*Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a real estate story that you'd like to share? Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.
Selling your house without a real estate agent is a growing trend. By cutting out the middleman, you can save thousands of dollars that would otherwise end up in your real estate agent's pocket. The idea may sound intimidating at first but with the help of the internet, more and more Americans are going at it alone.
Selling your home without an agent is not for everyone. However, I personally believe the benefits far exceed the risks involved. By cutting out all agents, meaning posting my own online ad and putting out a yard sign, I will be saving about 6% of commission. On a $300,000 house that's about $18,000 of savings that I could use towards the down payment on my new home.
The key to selling your house without a realtor is the internet. The internet easily allows sellers to market their homes and has essentially changed the face of real estate. In fact, 90% of buyers look to the internet during the home search process. In the past, real estate agents were in control of critical information like pricing and recently sold homes in the area. This data is now available to us all within minutes on a search engine.
Another reason I plan to sell my home is that I know my house and neighborhood better than any real estate agent does. Many agents are local and can do a good job at selling a neighborhood but having lived here for numerous years; I certainly have an advantage in talking about the reasons to move here. Selling my house gives me the opportunity to impress potential buyers myself.
When sellers work with an agent, their best interests may be different. Agents may be willing to drop the price of the seller's home quicker than the seller may like just to get their commission. When I sell my home, I will be in complete control of the negotiations and have a better chance of getting the value I want for my house. I can also work on my own schedule and am not at the beck and call of a realtor.
When it is time for me to sell, I plan to use a website designed to facilitate a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) listing. Buyers want detailed information and photographs about the property and neighborhood. Nobody knows and can sell this information better than an owner can. If you have a little knowledge of the process, are willing to do the marketing and legwork on your own, and a good attorney, you too can save yourself thousands of dollars in realtor commissions by selling your house on your own.
There are no comments yet