Going it Alone Is a Tough Task for Home Sellers

Selling a home sounds simple. As a "For Sale By Owner," all you have to do is put a sign in the yard, an ad in the paper, and stand back while the buyers come running to bid.


If you’re tempted to market your home without the aid and advice of a real estate professional, take a moment to ponder these questions:

• Can you set a price on your home realistically and accurately?

If you price your home too high, you’ll get few shoppers and help your neighbors sell their houses. Price it too low, and you’ll lose money. Local real estate markets change quickly, street by street, and unless you have the same information that real estate professionals receive daily, chances are you’ll set your price over or under current market value.

• Are you prepared to spend possibly many days glued to your home?

Shoppers come looking every day of the week and every hour of the day. Remaining ready for them to show unannounced can make you a permanent home sitter.

• Are you able to reach a wide range of possible buyers?

Experience shows more than 60% of home sales are made by matching a seller with a buyer from an extensive network of contacts. These contacts don’t come from ads but from a career of building relationships and the multiple listing service. Without that pool of qualified buyers to show your house to, self-sellers are reduced to expensive hit-or-miss advertising.

• Can you be sure that the people entering your home are genuinely interested in buying, not in taking advantage of your "open house" and unprotected presence?

Real estate professionals both screen house hunters and accompany them as they go through your rooms.

• Are you experienced at negotiating and creating legal contracts?

Buyers of homes sold by the owner typically offer much less than the asking price and may expect sellers without agents to share the "savings" on the brokerage commission.

• Can you size up a potential buyer’s ability to finance the purchase of your home?

Many weeks can be wasted waiting for mortgage approval that lenders can’t give to unqualified loan applicants. Real estate professionals routinely pre-qualify house hunters and show them only property they can afford. Real estate professionals don’t like to waste time either.

As trained real estate specialists, we’d like to help you sell your home. Not just because it’s our livelihood, but also because we’ve seen the many difficulties that have beset would-be "Sale By Owners" who came for help after their efforts failed. We’d like to do the same for you, saving you the hassle of trying to go it alone.