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Consider This Before Selling Your Home On Your Own

Selling your own home may seem like a piece of cake: just take a few pictures, post them online, perhaps even take out an ad in the local newspaper, and stick a “for sale by owner” sign in your front yard once you’ve taken a look at local house prices and have decided your selling price. You can even pay a fee to for-sale-by-owner companies like PropertyGuys to list your home on their website to increase exposure, or even get your home listed on MLS for an extra few hundred dollars. But does selling a home yourself actually give you an advantage? It depends.

Pros of FSBO (For Sale by Owner)

Average realtor commissions can run about 5% of the sale price of your home, so for a home that sells for $300,000 that’s a cool $15,000 that could have been saved by choosing to sell your own house. When selling a house yourself you have complete control over when and where you advertise your home, how much you spend on advertising and marketing, and the selling price you fell is appropriate. Sometimes it can be this level of control that encourages home owners to list their home for sale by owner.

Selling your own home can be a good option if you are not under pressure to sell quickly and are able to spend the time, money, and effort on properly marketing your home so it attracts the right kind of buyers. You will also need to be able to spend a fair amount of time researching the right way to respond to offers, and how to complete the necessary paperwork to ensure the sale goes through unhindered. Don’t forget that you also have to be available to show the home to potential buyers.

Keep in mind that it takes a minimum of a month to go through the home selling process, and if market conditions are not ideal the process could take several months or even a year – so you have to be willing to put in the time.

Cons of FSBO

While selling a house may seem easy and straightforward, what for-sale-by-owner companies don’t provide is the many years of professional training and sales experience that realtors bring to the table. This experience helps them to recommend competitive yet fair house prices to list your home at, tips to make your home more agreeable to buyers, as well as fully marketing and showing your home – no matter how long it stays on the market.

Individual realtors also have the support of a real estate brokerage, which gives them administration assistance, as well as decades of sales experience through other realtors at the firm. This knowledge can be vital when selling real estate, particularly in highly competitive markets. Realtors also have a network of marketing channels including local newspapers, magazines, flyers, and open houses to get your home the exposure it needs to sell quickly and for a good price. All of these services are included as part of the commission associated with selling a home.

While the appeal of “saving money” by selling your own home may be difficult to resist, in many cases selling property through a knowledgeable realtor can provide you with a more enjoyable experience, as well as ensuring that your home sells for top dollar in a shorter period of time.


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Don’t have a realtor yet? We can help. At Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Centre, you’ll find helpful, knowledgeable realtors who can help you sell your home fast – and for top dollar.