Maybe you’ve considered selling your house. You’ve been keeping an eye on the housing market and decided now is the time to sell.
Except… you’re not that crazy about hiring a Realtor(R).
Here, we’re breaking down the pros and cons of private home sale so that you know what you’re dealing with before you decide to get on the phone with a Realtor(R).
Pros and Cons of Private Home Sale
The pros and cons of selling your home yourself depend on why you’re considering selling your home yourself–and how well you understand your local housing market.
Pros
For the seller (you) there are some major cost-saving benefits of selling your home yourself.
Real estate commissions usually run between 5-6% of the purchase price, which doesn’t sound like that much until you realize that a Realtor(R) is taking $20,000 to $24,000 if you manage to sell your home for $400,000.
And that’s after a lot of back and forth with the Realtor(R), in which you don’t know where they’re listing the home or how well they’re showing it.
There are benefits for the buyer as well. If you’re selling directly to the buyer, they will be able to talk with you directly about the house. This is good news because Realtors(R)don’t know everything that’s been done to the house–for example, maybe you did major renovations to the kitchen.
Cons
The downside of running your home sale yourself is, well, you’re running your home sale yourself.
That means that you need to manage all of your own listing and advertising, have to be there whenever the house is shown, and have to fill out all of the appropriate forms before you can list or sell your house.
And since you’re managing your own listing and advertising, you also need to get good photos to use in the listings, or no one will look twice. You also need to know where to list your house in the first place in order to be competitive.
The thing about realtors is that they have loads of experience selling houses. And since real estate is their business, they know everyone. As in, every possible person who might help them in the process of selling a home, from mortgage brokers to attorneys to home inspectors to designers and home stagers.
Unless you’re a realtor yourself, you probably won’t have those resources at your disposal.
But the big one to watch out for? You need to know the ins and outs of your local housing market. You should have a working understanding of what comparable houses in your area are selling for and how you need to price your home in order to be competitive.
Selling a Home Without a Real Estate Agent
If you’re debating the pros and cons of private home sale and the truth is you need to sell your home fast, we’re here to help.
We keep it simple, fast and secure. If you’re trying to sell your home in the El Paso, Texas area, click here to request your cash offer.
