Selling a Home by Owner

Selling a Home by Owner

Selling your home can be a long and exhausting experience.  But at first, it may seem like a good idea to sell your home by owner.  After all, you wouldn’t have to pay the seller’s commission and you could pocket more of the sale price, right?  This is absolutely true, but the buyer’s agent will still expect their cut for bringing you the client.  So you would save somewhere between 3 and 6 percent.

Let’s see if saving that commission is actually worth it.

When selling a home by owner, you may want to put a sign in the front yard; that way everyone driving by will know that your home is on the market.

You would probably want to have a couple of open houses to invite people in to take a look around.  Of course, what open house would be complete without some brochures and handouts?

If you want people to show up, you will have to market the open house, so that means taking ads out in the paper, posting it online and getting the word out.

All of this is doable, but at what cost.  You are potentially looking at a few thousand dollars to really do it right.  Not to mention all the time that it will take to get supplies, design everything, get it printed and distributed.

Let me ask you, what is your time worth?  You will need to factor that into the equation.

And even after all that time and money, chances are the property still won’t get the exposure needed to sell.

On the other hand, a licensed real estate agent will take all that stress off your shoulders.

In addition, to time and stress management the real estate agent will have several strategies not available to someone selling a home by owner.

For example, the real estate agent will have a network of thousands of other agents with clients who are motivated and able to buy your property.  This type of exposure is absolutely priceless and available to expedite the sale of your home.

At Engel & Völkers, we have a network of real estate agents in more than 39 countries with our own television station that broadcasts listings across the globe to not only local buyers, but also international.

Remember all those marketing materials that selling a home by owner would have to cover?  When you hire a professional real estate agent, the agent covers the costs (in most cases) as a way to market your property.  Every advisor at Engel & Völkers has a professional marketing department behind them to beautifully craft print materials, photography, video, and 3-D images to help you reach the goal of selling the property.

Statistically speaking, when listing a property with a professional real estate agent will net the client more money.  This is primarily because the agent is able to negotiate price and terms on your behalf and with your interest at heart. 

So, while selling a home by owner might seem appealing, in most cases it will take you more time and cost you more money in the long run.

When you are ready to sell, at least speak to a couple of real estate agents.  It doesn’t cost you anything to talk.  Get some insight.  Weigh the pros and cons and make an educated decision.

If you would like more tips on Selling Your Home Quickly and Easily, CLICK HERE.

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Dependably Yours,
Joe Epifanio
Broker Associate

239.825.6161