With Nashville’s booming market, homeowners may consider trying to sell their home on their own. This is known in the real estate business as For Sale by Owner or FSBO. Though the idea of trying to make additional money may be tempting, this is not your best option. Statistics show that a home listed as FSBO takes longer to sell and sells for less than a comparable home sold by a real estate professional.
Hiring a REALTOR® is not only the easiest way to sell your home, it’s the smartest…and here are our top reasons why:
1. Listing at the right price
One of the most important tactics to selling your house quickly is to price it correctly. Pricing your home higher than local comparables could cause the home to sit on the market for a long time. Pricing too low could lose you money. An experienced REALTOR® will know the best way to price your home because they know the local market and they have the tools to do this correctly.
2. Preparing Your Home For Sale
Most homeowners don’t know how to prepare and stage their home before listing it. Staging is something we addressed in a previous blog post (click here to read more). This includes decluttering and depersonalizing your home, painting rooms, creating curb appeal, decorating and keeping the home clean. A REALTOR® will advise as to whether or not certain repairs should be done or if updating certain parts of the house will be worth the investment. Sometimes homeowners have trouble seeing fault in their own home and an agent will help to gently point these things out. Remember, you have only one chance to make a good first impression with a potential buyer.
3. Creating Buzz
You want the listing of your home to reach the maximum number of potential buyers. Your REALTOR® will create buzz by preparing effective marketing materials, using the best social media and internet marketing channels, hosting open houses and networking with other agents. Your agent’s experience will enable them to market your home in the best light, pointing out what makes it different from other properties.
4. Saving You Time
Many FSBO sellers don’t know the difference between pre-qualified buyers and pre-approved buyers. As a result, they let unqualified buyers view their home. This is a big waste of time and energy and something that can be prevented by using an experienced real estate professional. Another way your REALTOR® will save you time is by handling all inquiries from interested buyers. They will respond to these inquiries in a timely manner and will coordinate showings. Many homeowners don’t realize what a task this can be and, as a result, they often leave inquiries and requests unanswered.
5. Handling Negotiations
Selling a home on your own may be attractive because of the possibility of saving you money that would have gone towards agent commissions. In actuality, the money you save is often a wash when you consider the higher price your REALTOR® may be able to negotiate. Many sellers who initially went the FSBO route come to find out that there is more to the negotiation process than they thought. That is because you are not only having to negotiate with the buyer, but also the buyer’s agent, home inspectors, the appraiser and sometimes even a bank and/or attorney. A real estate professional has experience handling these types of negotiations and will most likely have relationships with many of these people.
6. Simplifying the Sales Process
Selling your home involves a lot of paperwork and this is increasing due to the industry disclosures and regulations that have become mandatory. This is a big factor in FSBO percentages dropping from 19% to 8% over the last 20-30 years. Real estate contracts have many timelines, clauses, contingencies and legal liabilities. If a FSBO homeowner doesn’t have a firm understanding of these types of contracts, they may end up agreeing to something they don’t realize they are agreeing to. An experienced REALTOR® will help you with the sale process and will step in when there are financing issues or objections from the buyer. They will serve as a mediator and speak on your behalf.
As you can see, there are many benefits to using a real estate professional instead of trying to sell your home on your own. Our best advice: find a REALTOR®, get more money for your home and give yourself peace of mind. At the very least, sit down with an agent and see what they have to offer! We hope you will consider The Southbound Group for the sale of your home. Please contact us with any questions.