FOR SALE BY OWNER?? Why some homeowners try to sell their home on their own. So is this a good idea? Many past For Sale By Owners say “ this wasn’t such a good idea”.
Top reasons that sabotage a For Sale by Owner.
1. So many people to keep track of and Negotiate With people that you must be prepared to negotiate if sale yourself. The savvy buyer wants the best deal possible. The buyer’s agent solely represents the best interest of the buyer (90% of all buyers are represented by a Realtor®). DEAL KILLERS! Home inspection companies. Their job is to find problems with your home! A savvy buyer will then usually ask for a substantial price reduction! The appraiser, who is blindly selected by the buyers lender often times, will question value.
2. Exposure to home buyers. New studies have shown that up to 91% of buyers search online for a home. And some experts say that the large sites such a Zwillow and Trueila are notorious for posting old data. And only a tiny percentage is actually there for home shopping. The large sites are mostly just used by people for entertainment. Most Realtors® have multiple internet strategies to promote the sale of your home. Do you?
3. Results Come from the interweb. Where do buyers find the home they actually purchased? 43% on the internet, 9% from a yard sign, 1% from newspaper. The days of selling your house is not about just putting a sign in the yard an ad in the paper. It is critical to have a successful internet strategy.
4. For sale by owner selling has become more and more difficult! The paperwork involved in selling and buying a home has increased dramatically as industry disclosures and regulations have become mandatory. This is one of the reasons that the percentage of people selling their own home has dropped from about 20% to less that 10% over the last two decades.
5. Netting more money when using Realtor® is actually a true statement. Save the commission and sale yourself? Unfortunately the main reason buyers look at for sale by owners is for the same reason, they can save the commission! A sad fact the seller and buyer can’t both save the commission. The buyer just reduces the price what he or she thinks the commission is.
Expert say thought various studies that the typical house sold by the homeowner sells for $208,000 while the typical house sold by an agent sells for $235,000. This doesn’t mean that an agent can get $27,000 more for your home as studies have shown that people are more likely to FSBO in markets with lower price points. However, it does show that selling on your own might not make sense.
In Conclusion
You might want to sit down with a Realtor® before you decide to take on the challenge.
