Selling your own home?
Occasionally, one can see “For Sale By Owners” signs, and some owners think that selling their own home will not only save them money, but believe they have an advantage over the sellers that have their home listed by a reputable Real Estate Professional. Before you decide to take on this very important and legally complicated process…remember not even most Real Estate Lawyer’s recommend selling your own home yourself in today’s market. Here are a few of the reasons why:
- You are limiting your exposure to potential buyers (even with the various sales sites such as Kijiji you are limiting your exposure to less that 10% of what a good real estate broker will generate) which theoretically means your home will take ten to fifteen times longer to sell on the market.
- The longer a home is on the market the lower the selling price is. Why? Because most buyers think that if the home has not sold after this long…there must be something wrong with the home.
- The selling/buying process begins AFTER the buyer leaves your home. Most sellers think that all it takes is for someone to see their home, fall in love with the great décor…and the offer automatically will follow. This is not the case. The buying process begins after they leave your home. If a real estate agent does not represent the buyer, and they are looking on their own…they usually leave the home and start to talk themselves out of the buying process. Real Estate professionals are trained on how to overcome buyers remorse, a very common occurence.
- Because of the limited exposure you will very likely end up with a lower selling price. Remember, in order to generate the highest price possible for your home…selling means exposure. You need the maximum exposure possible, to generate the highest price possible.
- Most buyers find it extremely awkward to negotiate or even to talk directly with sellers and therefore avoid For Sale By Owners properties.
- Lack of negotiating experience and lack of pertinent information often will result in a lower selling price, or worse yet, a bungled contract and possible lawsuits.
- The majority of qualified buyers are working with experienced real estate professionals who have no interest or incentive to promote your home. Professional Real Estate Agents will not want to deal with a owner because of the liability implications of the owner not declaring issues with the house which would be required with a listing agreement. On the most part when buyers see an owner trying to sell their own home, either it means that there is something wrong with the house that the owner does not want to declare.
- In other words most serious buyers will pass by a (FSBO) For Sale By Owner home merely because they recognize that it is not in the real estate mainstream, which often make them wary.
- As most local buyers now retain an experienced real estate sales person to represent them as their buyer-agency, you will probably be negotiating against an experienced professional.
10.Expected savings in broker’s fees are eliminates and often end up costing you more. Why? Because buyers come in with an offer and deduct the real estate commissions from the price then the buyer agent has his commission tied to offer. It often cost you more.
11.What’s more, if you are planning to use a Lawyer to help you negotiate the offer, then your lawyer’s fees will be considerably higher.
12.Only real estate agents have access to the up-to-date market information. News reports cannot approach the timelines or specificity available to agents. Further, real estate agents are involved in home sales mush more frequently than the average homeowner is. This familiarity leads to a degree of expertise that provides an edge on negotiating and successful selling.
13.You only pay the commission to the real estate broker, if they successfully sell your home at the price you are happy with.
14.Accepting an offer is one thing, ensuring a safe and successful closing is quite another. Real estate transactions almost always have problems in closing. At times, expecting the Buyers and Sellers Lawyer’s to fight it out or resolve the problems, can sometimes mean the deal is lost. This is the time that your experienced real estate professional, can be the most important. Your Real Estate professional can act as a great mediator. Lawyers MUST act only on their client’s instructions and are not paid to negotiate.
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