Yes There are a lot of people who think they can do it! Put their home on the market and boom, its out there and people will come! There are a lot of things For sale by owners need to know! In this Post I’m going to share some statistics with you, as well as explain why Selling your home yourself can be a hard, exhausting task that may not go in your favor.

You did all your research, and read everything thing you think you need to read, from magazines to internet articles. Your house is clean, fixed up, and ready to be put on the market. You put that “For Sale By Owner” sign outside and wait for the calls to come rolling in. You may get lucky and your home will sell in 4 days with no issues on its way to closing, but as a Realtor even I see an “EASY” transaction about 1 in every 10 homes. Those are bad odds!

In today’s market, it is in your best interests to have a realtor selling your home, working for you, with your best interests at heart! I’m not just saying this to sway you one way because I want to get paid. There are many questions/ problems that we realtors deal with on a daily basis, that we are trained to handle. Do you know how much to price your home for based on other sold properties that are similar? Where will you market it and to who? What are you going to do when there is negotiations needed from the inspection? What is the process for the Septic or well and well water?  What about the things you did not have to do when you bought it but is now a requirement?  Do you know how to read the contract and what it means…..all 16-21 pages?  Is this an investment you want to be worthwhile for you in the long run? Where does the earnest money go? How much?  Do you know anything about ordering title?  Reviewing a title?  What about other closing costs?  Do you know what you pay for and what the Buyer pays for?  When were you in 100 homes in the past 3 months to know the value and what buyers are looking for?  What are the contingencies you need to worry about?  What if deadlines are missed?  What if you get 5 offers at the same time?  What if an agent comes in and says they have a buyer for your house, then what? Do you know what you are required to disclose about your home?

Yes, I would imagine all of those questions are over whelming and scary…..if you can’t answer half of those questions I would suggest asking a Realtor to list your home!  You are also taking a risk selling your home for sale by owner, there are many scams out there these days and being taken advantage of could be potentially terrible. As a realtor we have many Ethics and Laws that have to be followed all day Everyday, who’s to say that, that great buyer comes along and they want your home very bad and they love it! It’s the one! Then 2 weeks from closing they back out! No reason what so ever, they’re gone! Now what do you do? These things happen to Realtors, we have dealt with this before, and know how to approach it!

Dealing with a Realtor will help get you the greatest return of money on your home as well, it may not seem like it, but an agent can sell your home for an almost 13% higher price than you can. That is a statistic….look it up! We also have many other things we do to market your home. When I put a listing on the MLS it is connected to over 50 websites immediately, not to mention gets sent to over 300 realtors in our MLS, that on average lets say, have 20 buyers/ per realtor. We will put up a yard sign, Facebook Ads,  Printed flyers that we pass out to people, and we hold beneficial Open Houses that attract a lot of buyers! That’s a lot of marketing! When you list your home, People may see your sign on the street, and you may have it listed on Zillow or Trulia, how else are you getting buyers into your home to view it?

All in All, an agent is out there to help you as a guiding force towards your goal of selling your home! We have a lot of resources that we love putting to good use, and trust me we know a lot of people!  There’s also that thing called “helping people”, which in my eyes is number one, I love finding my buyer the home of their dreams that they’d almost do anything to have, it’s a great feeling! Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations from your friends or family! Also, having a Realtor come in and give you a Market Analysis on your home is FREE! They will tell you what they think your home would sell for!  Your home will sell quicker and for more money, and trust me it will be a lot less of a headache for you and you can sleep well at night! Now off to finding you that new home that you have been needing right? Lets both make it easier on you!

Like Always I’m Here To Help!

Call me with any questions,

Sarah 🙂