Selling your house can be a tedious task but what’s scarier is the agent commission. If you’re already in the seller’s market, the figure “6% commission” would probably be giving you nightmares. What if we tell you that you can sell your house without hiring a real estate agent?
Eliminating a real estate agent can save you up to 6% in commissions. Say your house’s closing cost is $300,000 – in this case, you can save $18,000. According to the National Association of Realtors, “for sale by owner” houses tend to sell quickly, at times in as few as two weeks. This gives you more control over your sale and less hassle of paperwork.
Having said that, working without an agent is far from easy. You will have to invest a lot more time to do all the tasks an agent would typically do, which includes everything from scheduling showings to marketing your listing to closing the deals. As overwhelming as this may seem, there are some websites such as Houzeo or FSBO.com that guide you through the process.
This article will give you a brief gist about how it looks like to sell your house without an agent, some tips to keep in mind, and who else you may need help from if you’re going to do it all by yourself.
- WHAT IS FOR SALE BY OWNER:
Homeowners who choose the for sale by owner option sign up for doing everything by themselves – from choosing a reliable FSBO site, listing the house, adding the required paperwork, showing it to prospective buyers to closing the deals.
FSBOs usually fall under two categories:
i) The seller and buyer know each other. According to NAR’s research, 46% of homeowners didn’t market their homes since they already had a bucket list of potential buyers.
ii) The seller wants to avoid paying the agent’s commission. They are ready to go through the selling process alone and get a profitable deal. There are many ways to get assistance with the FSBO process, including websites such as Houzeo, Zillow, and more that showcases your home across the country.
- BENEFITS OF SELLING YOUR HOME WITHOUT AN AGENT:
Homeowners, be it first-time sellers or the ones having expertise in selling a home without an agent, there’s one factor that drives them to choose the FSBO route – cash. But keeping the real estate agent commission isn’t the only benefitting factor. There are other advantages of not working with an agent too.
i) Saves money: Yes, you save at least 6% of commission by not hiring an agent, but also you skip paying hidden fees. When working with an agent, you may end up paying hidden costs such as courier fees, overnight fees, printing fees, staging charges, and more. With FSBO, you will only pay a flat fee to list your house on a multiple listing service (MLS). In some cases, if there’s a buyer’s agent involved, you may end up paying the agent’s commission which could be up to 3% of the closing price.
ii) More control over the process: If you’re looking for something that offers you more control over your sale where you can monitor things yourself and avoid depending on your agent for every little thing, then FSBO is meant for you. Here, you can determine the price, revise the documents, decide where the house should be listed, and close the deals yourself.
iii) Fastens the sale: According to NAR, 77% of homes sell quicker than the traditional process, but the two parties knowing each other could play a major part in this too.
- TIPS TO SELL YOUR HOME WITHOUT AN AGENT:
If you’re planning to take the FSBO route, here are some important and effective tips from experienced FSBO sellers:
- Check other FSBO listings to know how much work you need to do
- Double-check your selling price using the Closing Cost Calculator
- Market your sale on trustworthy and result-giving MLS websites
- Consider paying a flat fee while listing on MLS websites
- Be flexible with showings
- Click and upload professional pictures
- Set a reasonable selling price
- Declutter your space by getting off your personal belongings. The buyer would want to know how it would feel living in the house
- Hire a discount broker if you still cannot be familiar with the FSBO process
- BOTTOM LINE:
FSBO home sellers are smarter than people who are brainwashed that they cannot sell their houses by themselves. With online tools, detailed guides, several user-friendly websites, and by putting the right amount of effort, anyone can sell their house without an agent, regardless of having experience or not.
In all honesty, you need not pay tens of thousands of dollars for a job that can be done by you, thanks to FSBO websites. If you’re juggling with tons of work commitments or have extra money to spend on a real estate agent, sure go for hiring one. But if you have time to focus and do it yourself, enjoy extra profits and save this article for the time when you opt to sell your house all by yourself.