is seamless and stress free.
Avoid Unqualified Buyers
When you are selling your home, not everyone who shows interest is a legitimate buyer. Some may be dreamers who want to envision themselves buying years into the future. You may also get a nosy neighbor who wants to compare your home to theirs.
This is a waste of time because selling a home is tiring, and you always get disrupted when the wrong people contact you. You need to put your life on hold for each viewing to make everything look perfect and clean. Therefore, you want to limit your showings to those who are serious about buying your property.
Professional realtors ask qualifying questions to weed out people who will waste your time. They can tell when a person is serious about buying, how long they have been looking for a property, what their budget is, and whether they will qualify for a mortgage.
Sellers who do not have a realtor on their side do not know how to interview people the same way, which is why they fall prey to those who pretend to show interest in the sale. Finally, realtors have sales experience to negotiate the best deal. This is how they know if a buyer is not genuine.
Work With a Realtor for the Best Deal
It is a massive undertaking to sell your home without a professional if you lack real estate experience. You can go it alone to save money, but you will not benefit from the broad exposure for your property listing without an agent.
Other people can also take you for granted and offer low prices that will put you off selling. Agents bring skills and expertise to the table that many for sale by owner sellers do not have.
Selling your home involves complex transactions and legal pitfalls, which is why you should consider hiring an agent today. If you enjoyed reading these sellers’ tips, check out some of our other articles for more information.
