For Sale by Owner: The Pros and Cons of Selling Your Own Home
FSBOs (for sale by owners) accounted for 8% of home sales in 2016. That’s low for a reason: it’s tough to sell a home without experience.
People who sell their own homes without the help of a realtor are either: a) already very knowledgeable and experienced with real estate or b) had help along the way and aren’t super concerned about getting the best deal possible.
Selling a home is more than putting up a sign, listing it online, and waiting for the best offer. Besides, what is saving a measly 6% on the final sale price if you took longer and received a lower offer?
Here are some pros and cons to selling your own home that is worth considering.
Pros to Selling Your Own Home
Yes, you may make more money from selling without an agent. Realtors take a cut from closing a sale. If it is a big property, selling for under a million, it might seem like a lot. Take that six percent and it starts to look like a lot of money.
It’s no surprise that this is the biggest reason people opt to sell their own home. The problem is that most fail in their experiment and hire a realtor anyways. That’s a lot of wasted time and energy for a chance at saving a fraction of the value.
Being In Control
Placing an expensive, often life-changing, investment into the hands of someone else is scary. We can understand the logic behind wanting to control the pricing and negotiation of a home. Would you be willing to risk losing a buyer because of your steadfast approach?
On the contrary, would you be open to asking for more than market value, to appeal to wealthier buyers? This is only advisable if you know what you’re doing, which comes from lots of experience.
Around the Clock Selling
Hiring an agent means you’re one of many clients that are being tended to. This can be a turnoff for some homeowners. The fear is feeling as though they won’t be able to spend enough time getting your home sold.
If you’re selling your own home, then you can be there around the clock. Answer every phone call, check every listing, market it all day long. This will only work if you actually have all day to work on selling. For instance, home viewings can and will be requested during times you might be busy.
This can hold you back with finding the right buyer.
Cons to Selling Your Own Home
The difference between pro and amateur property listings is like a blockbuster movie and a direct-to-video sequel. The photos aren’t capturing enough or the correct angles of the home. The home descriptions are hard to read, and, most of all, the properties aren’t listed in all the available channels when DIYers try to save a few bucks.
A realtor can tap into professional outlets to present your home in the perfect light, the perfect tone, and go after the perfect buyer.
Information is Power
Only a real estate agent is going to have access to past experience, comprehensive local market data, and multiple listing service databases. This puts your home on all available channels in the hands of real estate agents searching for properties for their clients. More info and connections mean better odds of selling and higher asking prices.
Again, even if you do sell your home, you’ll likely get a lower value. FSBO homes get an average of $190,000 compared to $249,000 for agent-assisted sales. Without the expertise of a real estate agent, buyers can take advantage of your lack of knowledge.
Presentation is Everything
How you present your home on the market is huge, and so are the first-impressions that seen in-person. Realtors can help you stage your first open house to feel inviting and will wow visitors so that you can have a feeding frenzy on your hands.
It’s hard to accomplish something like that without the help of professional stagers and open house hosts. Once you start getting offers in, your agent can then help stir the pot a little bit and get serious bidders to bite. Staging and appraising a home is not an easy task.
There’s a lot of work to do with fixing and updating things to get your home market-ready. After that, you need to be able to know how to market your home. Sharing your home on social media and general home listings is not enough 90% of the time.
A real estate agent has connections and multiple listing services to get your home seen by more eyeballs.
Negotiating and Closing
Being in the hot seat with no real estate experience is nerve-racking. A realtor knows how to work under pressure. They can answer any curveballs that a buyer might throw along the way and get the best offer for your home.
They don’t win unless you win, as they say. It’s in their best interests to close the deal and make sure all the necessary paperwork is done. This avoids any backing out or renegotiating done after the fact. Selling a house can be messy and stressful, you should consider how valuable your time and your sanity is if you’re considering on trying to do it all by yourself.
DIY Projects That You Should Do
So, selling your own home may not appear to be the most sound decision. But, that is one of the few aspects of home ownership that is bad for DIY. There’s plenty of great reasons why you should take your home’s future into your own hands.
Read our DIY posts to get some inspiration for your next big home investment. Whether it is building yourself a new one or remodeling an old one, your creativity is your best asset. Let UpGifs be the place that sparks your creative spirit!