What exactly do realtors do?
There is no doubt that it is easier to sell your house when using the services of a local real estate professional.
Services realtors can provide include but don't even begin to cover:
- Greater exposure to more buyers via listing services and professional marketing.
- Experienced contract negotiation which decreases the chances that you will get bullied by your buyers agent into making repairs and giving buyer credits that you may not need to give.
- A layer of protection from legal liabilities - there are 100's of forms to fill out! Failure to Disclose properly leads to lawsuits.
- Professional guidance in navigating any pitfalls that may arise
- A level of safety while showing the home, for both your person and your belongings.
There is no doubt that these services are valuable to any family that decides to sell. The only question is – how valuable?
Thinking about selling it yourself?
One of the main reasons For Sale By Owners (FSBOs) don’t use a real estate agent is because they believe these services are not worth the fee an agent charges. But, what if those services didn’t cost the seller a penny?
A study by Collateral Analytics, reveals that FSBOs don’t actually save anything and, in some cases, may be costing themselves more by not listing with an agent.
But using a realtor costs an average of 4-6%!
While a Realtor may cost you a small percentage the study referenced above found that FSBOs sell for less!
Three conclusions from the study:
- FSBOs achieve prices significantly lower than those from similar properties sold by Realtors using the MLS.
- The differential in selling prices for FSBOs when compared to MLS sales of similar properties is about 5.5%.m (This is most likely more then you would pay your Realtor)
- The sales in 2017 suggest the average price was near 6% lower for FSBO sales of similar properties.
So hiring you may cost me nothing?
Based on research no, it may not cost you a thing to hire me! Very likely you will make more money using an agent and almost guaranteed you will save your self the tremendous legal liability and anxiety caused from your buyers' agent taking advantage of you lack of representation.
If you are thinking of selling, FSBOing may end up costing you money instead of saving you money.
