This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Residential Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The real estate market is a challenge, but going it alone as a “For Sale By Owner”, adds a whole new set of issues to the equation.
While the Internet is busy leveling the playing field in many industries, selling your own home isn’t quite as easy as selling your old comic books on eBay. There are disadvantages and risks to going it on your own.
The first thing I stress is that selling homes is a full time job, and that having a professional like The Silvano Group with years of experience and knowledge is a big plus. Even more important is the exposure that you gain from using the Multiple Listing Service, a tool that agents use to list and find homes. When you use a Realtor your home is listed on the MLS for all to see. Although it’s possible to contract to have your FSBO home appear in the MLS, it does cost money.
There are several areas where homeowners tend to fall into traps when selling their own home specifically relating to money. First of all most homeowners can’t accurately value their own homes, and a Realtor can help them figure out a price realistically and objectively. Another area that a Realtor can help with is avoiding unqualified buyers. A recent example of an individual who was selling his own house and wasted time and money when 2 full price offers fell through as the prospective buyers hadn’t been pre-approved. As an agent, we require that potential buyers be pre-approved in order to save everyone time and money.
I also stress that when you begin selling your own home you are dealing with real law. Even if you download a packet of forms from the Internet you may not fill them out correctly which can leave you vulnerable in the event that something goes wrong. If you find yourself in need of assistance with any of the legal documents, you’ll need to hire a lawyer, further digging into the savings associated with selling your own home.
Selling your own home isn’t as simple as post, click, Profit! Selling your own home will require you to take a hard look at what your home and your time are worth, if you can’t do that then getting a Realtor may be your best bet.
Many of the accounts of FSBO that I have found online don’t only involve a weekend open house but mid-day showings and late night phone calls for information. While you may feel that these warnings are simply from an agent looking to protect a commission, these potential pitfalls are worth taking to heart.
