Q: Help. I have some property that i want to sell. I am not a real-estate agent but i love the challenge of figuring out how to do things myself. Are there any books that inform the first step of selling land w/o a realtor. Is this a possible feat. Selling without using an agent?

Thank you,
Teresa from Texas

A: Well Teresa, I appreciate your willingness to take on a task that you’ve never done before.

To answer your question simply, yes, you can sell your property without an agent. Many have done it and done it well (16 percent of all sales, according to the National Association of Realtors).

It sounds like you have a property to sell now and you want a book or course to take now so that you can make money quick, paying as few people as possible to maximize your bottom line. I can’t argue with that logic, but you could find that a real estate professional may be worth more than you pay him in terms of the headaches you’ll miss and the laws you won’t violate by having them on your team.

I advise people who want to get into real estate investing, to develop a professional real estate investment team that includes a lender/investor; an attorney; a construction crew; a list of vendors (such as home inspectors, pest control professionals, painters, roofers, etc.); and, a savvy, professional, ethical real estate agent.

Keep in mind, the agent has undergone between 80 and 120 hours of state-required course work (that’s more than some college requirements). In addition, if you get an experienced Realtor, s/he’s more than likely learned a lot more outside the class than inside. It is this expertise and knowledge for which you are paying.

Selling real estate is like writing – it looks easy to those who have never done it. A sign goes up in the yard, and a few weeks later (or months, sometimes) the sign goes down. How hard can that be? Well, let’s just look at a typical agent’s job description.

1. Analyze the value of your house to come up with a salable price. This entails researching the market through the local multiple listing system and court records to find what has sold that matches your property. Then a price is determined either as a cost per square foot or model type, taking into account the amenities and features of the house.

2. Consult with the owner to get the house in shape. Have the gall to tell the seller that the mauve walls just won’t work and to paint them all cream. Replace the carpet. Rent a storage unit and take about 25 – 50 percent of the household items out of the house to make it presentable.

3. Construct a marketing campaign to get your house in front of enough people to attract offers from qualified buyers. And pay for the marketing up front with her/his own money. Agents spend thousands of dollars a year marketing real estate – some up to 25 or 35 percent of their revenue – on newspaper, real estate publications, web sites (and usually not just one), pagers, handheld devices, cell phone expenses (and forget the family plan, this is usually about a $300+ bill per month), and a plethora of other expenses to market real estate.

4. Now she’s going to show the property at the convenience of the buyer, not the agent’s schedule, nor the seller’s schedule. If you’re working full time and trying to sell your house, when will you take off to show the property to potential buyers? And how will you know if they are really qualified to purchase the house without asking a lot of personal questions, that frankly, they should not be answering to the seller.

5. Let’s say you get a contract, now the agent is going to negotiate this multi-page document, loaded with a lot of legal requirements (statutory and regulatory – by the way, is the contract you’re considering meet the legal requirements of your area?). Besides making sure that no laws are broken, that the appropriate contract and state-required addenda are connected to it, she’s also going to get close to the price you want with acceptable terms.

6. Once the contract is signed off, the real work begins. Now the fulfillment of the contract has to happen. This means monitoring the terms: Is the loan on track for the buyer? Did the work crew get the inspection items fixed? Did the termite inspection pass? Oh, it didn’t? Then can the termite guy get out here and treat the house before settlement? Etc., etc.

7. In between all of this, she may have to attend a state-mandated continuing education course to keep up with finance, insurance, federal/state/local legislation, case studies and industry changes – once the license is earned, you have to keep on earning it.

I’m sure when this makes it to print and online, I’m going to get another whole list from the pros on what other tasks they do for the consumer. Suffice it to say, I have agents in several markets looking for houses for me. I’m not going to worry how much they get paid – just if the deal meets my financial goals.

To answer your question…do I know a good course or book you can read to help you sell your land yourself? Well, there are plenty of them, but it depends on your personal style and what level of risk you’re willing to take.

Published: April 25, 2003

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