It's a simple truth: selling a home takes a lot of hard work! One way some homeowners try to save on time and money is to go about the process all on their own. Let's be honest, there are pros and cons to both sides of this fence. At the end of the day only you can carefully weigh in on these options and decide which works best for you and your family. So, Agents vs. For Sale By Owner? Let's pull apart a few aspects of the home selling steps and do a little investigating as to what works best for you, shall we?
#thepriceisright - How much are you really going to save? You will inevitably hear arguments about why it’s best to sell your home yourself. Advocates of FSBO (seriously, it's easier to refer to "For Sale By Owner" this way) usually talk about the "net income" or easier yet, what they will actually make off the sell. These same advocates will tell you that selling your home yourself will save you money because you don’t have to pay a Realtor. While it is true that real estate agents take in a percentage of the home sale price (a typical rate is 6% for both Buyer and Seller Agents), those fees cover a tremendous amount of time and money that go into selling a home. Case in point, a study completed by the National Association of Realtors found that the median price of homes that were sold by an agent in parts of the American Midwest was $211,000, while those sold by a FSBO were merely $153,000. I don't know about you, but I see that as a pretty significant difference! If you do choose to sell your home without a Realtor, know that you will have to pay money to stage and list your home (which can take several hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to do). You will also need to host open houses for potential buyers on your own. On the flip side, a Realtor will help you correctly stage your home for potential buyers, facilitate professional pictures, and then list the home on the Multi Listing Service, this is a real-estate-agents-only website where countless amounts of people will see the home. If you are working with a Realtor you won’t have to pay the hefty fee that goes along with that listing. Another perk to not listing on your own is that a Realtor will host open houses and viewings with their own time. This helps tremendously in that you won’t have to take breaks from work or life to show potential buyers your property. Not only that, but guess what?? A FSBO seller doesn't escape all of the realtor fees! The other parties agent will most likely ask for at least a 3% commission from the home sale for their services to the buyer.
#gettingthenewsoutthere - Marketing your Home
What is a central component you need for your home sell to be successful? Well, you need qualified buyers! In our modern era of society a vast majority of home buyers will be looking for their new home online. FSBO sellers have social media at their disposal, they can pay to list their home in the local newspaper and even try to spread the news by word of mouth. Their reach will be limited by their own financial resources and the amount of people they have within their realm of influence. Real estate agents will have a wider way of networking on your behalf. First off, they have the Multi Listing Service mentioned above, that is a tremendous resource to have at your disposal! Many Realtors actually pay monthly fees to different marketing sources that they use for their clients. This allows them to reach hundreds, if not thousands, of other real estate agents and get your information out there!
#timeisoftheessence - How much time do you have at your disposal?
Do you have a time frame in mind for how long do you want your home to be on the market? In all honesty, the longer your home is on the market, the less it will sell for. According to the National Association of Realtors they have found that homes sold through the Multi-Listing Service have on average sold 20 days faster than one listed specifically by an owner. Let's face it, there’s a reason being a real estate agent is a full-time job! Staging, ordering photos, scheduling viewings and handling offers takes TIME! Most agents work very long hours. They don't have weekends off, the weekend is the time that everyone wants to go view those listings! Holidays? Many interested home buyers will have time off during a holiday season, they'll book viewings with an agent during that time frame. In light of all of this, many FSBO sellers may have to shorten their hours on their own jobs so they can show their home during regular business hours. This leads to the reason many FSBO sellers end up keeping their home on the market for a long period of time, they simply can't drop everything and run when a potential buyer wants to look at the home. Not having enough time to focus towards the sell of their home it then stays on the market for longer than it should, which then in turn becomes a red flag to potential buyers!
#workingoutthedetails - The Art of Negotiation
Selling a home is a legal transaction, therefore the seller and buyer are going to have to negotiate. FSBO's put themselves in the position of having to handle all negotiations on their own behalf. Who will they be negotiating with? The list includes the buyer, the buyer's agent, the buyer's legal representative, a home inspector, an appraiser, a bank/financial institution or lending agent. When deciding to handle these mediations independent of a real estate agent the FSBO will then have to strategize by themselves and rely on what they know of the real estate field. The Average Joe would probably be surprised at how many real estate agents even hire other agents to sell their own homes! The Realtors in your area know the local market, they live it day in and day out and stay up to date with every shift or change, that makes them the experts when it comes to selling a home. Let's be realistic for a moment, you may sell one to three homes in your lifetime. A real estate agent can sell that many in a matter of weeks, month after month, and for years on end! This is literally what they do!
#makingitlegal - Legal matters, how confident are you?
Keep in mind, selling a home is a legal transaction! Some states in the country, such as Delaware, Connecticut, Mississippi and Georgia, do not allow you to even finalize the home closing without having an actual real estate attorney present. These forms can be quite lengthy and full of jargon that you many not be familiar with. If you are not well versed in legal documents you may in fact overlook a required disclosure. That is dangerous territory, you could end up with a lawsuit after closing if you aren't careful! Real estate agents know the legal ins and outs of home selling, it's their job to make sure you don't end up with a lawsuit or any errors!
#itallcomesdowntoyou - You decide what suits your needs!
Maybe you have a background in the real estate world, if you feel confident in your decision then may the odds be ever in your favor! But if, however, you feel that the process is a bit overwhelming then let a real estate agent handle those headaches for you! Our Team Gatlin agents here at Leading Edge Real Estate Group have years of experience under their belts! Several of our dedicated agents hold multiple awards and recognition for their achievements in the real estate arena. They would be happy to assist you in your real estate needs, contact them today for anything you might need!
Leading Edge Real Estate Group 1423 Huntsville Highway Suite B
Fayetteville, TN 37334
Office (931) 433-4070 Cell - Susan Gatlin, Team Gatlin Leader - (256) 424-5378 Cell - Charlie Sullivan, Team Gatlin - (931) 308-5309 Cell - Vivian Fisher, Team Gatlin - (931) 224-1928