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“For Sale By Owner” Could Cost You, NOT Benefit You!
Are you thinking of selling your home? If so, then the thought of listing it, For Sale by Owner, has probably crossed your mind. We get it! Naturally, you would want to make the most money when selling your home. However, many people who attempt to go this route, don’t fully know what they are getting themselves into.
While it’s not impossible to sell your home For Sale by Owner. It typically is a more difficult process than listing it with a real estate agent. If you are considering this option, just make sure that selling your home For Sale by Owner is the right choice for you. It’s a lot harder than you may think. Which is why there are real estate agents. They are educated in the entire home selling process from start to finish.
Winter Garden’s Premier Real Estate Team
As seasoned real estate agents, all of us at the Erica Diaz Team, know the ins and outs of selling homes. Ultimately we want you to have the best home selling experience whether that’s selling your home For Sale by Owner or you choose to list with a real estate agent. That’s why we’ve written this article on the MOST IMPORTANT reasons why you should list with a real estate agent and not sell your home, For Sale by Owner. Yes, keeping more money from the sale is quite enticing, but did you know there are things you could be losing by not going to open market with a local agent?
The truth is when you sell your own home there are many things that can easily be misses due to lack of home selling experience. These overlooked or missed marks can really cost you in the long run. In the end, people who go the For Sale by Owner route, typically end up losing out on more money than they save from not paying Realtor commissions.
Top Reasons Why For Sale By Owner Actually Makes Less Money
- The listing price of the home is wrong. There is a lot of details that go into pricing a house properly. It’s ideal to hit the sweet spot with the listing price. Thus attracting more not just interested but qualified buyers!
- The home was not properly prepped to sell. Homes that are not visually appealing tend to take longer to sell. When a prospective buyer enters the home they need to easily be able to envision themselves living there.
- Poor marketing. When a home hits the real estate market it needs to stand out!
- No access to other local real estate agents for networking. You just might be surprised to find out that real estate agents network like crazy. A real estate agent could know the perfect buyer for your home the moment it’s listed.
- No access to MLS. MLS (Multi Listing Service) is something only licensed real estate agents and brokers have access to!
- Not educated on being able to negotiate. Negotiating in the real estate world is an acquired art.
- Not knowing how to properly qualify a buyer. There is a difference between pre-qualified and pre-approved!
- Not knowing Contracts and Disclosures. This is huge! There are many things that can be missed if these important papers are not done or read properly.
Cons to For Sale By Owner
1. Not as Much Financial Benefit as You Imagine
Hear us out. Your number one reason for listing and selling your house on your own just might be one of the biggest reasons to not list your home as For Sale by Owner!
While you will not have to pay a real estate agent after the sale of your home, you still may walk away with less money than if you used a real estate agent. This is because when you sell a home on your own it is common to not receive as high a price for your home as you would if you worked with a professional.
When you list your home with a local real estate agent such as the Erica Diaz Team you receive guidance and support from established and knowledgeable real estate agents who know the market. They also know how to market your property to the right buyers. Pricing your home competitively and negotiating price is also something that comes with hiring an agent.
Home pricing can be incredibly difficult and fluctuates frequently. If you are listing your home on your own it can be easy to price the home incorrectly.
Without the right price and proper well-designed real estate marketing plan it is more difficult to get qualified buyers making offers. When selling a home the biggest goal is to have multiple offers. This is where the right price and marketing plan come together and a bidding war can happen which typically results in selling a home over asking price. This is one major perk for using a real estate agent to list your home and not sell it alone. For Sale by Owner homes very rarely have a bidding war.
2. Well-designed Real Estate Marketing Plan
The key to selling a home fast and for top dollar is marketing! Marketing is how homebuyers will discover that your home is actually for sale.
When we say a marketing plan this is much more elaborate than listing your home online. In today’s world everything is online therefore it’s very easy to get lost in the noise. It’s essential to have multiple platforms for noticeability.
When you work with the Erica Diaz Team to sell your home, an extensive marketing plan is just part of the process. We have an in-house videographer/photographer that takes high quality photos/videos of your home. They are then distributed across multiple platforms like MLS, Zillow, Facebook, YouTube and more! A quality description is also written about your home to complement the photos. We have an extensive community as well that we frequently network with as well.
3. Networking & MLS
Networking and MLS are two major factors that allow real estate agents to sell your home faster and for more money.
When a real estate agent lists a home they have a huge network of other real estate agents that they can connect with about the home. These other real estate agents have buyers that are ready to buy a home just like yours. When you list a home for sale by owner you definitely do not have access to network with agents who are representing buyers.
Having access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a real estate agent secret weapon. MLS is a platform where real estate listings are accessible by Realtors. MLS is a tool to help listing brokers find property brokers working with buyers to help sell their clients homes. It’s are powerful tool in the housing market competition.
4. Hard Work Does Not Always Pay Off
When listing your home as For Sale by Owner you are committing to being the seller for your home. This means obtaining all the responsibilities that come with selling a home. Such as having the home inspected, making repairs that are necessary, photographing and filming, marketing, showing, negotiating, and more! That is a whole lotta work that can easily become overwhelming. Especially if you are not a licensed real estate agent. Mainly meaning it is not your forte and more than likely you have probably not done it before and many of the tasks will not come easily. At the end of the day the amount of time and energy that is put into selling me home as an owner is not worth the financial outcome.
5. Do You Know the Difference Between Being Pre-approved for a Mortgage and Pre-qualified?
Remember that hard work stuff that doesn’t always pay off, that we mentioned in point number 4. Here’s a perfect example of some of the hard work that a real estate agent can easily take off of your hand. Say you made it past all the other parts to selling your home on your own and now you have a prospective buyer. It’s now your responsibility to ensure the buyer is qualified to purchase a home. There is a big difference between being pre-approved for a mortgage versus being pre-qualified. If a buyer is only pre-qualified that does not guarantee anything.
The Erica Diaz Team – “For Sale By Owner” Could Cost You, NOT Benefit You!
The real estate market is HOT here in Central Florida! Homes in Winter Garden, Clermont, Windermere, and other surrounding areas are flying off the market. It might seem like right now is the time to sell your home For Sale by Owner, but before you do, make sure to take into account everything that listing and selling a home includes. It’s not as easy as it sounds. That’s why there are licensed Realtors, because it is a tedious process.
If you’re looking to sell your home in Winter Garden, Clermont, Windermere, or a surrounding area, we’re happy to help! Get in touch with the Erica Diaz Team today! We will make sure you don’t miss out on details or money! We look forward to connecting with you.
