For Sale By Owner vs. REALTOR

Are you considering selling your home?

Everyone talks about how the “for sale by owner” FSBO seems to be a great way to save thousands of dollars in real estate agents’ commission. Here are some things to consider with an FSBO:

• Realtors may not show your home because they know there will not be a real estate professional handling the other end of the transaction. Let’s face it selling your home is typically an emotional process. Having an agent keeps you one step removed by not over pricing, refusing to counter, or giving in too easily because you are emotionally invested in the home.
• Real Estate is a full time job! Can you rush home from work every time someone wants to see your home? Can you excuse yourself from a meeting every time your phone rings with a potential buyer?
• Are you an expert in marketing? A Realtor is, according to the National Association of Realtors in 2019 only 5% of FSBO’s had enough time to devote to all aspects of the sale of their home.
•  Agents have access to large networks, yes you can list your home yourself on Zillow, or Realtor.com, and maybe even the MLS in some places, but will that be enough? A smaller pool of potential buyers means less demand for your property, which in turn can mean waiting longer to sell and possibly not getting as much money as your house is worth.
• Can you weed out unqualified buyers? Realtors are trained to determine whether a buyer is qualified or not through a simple conversation.
• Negotiating takes skill, even if you have sales experience you probably don’t have specialized experience negotiating the price of your home. The buyer’s agent does and that means they will probably win and you’ll have less money in your pocket. According to the National Association of Realtors only 19% of FSBO’s get the price they were looking for.
• Last but definitely not least is the exposure to legal risks. There is a lot of legal paperwork involved with selling and buying a home, it needs to be completed correctly by an expert, you can be found liable if you do not fill it out properly.

The bottom line is selling your home is probably one of the biggest transactions you will ever do. You can sell it yourself and save money or hire an expert like A&J Realty Partners. Who will get your property exposed to thousands of potential buyers, negotiate the best deal, and be available full time, and will take care of all of the paperwork.

Make it a great home buying and selling day!