While only a small percentage of home sellers decide to do sell their own home, they should be fully aware of the potential losses before considering it.
Very few people sell their home privately because they know it can prove to be a costly mistake if they get the selling process wrong. A home is a major financial investment and obtaining professional assistance to market it properly is a must.
Despite this, a small number of homeowners each year decide to sell their home privately rather than using the services of a licensed real estate agent. They believe that if they sell their home privately, they will achieve their target selling price and also save on the commission costs of the real estate agent. People who try to sell their home privately also believe they can sell their home more quickly by discounting part of the agent’s commission to lower the price of the home if necessary.
The market reality is that because it is a private sale, buyers will try to negotiate the price down further believing that the seller has a much larger margin of discount available. Private home sellers, because they are emotionally attached, also tend to over price their home which means that the property stays on the market longer and becomes ‘stale’ with the end result that the seller may have to sell the property for lower than its original market value. And because they have to market the property themselves, the level of exposure in the marketplace the home achieves is much more limited than a real estate agent. A good real estate agent will have a data base of potential buyers and if they belong to a large real estate group, the home has the potential to be marked nationwide as well as internationally through the internet. Negotiation skills are also a key factor in why private home sellers have difficulty achieving the market price of their home.
Private sellers who assume that they can easily sell a home should take into account that only a very small number of people who undertake a professional real estate course are successful and stay in the real estate industry long term. A professional real estate agent with good negotiation skills should be able to pay for their own commission and ensure that the owner get the true market value of the home when it is sold. Private home sellers also run the risk of losing further money by not writing up the sale contract properly which could result in items which they believed were not covered in the sale being sold to the buyer as part of the home sale. Alarm systems and barbecues are a classic example.
While only a small percentage of home sellers - less than 3 percent - decide to do sell their own home, they should be fully aware of the potential losses before considering this course of action. For most people their home is the biggest single investment in their life and as such they should ensure that when they decide to sell it, they use a professional real estate agent. When selecting a real estate agent, it is wise to undertake some research before making a final decision.
For example, most people select a real estate agency on the basis that they give the highest valuation on the property. Instead, it is much wiser to inquire about the quantity of sales the agency has achieved in your local area and the level of prices they are obtaining for these homes.