Being Cheap can be Very Costly

 Question: We are thinking of Selling our Home by Owner. What is the reason very few sellers sell on their own?

Answer:   The multiple listing service is the holy grail of home listings. Once in the MLS, a home is sent out to hundreds of online sites and into buyer’s agents’ hands, so your home always has a steady influx of looks and showings. Large numbers of showings increase your chance to get multiple offers and a bidding war on your home. The typical FSBO home sold for $200,000, compared to $280,000 for agent-assisted home sales, according to the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Who would have the upper hand in a tough negotiation: a licensed, experienced buyer’s agent who has done this hundreds of times in their career, or a home-selling newbie who has an emotional attachment to the home? Never bring a fist to a gunfight.

Another key point: Most buyers want to be represented by a Realtor, so selling by owner virtually eliminates a great percentage of the qualified buyers not represented by a Realtor. How about your security? We live in a crazy world defined by good people and bad people. Do you want strangers possibly walking through your home looking through your medicine cabinets, drawers, or in search of home security cameras or do you want true buyers who have been prequalified by your Realtor?  

Sellers who think they can save a buck by listing for sale by owner are missing out on the countless advantages of using a licensed agent. These include less stress, a higher selling price and more security. Ultimately, the benefits of using a real estate agent are huge.     

“ It's unwise to pay too much. But it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balances prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It cannot be done. There is hardly anything in the world that someone can't make a little worse and sell a little cheaper—and people who consider price alone are this man's lawful prey.” John Ruskin.