FSBO? Are you sure?

Every home seller must eventually make the decision to either hire a Realtor or sell the home themselves one day. If you have ever sold a home, you made this very same choice. What did you choose? How did it work out for you? 

Many people feel that they can do it themselves because they watch HGTV and it looks “easy”. But here are some top statistics on why people choose this route:

• 36% did not want to pay the commission.
• 32% sold it to a friend, relative, or neighbor.
• 16% were contacted by a buyer directly.

But are you aware of all that’s involved with selling your own home? Have you thought through all that needs to be done to execute a real estate transaction? Many people think selling your home is as easy as advertising it and waiting for the offers. Here are some of the hardest things for FSBO’s to accomplish accurately and the biggest mistakes they make:

• Pricing their property properly. Often, owners over or under price their property because they are not keen to the current market atmosphere. Many just go off of what a neighbors priced theirs at. Some will price in their personal needs or attachments. An agent can do a comparable market analysis for you and help you price the home fair according the market which is based on current sales.
• Negotiating with buyers to the best price possible. You love your home and have made many memories in it, so being objective and thinking of it as a structure is difficult.
• Executing a legal contract and understanding the legalities of it. Once you have a contract, you don’t get to just sit back and relax. There are tasks that need to be done to manage the contract. Disclosures that need to be included and signed, i.e. lead-based paint, sellers disclosure, HOA documents, to name a few.
• Preparing your home for showings to attract offers. How you stage your home can be the deciding factor for a buyer to put in an offer or go see the next house. Some will want to make major renovations before they sell it, but keep in mind, that most renovations only return 50-60% of what they cost. Maintenance issues, however, will always be necessary.
• Being able to advertise on multiple marketing platforms to maximize exposure and opportunity to sell. In order for buyers to see your listing you need to advertise. No matter what you choose to do to advertise, short of just putting a sign in your yard, you will incur a cost to get the word out that your home is for sale. The more advertising you do, the more exposure you will have, and the more cost you will incur. Also, it will require maintaining the adverts to keep them up to date.

These are the top factors that prevent sellers from being able to sell their home in a timely manner or at the best price possible or even without legal risk. Other important factors to consider:

• Only 2% of home sales are done without a Realtor and as a FSBO you would be missing out on 98% of the buyers in the market.
• Investors love working with FSBO’s…….because they believe they can negotiate down.
• The knowledge and experience of a Realtor far out weighs the knowledge and experience of most FSBO’s. Most people sell a home 1-3 times in their lifetime, whereas, a realtor sells hundreds of homes and is educated on the market, contracts, and addendums used in real estate transactions. Let us not forget that they can me strong negotiators on behalf of their clients.
• Realtors can screen your buyers for you and qualify them to make sure they are a serious, willing and able buyer. Without a Realtor you will have to prepare for tire-kickers and time wasters.
• Are you ok with letting total strangers into your home? With a Realtor escorting the potential buyer, and having already screened them, it is safer knowing who we are dealing with. 

Bottom line is, having a Realtor serves many purposes. They protect you, get the job done right, and save you money. Honestly, you can’t afford NOT to hire a realtor. Let us do the hard work for you.

Call a Realtor Today! Call me!

Sources: My Destin Life, NAR, Washington Post