5 reasons not to hire a real estate agent to sell your home.

let’s discuss:

Retired parents moving closer to family, young families expanding, professionals relocating for employment… whatever their reason, for most people, selling real estate is one of the largest financial transactions they will ever make.

So it’s logical that they would want the support and guidance of a knowledgable industry professional to guide them through the process.

But with everyone feeling the economical pinch, there are still some folks who are tempted to “ditch the middle man” and attempt to fly solo.

Obviously we are going to tell you this is a bad idea *but* here are 5 reasons why you might not want to hire an agent to help you sell your home 😉 :

1: you want LESS MONEY

Let’s start with the big one: For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBOs) properties typically sell for less than the selling price of other homes.

Last year NAR released data suggesting that FSBO homes sold at a median of $225,000, 35% lower than the median of agent assisted homes at $345,000.

When you compare that to an agent’s commission, typically around 5%, you can quickly see that ditching the professional is a losing strategy.

2: You want REDUCED NEGOTIATING POWER:

One of the reasons FBSOs see lower sale prices is that savvy buyers’ know that making an offer on a FSBO home is an opportunity for a better deal. In fact Clever Real Estate found that 73% of buyers said if the seller wasn’t represented by an agent, either themselves or their agent could negotiate a better deal.

3: You Live for the high RISKs:

Selling a house is a complicated process and one of the major disadvantages of going it alone is the potential for costly mistakes and oversights. Even simple, good-faith errors when filling out paperwork can cause major headaches or have serious legal implications.

4: You want a SMALLER POTENTIAL BUYER POOl to deal with:

There’s no two ways about it. Without a licensed, experienced listing agent to facilitate, negotiations can be tricky. A lack of industry knowledge can slow things down and emotions can run high as sellers, understandably, often have emotional investment in their homes.

As a result, there are plenty of real estate professionals who, following negative previous experiences, simply avoid showing FSBOs to buyer clients altogether.

5: You really fancy doing MORE WORK:

There’s a lot more to selling a home than taking a few pics and putting them on Zillow. Homes need to be prepped, staged, professionally photographed and marketed through a variety of channels in order to get the best deal.

And once you have a buyer, the negotiation and closing process can be lengthy and complex.

Without a professional to guide you through the process. A lot of FSBOs find they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.

THE BOTTOM LINE…

…is that you need to think about your bottom line.

If you:

Already know someone who wants to buy your home
Are experienced with real estate sales
Have sufficient time to in invest

Then FSBO might be for you. But it’s worth remembering that more often than not, people who try to sell their home by themselves end up hiring an agent.

What are your thoughts?

Any FSBOs out there with positive / negative experiences to share?

Let us know in the comments.