Many people who sell their homes think only about the cost of a real
estate agent when trying to decide whether or not to sell on their own.
Though both choices have their advantages, choosing a real estate firm
will most likely result in a higher selling price, making any other
costs incurred by the firm well worth it.
It is an age old question as to whether you should list your property
with a real estate firm or sell it yourself. There are benefits to both.
However, the perks of listing with an agent far outweigh selling it
yourself.
When you put the house on the market yourself, you are acting as your
own agent. This means you are in charge of everything. Although you may
like the sound of that, there are some pitfalls. The first thing is you
must be available twenty four hours a day seven days a week. This is so
the potential buyers can reach you when it is convenient for them. You
can use an answering machine or voice mail, but many buyers will not
leave a message. Many will not call back either, if they do not reach a
real person. It is a simple matter of when someone is looking for
information they want it right away. If they can not find it in one
place they will look in another. A real estate agent has an entire team
to answer calls when they come in.
You will also need to be aware of how much the market value of your home
is. When you do not know what the other houses sold for, you have no way
to judge what the market will bear. You may be pricing your home too
high. You could also be pricing your home too low. This happens when
someone has owned a home for twenty or so years and has not paid close
attention to the real estate market. They can sometimes forget about the
appreciation factor. I have seen houses bought for $125,000 and listed
20 years later for only $490,000. The market had appreciated so much the
home was actually worth $535,000. Sure, this home sold fast, but, at a
huge cost to the inexperienced seller. This would have never happened if
the seller had listed with a real estate professional.
There is also the title office and the lenders you will have to deal
with if you get a proposal on your home. Not to mention the purchase
agreement you will have to draw up. If the buyer wants to add some type
of creative financing into the mix, it can get puzzling. The real estate
agent is a trained professional. He or she has experience in dealing
with title searches, mortgage lenders, and creative financing. By
listing with the real estate agent, you do not have to worry about being
taken for a ride by a crooked buyer. The agent will have the buyer
pre-qualified before they are brought to your home. The lender will work
with the title company and the agent to get things wrapped up quickly.
When you try to sell on your own a deal can take much longer to get
everything set up for a closing.
Exposure is an essential reason to list with a real estate agent. When
you sell the property on your own, you can only advertise in a limited
area. With a real estate agent, the property is usually listed with the
multiple listing service (MLS). This means the property can be viewed by
anyone in the country at any time.
The cost of the commission may be high for some people. The benefits it
yields are great. What it can save you if the deal goes bad are worth
every penny. Think of it as payment to a contractor for a job you should
not do yourself.
Return to Brokerforyou's real estate articles