Selling a home without a real estate agent is not easy, but not impossible. Some people make this decision to avoid paying the professional’s fees. In most cases, holders save 6% of the total; for example, if a $100,000 home was sold, the real estate agent’s fee is $6,000.
Although it may seem like an attractive premise, selling a home without a real estate agent can become a long and complicated journey. Considering that you must assume the agent’s role, invest a lot of time showing and marketing the property, and take care of the legal and financial paperwork; if you have no experience in this area, we suggest not doing it.
Sell your house without a realtor: Pros and cons
Selling your house without a real estate specialist has advantages and disadvantages. We will list some positive and negative consequences of doing the job on your own:
Advantages of selling a house on your own
Advantage One: You won’t pay a listing fee
Sellers have the benefit of not paying the fee charged by the listing agent. The average rate is 2.72% of the sale of the home. In this case, it will be up to the homeowner if they wish to offer a higher commission. If you don’t pay it, there is little chance that the property will attract the attention of buyers or their agents.
It is important to mention that buyers’ agents also charge a fee for their work, usually around 2.65% of the total sale. These professionals have these commissions as their salary; therefore, the higher the percentage, the more buyer’s agents you will have. It is considered that 87% of buyers use agents to purchase a home.
Advantage Two: Active real estate market
If you live in a place with an active real estate market, you won’t need to hire a real estate agent. By “active real estate market,” we mean those locations where homes sell easily within days of being put on the market.
Although this process may be easier or more complex on one side, you may have to repair all the imperfections, pay a photographer and deal with all the legal procedures. For this reason, we suggest you do not do it on your own if you are inexperienced.
If you feel ready to sell your house without an agent, we recommend you research the process for selling a home without a real estate agent in your city. This process changes depending on the state where you live.
Advantage Three: Control of the FSBO Sale
You have complete control of the home selling process. You can set everything, including pricing, preparation, marketing, photography, and negotiations. While this may seem like a daunting task for many, for others, it will be a process they will enjoy depending on their personality, and the time they have available to invest.
Disadvantages of selling a home without an agent
Disadvantage one: Houses sell for less
Without a real estate agent, you may receive lower offers. Statistics prove that homes sold by their owners typically receive 5.5% to 26% less of the total. You also risk setting the wrong price; it is estimated that setting the ideal price is one of the most challenging decisions sellers make.
When you hire a real estate agent, you are also hiring a negotiating expert. Because of their expertise, they can get buyers with good offers. By not having one, you run the risk of not knowing how to negotiate with your buyers’ agent.
Disadvantage two: The legal process is often overwhelming
This is one of the least appealing aspects of buying and selling a home. In California, for example, it takes 180 pages to finalize the sale of a home. Getting one of these documents wrong is also a big risk. To avoid these problems, buyers’ agents often stay away from owner-sold homes.
Disadvantage three: You need to invest time and work
Consider that selling a house requires a lot of work, and it is easier to leave everything in the hands of experts. In addition to the paperwork, you also have to deal with property renovations and repairs, photography, staging, advertising, marketing, negotiations, and more.
How to sell a house without a realtor for cash?
After considering the pros and cons of selling a home on your own, here are the four steps you should take to sell your home without a realtor:
Step One: Price the house
If you don’t have a real estate agent, you must choose the price on your own. We recommend researching the cost of recently sold homes similar to yours in your city. With this average, you can establish a fair rate for both parties. Remember that the price is affected by the current market and the condition of your property.
It is important to go through this process to establish a fair price because, most of the time, they tend to sell for less than the actual price.
Step Two: Repair and Beautify Your Home
You will need to make some adjustments and repairs inside the home to get the amount of money you are asking for. Remember that the exterior and interior appeal varies from a plain house to one with no flaws.
Step Three: Market the home
Taking good home photos and uploading them to the Internet is essential to selling a home. It is estimated that more than 80% of buyers first saw the house on the Internet and were interested in the photos posted. Apps like Facebook are also ideal for showing your home for sale.
Eventually, you will be able to negotiate the offer that best suits you with potential buyers. If you are doing this process by yourself, you will have some disadvantages if your buyer has an agent.
Step Four: Sell your home
After obtaining a buyer, you must gather all the documents required by your state and complete the selling process.