For many people, buying or selling a home is one of the biggest transactions they will make in their lifetime. And although it sounds advantageous to save some money by skipping out on a realtor and representing yourself in the sale of your home (called For Sale by Owner or FSBO), doing so actually means there is often money being left on the table in the transaction. We all want to maximize the sale price and minimize time on the market, so unless you are simply transferring ownership at a pre-determined price to a friend or family member, you will most certainly want to consider hiring an agent to help you sell your house more efficiently and for the best price. So, let’s look at 5 reasons a realtor will improve your odds when it comes to listing, marketing, and selling your home.
1. Understand Local Market Conditions and Pricing
For starters, selling a home for top dollar is a full-time job, whereas a FSBO seller is most likely trying to do it on top of their regular career. Without being able to put 100% effort into making the sale happen, opportunities and, ultimately, offers may be missed. Plus, there are many factors to initially consider when deciding to list your home that a realtor can advise you on. For example, an experienced realtor has likely seen ebbs and flows in the market, making them the best people to advise on the ideal times to list your property and maximize the sale. Furthermore, they are privy to local market conditions that may impact the transaction as well as other similar listings in the area.
Although someone looking to go the FSBO route could do this research, your real estate agent will have this information at their fingertips, which streamlines the process and makes it easier for you as the seller. Not to mention, identifying a competitive price can be a massive challenge if you are unfamiliar with the market and what buyers are looking for. Oftentimes, a FSBO seller will fall victim to overpricing their home due to emotional attachment, meaning they miss out on potential buyers and making a sale. Overall, in these initial stages, an experienced realtor can help you decide when to list your home and for how much to maximize interest and get the best price based on current local market conditions.
2. Utilize their Vast Network to Garner Interest
Once you and your realtor have decided when the best time to sell and what the most competitive price is for your home (information you would have to endlessly research or hopefully guess as a FSBO seller), you can now take advantage of their vast network of contacts to garner interest and drum up a sale. When a realtor gets a listing property, much more goes into marketing the home than just slapping a for-sale sign in the yard like many FSBO properties.
For one, your realtor can advise you on certain things to update for the home’s staging to make it more appealing for prospective buyers that a FSBO seller might not have realized. This could include anything from re-staging the space to make it more inviting or getting a professional clean to eliminate that lived-in feel that ultimately occurs after a home has been inhabited for a while. Furthermore, an experienced realtor will often have a professional photographer come in after the staging process who will feature the property in its very best light to increase exposure and interest across the various marketing platforms your realtor will use. With a FSBO property, the sellers often rely on social media marketplaces, signage in the front yard, and word of mouth to try and sell their home. On the other hand, your realtor will use multiple listing services, property websites, professional social media marketing, and not to mention, their endless rolodex of connections with other clients, agents, and brokers in the area. In this sense, hiring a realtor is paramount to gain access to their wealth of knowledge and a large network of potential buyers that you miss out on as a FSBO seller.
3. Bring in Serious Buyers
Since your realtor has these connections within the real estate world, they will be more likely to bring in serious buyers to look at your property. And one issue that FSBO sellers frequently face is that realtors representing a buyer won’t want to look at a home being sold privately. This is for several reasons, including that they know there won’t be a professional colleague on the other end of the transaction, there is a higher potential for hassle during the closing process, and there’s a chance they won’t receive their commission. Therefore, often a realtor will only show a FSBO property if it’s an amazing deal (because the homeowner improperly priced it for the market) or inventory is low.
Something else to consider is that your realtor can weed out unqualified buyers that disrupt the home selling process and wastes time, money, and resources. Real estate agents are trained to find motivated and qualified buyers, ask the right questions, and move them along the journey to purchase, while FSBO sellers rarely have these skills to manage the process. Plus, your realtor makes themselves available for showings that pop up throughout the week that a FSBO seller might not be able to accommodate due to their other obligations. Remember, selling your home is time-sensitive, so having a realtor on hand to help find the right buyer and the resulting showings can help sell your home faster and for more money.
4. Experienced at Negotiating Offers
So, you’re a FSBO seller, and you’ve found a potential buyer, but now it’s time to negotiate the offer. Unfortunately, you’re unhappy when the offer comes in because it’s significantly under your initial asking price, and you want to drop the deal altogether. This is where a realtor can keep you one step removed from the process and help you to make the best decision possible. So instead of refusing to counter a low offer because you’re offended, they can reply with “my client has declined this offer and countered with this offer.” By taking the emotional aspect out of it, a realtor will help you make fewer mistakes during the negotiation process.
Furthermore, FSBO sellers often struggle with giving in too easily when they have a deadline for selling. While your realtor will be privy to the deadline, they also won’t take unrealistic offers just to make a deal. Plus, they are experienced in understanding and identifying potential red flags in buyers that a FSBO seller might have no idea about since it’s their first time selling a home. Think of your realtor as an expert negotiator on your behalf, which is invaluable to help you get the most for your home.
5. Handily Complete Legal Paperwork
Something that FSBO sellers often overlook is how much legal paperwork is associated with the home buying and selling process. Without the proper guidance, a FSBO seller can run the risk of fraud, negligence, and breach of contract if the paperwork is completed incorrectly. Your real estate agent will not only be well-versed in this area, but if it’s a document they can’t complete, they often have access to a real estate lawyer who can help with the intricate nature of the legal paperwork.
But remember, it’s not legally binding if it’s not written in the contract and signed by both parties. An Agreement of Purchase and Sale will include details about the buyer, seller, and property, such as the purchase price, deposit amount, fixtures and chattels, title searches, closing agreements, conditions, and clauses. If this sounds overwhelming and like a lot of legal jargon, that’s because it is, which is why hiring an experienced real estate agent in your area will help you get the deal done properly and in a time-efficient manner.
Final Thoughts
Many FSBO sellers think they’re saving money by circumventing a realtor, but they’re not if they aren’t able to properly prepare their home for the market, find a serious buyer, and close the deal. Not to mention, these sellers often forget they would be on the hook for the buying realtor’s commission anyway. As a result of these factors, FSBO sellers often end up spending more time, effort, and money than they wanted to in the first place, so in order to maximize your sale and minimize legal risks and time on the market, your best bet is to select a professional realtor who has experience in your local market. Choosing an experienced realtor means you can avoid pricing that could turn off prospective buyers, misunderstandings resulting from the legal paperwork, poor negotiations that leave money on the table, and many other undesirable outcomes. Ultimately, your realtor will help with everything from setting the right asking price, preparing your home for sale, marketing the listing, showing the property, and reviewing, negotiating, and closing offers on your behalf.
So, if you’ve been searching for an experienced realtor in the Golden Horseshoe region to represent you as a buyer or seller in your next home transaction, be sure to check out my featured listings and do not hesitate to reach out to me directly!
