Do I need a Realtor to sell my home?

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Why Do I Need a Realtor to Sell My Home?

Many people have gone the route of “For Sale By Owner” or FSBO. It can be done. However, an experienced Realtor can often get a higher price and more exposure for your home meaning less time on the market.

FSBO – What is involved?

(For Sale By Owner also referred to as a "Fisbo")

First of all, you must educate yourself on Fair housing laws. Federal and local laws apply to Realtors and individual sellers. If you found in violation of these laws the penalty could involve fines or legal fees that you were not anticipating, reducing your actual income from the sale.

You should know how you will market your home. Putting a "For Sale" sign around the neighborhood is a good start, but that limits you to the number of people who see your home for sale. You may want to consider finding some free Real Estate and classified sites to advertise your home. This will at least offer more exposure. However, you should know that the places where people intentionally searching for homes will look in places populated by the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), which is a database that only licensed Realtors are allowed to post in.

Do a walk-through of your home and look at it with a critical eye like that of a buyer trying to cut a good deal. It is hard to step outside your perspective and judge the way others may judge your home. You may want to have a trusted friend help you with this and listen to the advice they give regarding home improvements or touch-ups you should do before placing your home for sale.

Pricing correctly is critical! It is so important that you know what recent home sales are for your neighborhood and how your home honestly compares to those of the sold homes. This will give you an understanding of what a buyer is willing to pay for your home.

Be aware that you may be inviting unqualified strangers into your home whose intentions may not be to purchase your home. You should consider how you will handle allowing the public into your home. If you list with a Realtor, visitors are often accompanied by their Realtor adding a little more security and you will usually know who has been in your home. If you sell your home, you may want to accompany visitors, but try not to be too obtrusive in the viewing process. Buyers will ask questions if they need to know something. Try to have a summary sheet of all they homes features to reduce the potential of making a buyer uncomfortable with hovering.

When you settle, you should consider hiring a lawyer to look at legal documents regarding the sale. You want to be certain that you are covered not only with your rights, but also that you are not doing anything outside the bounds of laws pertaining to real estate sales.

Discount Realtors

Discount Realtors are generally Realtors who take a smaller percentage commission to help you list in the MLS giving you more exposure with buyers. Often times, this is where their obligation ends. Many people make the mistake of thinking that a Realtors most important job is the marketing of a home and everything takes care of itself from there. However, a top agent knows that the most important job they have is negotiating offers, inspections, closing issues, etc. You lose some representation from using discount Realtors because you are not getting the paying the full fees associated with the transaction. You should be aware of this and read the contract thoroughly before signing with a discount broker, knowing what you get or don’t get with your fee.