FSBO vs. Hiring a Professional

It's Time To Sell My Home - I Can Do That, Right?

Your Home is typically your most prized possession - or at least it is one of the most valuable.

The benefits that most see to a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) is that they may save money not having to pay commission.  The other reason is that they may have had a bad Realtor in the past and it left a bad taste in their mouth - or due to their ineffectiveness the homeowner feels they can do what that person did.  Another reason is that they work or worked in sales and feel they can sell their property.

You can sell your own home, but the odds are against you!  You talented agent is Internet savvy - because over 80% of the homes are first found on the Internet.  This isn't throwing it on website - this is throwing it on tons of websites - including social media sights.  In some cases re-posting multiple times per week to promote your home.  So sure you could do that but it is time consuming!

Next Problem - It's YOUR House!  Think of the last time you had a garage sale, do you remember your clientele.  The wheeling and dealing, no one was willing to pay what you had it tagged for - remember?  When your home does not have professional representation, you are essentially putting it up for sale at a garage sale.  It will be very hard to separate emotion from the process as well.

Are you available for a 2nd Full-Time job?  Many showings happen on short notice, especially for you because odds are good the only way they see your house is when they drive by, and then want to see it right away.  When you have a Realtor they take of the showing schedules and let you keep living your life.

Who sells the most homes in your area - Realtors - there is little motivation for them to show your home because there are too many risks.  They can't research your home, they can't tell from the outside if it fits what their buyers are looking for.  Finally, you wouldn't work for free, neither would they.  If there is an unknown on commission, or the risk of no income they will avoid your home as well.

Exposure - Good Realtors sell your home to the Real Estate community - Agent tours are a strong tool to introduce your home to the agent community that work directly with buyers.  Good agents also communicate via e-mail in promotion of your home to other agents. 

The final issue is the paperwork involved in the actual sales - Offer - Counteroffer - process, experience helps here - the forms are not simple and are many in number.

When selecting an agent - do some homework - you are hiring them to sell one of you most valuable possessions - See how many listings they have - look or ask to see how they market those listings.  You can interview multiple agents as well - pick who you think is going to do the best job for you - and it is not always the one who agrees with you on everything.  You want you agent to be honest with you - from staging to pricing!

Author - Will Klein is a Realtor in St. Charles County, Missouri serving the cities of Cottleville, Weldon Spring, Saint Peters, O'Fallon, Wentzville, Warrenton, New Melle, Winfield, and Lake St. Louis, with homes for sale in most.