If you are looking to sell your home in the near future, there are going to be a couple of options at your disposal. Either you can hire a real estate agent or you can manage the sale on your own. Many people are attracted to the latter, because it keeps them from having to spend extra money on commissions. While this is certainly an attractive reason, it is not always wise, especially considering the current market. Before venturing into the world of real estate on your own, step back and think about the consequences. Here are some reasons why an agent may be in your best interest.
Related Posts:
http://www.realtydrama.com/tips-for-selling-your-home-in-winter/
The disadvantages of a for sale by owner
- The market is competitive
- Agents are trained to sell homes and they have a wealth of experience
- Is your time worth it?
- It pays to have contacts; agents have more than you do
- A real estate agent always has the end goal in mind
They do not call it a buyer’s market for nothing. An increasing number of people are selling their homes, which means sellers are facing rising competition. Do you have what it takes to sell yours on your own? Many homeowners simply do not have the skills or experience to sell real estate, particularly in a market as competitive as it is now. An agent will bring with them knowledge of this market, which means they will know how best to price your house in comparison to what other houses in the area are listed or are selling at.
In addition to making the process easier, it is a real estate agent’s job to sell homes. This is what they get paid to do, so it makes sense to hire an expert. While there certainly does exist a diverse range of people for hire, a majority of them will possess far greater experience and background knowledge than the average homeowner.
Another factor to consider is your time. Do you have time to schedule appointments and showings on a routine basis? If you are like most people, the answer is likely no. Hiring an agent saves you from having to deal with the hassle of selling; most people simply do not realize how much work is involved in closing the deal. Even the most experienced and successful agents will have to work with multiple viewings. You may have to pay a commission when your house does sell, but this could very well be worth it in the long run.
Selling real estate requires having contacts in the industry. Agents understand the importance of being connected, and that is why many of them come equipped with an extensive resource network that they use to market listings. Lastly, many homeowners have a hard time focusing on the point at hand. Being attached to ones home is completely understandable, but it does not help when trying to sell. Agents are professionals that have the mindset necessary to complete the process.
I’ve never asked myself if I would consider selling my own home. I wouldn’t! There’s a lot of work involved, and getting my house ready for a showing is enough of a task. When you find a real estate agent that you trust, stick with them! Send your friends to them! Maintaining a good relationship with a quality real estate agent will come in handy for your next real estate transaction!
I live in a rural area and most people know each other well. This seems to mean that I might have better luck selling my home myself. But, on the other hand, I am a busy woman. And if I know a bunch of people, my agent will know a whole ton of people! If I had the time, I would give it a shot. But I think that getting someone else (a professional) to sell your home is the best option for most people. It probably will be for me when I sell.
I think it would depend on your profile. If you’re really into buying and selling houses and you have a wide contact base, then it would be more efficient if you will handle or facilitate the sale by yourself. But, if you have another full-time job, you should get an agent. They also have the experience and the networks.
It’s always best to seek the experience of a professional, in anything that you do. I find that when you constantly go for doing things yourself, you lose valuable time and money. This is especially true in terms of real estate.
We currently have 3 investment properties.. My husband has just came to the decision that we will indeed sell one of the properties (a 1 bedroom condo) this spring without a realtor. I love him, but I’m not to fond of the idea. I believe that our realtor is a valuable asset for us to have a smooth sale.
I don’t think we could do this ourselves at this point in our lives. There are simply too many things which could go wrong. I much rather trust a professional to handle the details so that we can spend our free time doing the things that we love.
Although there are many people who decide to try to sell their home on their own, it would be very interesting to know the percentage of people who get exasperated and turn the home over to a realtor. Just having an open house and getting the word out to people for agents and people to know about the open house is a big job. Let alone handling the traffic. The process would be much less onerous if an agent were in charge.
Having both sold a home by myself and with a professional, I’ve came to the realization that it’s just too much of a headache to do it alone. I may have been lucky when I got my agent, and maybe they ALL arnt as good as she was, but she set my mind at ease and simplified the whole process. I’ll never try selling my home alone again. Just my opinion.
Prior to my sales career in real estate, i was a corporate person. Job postings had me and my family moving around quite a bit throughout southern Ontario …. stressful in itself!
Selling our home personally seemed like a “no brainer” to me! Beyond what was apparent, the economics of doing same, i thought “how hard could it be!!??!!”
Don’t get me started on entertaining prospects who i had to “tolerate” going through all of our stuff, follow around through my open houses, had items go missing, preparing the home for viewings that never happened, empathize with them while they “beat up” my valuation of the home and the contract negotiation …. oh the contract negotiations!!
LOL having a third party handle all of that “stuff” for us, kept the family sane!!
Also i am totally confident that we achieved a better net $$ return $$ by using a professional agent, especially in a hot – active market!
A great article that every home owner considering to sell, should read and take to heart.
We recently sold our house privately. What we saved on commission fees, we paid in school fees. We did not know or understand the legalities involved. The new owners expected things that an estate agent would have excluded in a sales contract. The registration took twice as long, because there were no agent bugging the lawyers to finish the contracts and get it to the records office. We had problems finding a home loan, because we had to do it by ourselves, with no help from an agent or their financial team available.
In the end we learned the hard way that it is better to leave the job to the professionals.
Is the cost of commission worth more than the time and energy a buyer needs to put in? Agents do a lot of things like attracting clients, and handle a lot of the paper work. For a buyer without much experience, I would imagine selling without an agent would be a lot of work and stress. If a buyer chooses to sell his or her family home, there would probably be a lot of tension in the household.
You make some very good points!
Most definitely in an “active” market like the GTA, a marketing strategy giving the home maximum exposure with a professional agent will generate a higher selling price, in almost all cases, has been my experience!
Also the consumer (Buyer) has very little security in buying directly from a home owner!!
You may have heard that expression “Buyer beware??”
When a home is listed through an agent and a brokerage, if problems arise with the home, the Buyer may have legal recourse against the agent &/or brokerage.
I would not be brave enough to try and sell a home by myself. Even though I’d have to pay a little more, a real estate agent would have more confidence than I do and perhaps could get it sold for more than I could. I think the benefits of an agent outweigh the cost of one!
Remember, speculative deals can be misleading. Very often a strategic investor arises out of a failed speculant.
Avoifing agents can be risky. You think you save money as you dot have to pay an agent’s fee but your challanges are as follows:
1) You do not have a professional party to neggotiate terms on your behalf;
2) Buyers see it as opportunity to put more efforts to reduce the price;
3) You will generally not have anyone interested to protect your interests.
You could end up losing SO much more money than what you potentially “could” save on fees. And as a buyer, I would probably be very leery of someone who did not come with representation. Which could be a huge negative!
I can’t really see any strong advantages to selling your own house especially in this day and age. Someone who attempts to do so likely does not fully grasp the complexity of the process.
It’s like trying to be your own lawyer or your own surgeon. Why would you undertake such a venture when you can have the services of a trained professional with the expertise as well as the connections?
Saving some money still does not make it worthwhile. On so many levels you can wind up losing far more than you may have saved.