Why Trying To Sell On Your Own Costs You Money

With the real estate market being a very strong seller’s market, many sellers are tempted more than ever to try to sell on their own without an agent. The common misconception is that you will save money by not using a realtor which is untrue. There are several reasons that using a realtor will actually save you money.

1. Staging and updating your home is important. An agent will point you in the right direction when deciding what repairs or updates to make when you are getting your home ready to list. We know the key things that will bring you more money and we know which things to avoid when updating your home for the market. If you put money into the wrong areas in your home, you most likely won’t see a return on that investment of time and money.

2. Contracts are complicated. Did you know that the average sales contract with addendums is 15 pages? That is 15 pages of small print that our agents know inside and out. If you are reviewing a contract on your own, it is very easy to miss something in the fine print that could end up costing you thousands of dollars or even worse, costing you a lot of wasted time when a deal falls apart due to small print that you missed. 

3. Do you want to let just any unqualified buyer into your home? You don’t want to let just anyone into your home for obvious reasons, but how do you as a homeowner stop them? Our team understands the importance of pre-qualifying our buyers before we ever bring them to your home. We take it seriously that you have hired us to protect your home, and that is just what we will do by pre-qualifying the buyers before showing them your home.

4. You want someone that will protect your largest financial investment. When you try to sell your home on your own, you do not have access to the critical details of where the market is for pricing. You may hear people talk about what things are selling for but that does not mean that you have the professional skill set that our agents have to price your home. Our agents know the market, they understand values and they also understand pricing inside and out. When you price something too high, you will turn buyers off and they may never look, if you price it too low, you are leaving money on the table. Our ultimate goal is to get you top dollar for your home based on current market conditions.

5. Negotiation is KEY! When you try to sell For Sale by Owner (FSBO), you immediately lose your negotiating power. Buyers have this ability to play on the seller’s emotions so then you are negotiating based on emotions rather than facts and values. Our team helps to guide you through that process, we allow you to feel the emotions and have the experience all while guiding you through the process and helping you make decisions based on dollars and cents. Our number one goal is for you to be emotionally happy with the sale all while walking away with your financial investment protected. 

Before you try to go it alone, talk with one of our professionals to discuss listing your home and protecting your investment. Have a more specific question? Give us a call at (608) 847-6020 to learn more.