For Sale By Owner vs. The Benefits of Listing with a Realtor

Home owners have two traditional means of selling their home – “For Sale By Owner” – otherwise known as a “FSBO” – or by listing their home with a licensed REALTOR or other real estate agent. To many sellers, the option appears to be a “no-brainer” – sell the home yourself and keep the 5-6% commission that you would otherwise give to the agents. After all, why pay someone else to do something you can do for yourself? It’s a fair question…There is no doubt a homeowner can sell his/her own home…but at what cost? A skilled, experienced Realtor not only markets the home, potentially sits open houses, and arranges tours of the home, but also knows the ins and outs of the NUMEROUS contracts that go back and forth between the seller and the buyer.A savvy Realtor is also an expert negotiator and can often save his/her client even more than the 5-6% by having a keen mastery of the market, knowing how to effectively handle requests for repairs and other issues as they arise throughout the transaction.

Realtors are also knowledgeable about the types of issues that may come up during escrow or that may affect title and often have relationships with escrow and title companies whom they know will deliver the highest level of service to their clients.

And perhaps one of the strongest arguments for hiring a Realtor vs. selling a home yourself is the fact that a Realtor is not emotionally invested in your home. Make no mistake, this isn’t to say that the agent isn’t invested…the simple truth is that the more the agent sells your home for, the more he/she earns. What I’m saying is that both buyers and sellers who represent themselves in real estate transactions often act based on emotion rather than logic. Even licensed agents will often employ another agent to represent them on the purchase or sale of their home, knowing that it is much easier to negotiate without the emotional stress that can often complicate or confuse an otherwise smooth transaction.

The bottom line is that yes, you can sell your own home, but at what cost? How much time, energy and sleep will you potentially lose during the process?

If you don’t rotate your own tires, perform your own physicals, prepare your own taxes, or draft your own estate plan or trust, why would you have it any other way when it comes to your largest asset???

CONTACT ME TODAY to discuss my seller-satisfaction guarantee – I look forward to hearing from you!