Thinking of Selling Your Home on Your Own? Don’t Make “that” Mistake!

This fast-paced real estate market has some homes selling in just days or even hours. Many home buyers are lining up to make offers. Perhaps with this type of real estate market, you have considered trying to sell your home on your own (FSBO – for sale by owner) without the services of a real estate agent?

Here are some reasons why you should not sell your home by yourself:

Can You Attract Lots of Buyers?
The National Association of Realtors® reports 97% of all home buyers use the Internet throughout the home-buying process. Real estate agents and brokers (like Sibcy Cline Realtors) have a strong Internet presence already in place with strategies to promote homes for sale. Bypass a real estate professional and your reach to the home-buying market will be much smaller. You will, therefore, receive less offers and may lose out on stronger offers and possibly more money for your home.

Another important item to consider is the photography of your home. Properties for sale will have rooms staged to appeal to the largest segment of home buyers. This is part of your agent’s responsibility in marketing your home. For example, your agent will guide you to clear the kitchen counters of most appliances and to stow away hand towels and the garbage can from sight. The potential home buyer can then focus on your kitchen’s features instead of items found in that room.

You will have expenses with promoting your home that an agent normally covers. Items such as signs, flyers, professional photography, attorney fees, contracts and advertising all add up.

Lots of Details in the Home-Buying Process
When selling a home, there are lots of details that happen such as negotiations, home inspections and appraisals – to name a few. Real estate pros are trained to navigate all of these hurtles. Once you have a purchase contract on your home, your real estate agent is there to also make sure the mortgage process for the home buyer is handled smoothly. Your agent represents you and has a goal to to make sure your home closes with all of these type of details are taken care of.

Legal Items
There are other details when selling your home that are important such as mandatory legal disclosures and lead paint documents. If you are selling your home on your own, you need to be aware and follow the law. Real estate agents have error and omissions insurance in place in case a legal error is made. If you hire an attorney to close on the transaction, that professional may not have that type of insurance. (Example: You inform a buyer the floor under the carpet is wood and it ends up being another material. That’s a mistake.)

Safety
Opening your home to strangers is another reason you should reconsider selling on your own. Your agent will have protocols set up for personal showings. Buyers can be asked about mortgage pre-approvals to prevent “we’re just looking scenarios”. During COVID-19, protocols include wearing masks and gloves, wiping down doors that are touched as well as using digital tours as a way of promoting your home. Real estate agents who show your home follow a code of ethics to make sure your home and its contents are safe during showings.

Negotiation
If you try to sell your home on your own, you are in charge of negotiations. A real estate pro is trained and used to negotiating on your behalf. If there are challenges before you close on your home, your agent will work through those details – anything from results of a whole-home inspection, an appraisal snafu or problem with your home’s title.

Do you know your home’s true value? There are many tools on the Internet to get a “guestimate” of your home’s value. In this seller’s market, you may be surprised, however, how much your home is actually worth.

A Real Estate Agent is Going to Cost Me Money
You do pay a real estate commission when you sell your home with an agent, but will selling your home on your own really save you money?

People who seek out FSBO homes are also looking for a savings and will probably make low offers. In some situations, a FSBO seller can make less money from a sale. (See this report.) The reason? Homes listed with a real estate company are promoted via the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) with other real estate brokers – thus marketing the home to a large sector of home buyers. The more buyers who see your home, the greater the chance for a bidding war that will drive your home price higher. Your agent has a goal to obtain the highest possible price for your home with terms that work in your favor. They want you to make a profit on your home!

Statistics also show that FSBOs who sell to someone they know end up selling for thousands of dollars under market value. Additionally, FSBOs take longer to sell when not sold to someone the seller knows.

Here are some 2020 stats from the National Association of Realtors about selling your home FSBO:

• 89% of home sellers in 2020 sold their homes with the assistance of a real estate agent
• 8% of home sales in 2020 sold via FSBO – 4% knew their sellers
• FSBO homes typically sell for less than the selling price of other homes (median price of $217,900 FSBO vs $295,000 with an agent)
• FSBO homes sold typically in under two weeks (agent-assisted sales took three weeks)
• Preparing and fixing the home up for sale as well as understanding and preforming the paperwork were the two most difficult steps for FSBO sellers
• 25% of FSBOs typically used yard signs to promote their homes for sale (46% did not actively market their home!)