A lot of sellers believe that by going the “for sale by owner” (FSBO) route, it will save them thousands of dollars in commission, but there is a lot more at stake than just money. The time, resources, exposure and market insight that an agent can provide might mean the difference between days, months and years on the market.

REALTORS® might not show your home…

Even if a buyer is dead set on seeing your home, their agent may convince them that it’s not a good idea since they know that a licensed professional is not going to be the negotiation point of contact on the other end of the sale. There are extra hassles and risks associated with an FSBO that most agents won’t want to deal with. Buying and selling a home is an emotional process for a multitude of reasons and the majority of transactions require professional REALTORS® who have the ability to separate themselves from those emotions and negotiate for their client’s best interests.

Out of pocket expenses…

When you list with a licensed agent, they have access to the multi-listing service, or MLS, where thousands upon thousands of buyers can look at your home. Their associated brokerage will also have implemented various programs and technological resources to make mass marketing easy and affordable. As an individual seller, you will not have access to the MLS and will have to pay for all of the advertising yourself, which can get pricey. Also, any and all leads generated from marketing will have to be vetted by you, the seller. With an agent, they will be the first point of contact for buyer leads and will have the opportunity to qualify the interested party, making sure they have the finances in place to actually purchase the property and ensure that they are credible.

Time…

An agent dedicates their time and energy to selling your home. It’s their job. They work hard to market the house properly, host open houses, provide information to interested parties, negotiate, meet with potential buyers and conduct various walkthroughs and inspections. As a seller, you have other priorities that make dedicating this much time difficult. You might have your own job, a family, kids’ extracurricular activities, meetings, etc. Selling your home by yourself takes a lot of time and effort and some important details can get lost in your daily activities or the process can take longer than your desired timeframe because there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to complete the required tasks. REALTORS® do all of these things for you and can keep you on schedule every step of the way.

Legal issues…

When it comes to contracts, contingencies, inspections and negotiations, it’s best to have a knowledgeable and experienced professional on your side. Agents are well-versed in the legal ins and outs of contracts, understanding the various aspects of a contract of sale and what is required. As a seller, if you don’t know the legal parts of a sale, you are opening the door for the possibility to be sued should you not understand something that you agreed to in the contract. If you try to avoid this by hiring a lawyer, you will end up paying thousands and thousands of dollars in legal fees on top of the other expenses you already had to pay out of pocket.

To find out how much an agent can do for your home sale, contact one of our agents in an office near you: https://www.homesale.com/getagent/