You’re in the process of trying to sell your house and you’re considering how you should go about it. Most people would say, of course get a good real estate agent, and see if you can get the house sold that way. That makes the most sense, right? The best answer to this question is…”it depends”. Each selling situation is different, depending on your motivation, hiring a real estate agent may not be the best option for you. You might be thinking…”well, what other motivations could there be, besides I want to sell my house?” Great question. That’s exactly what I’m going to break down for you today, so you can have a better idea of what to do. Here some reasons why getting a real estate agent to sell your home may “not” be right for you.
You Want to Sell Fast!
There could be several reasons why you want to sell your property as soon as possible. You may need cash right away to take care of a large debt, or something more personal. You may be re-locating due to a new job, or you need to move closer to family elsewhere. That’s a good motivation for wanting to sell fast. You may be going through a divorce. That house could be a constant reminder of the pain you had to deal with from a past relationship. Getting rid of that house as fast possible, is probably what you’re thinking of most. Another great motivation for wanting to sell fast. There could also be a death in your family and you’ve just inherited a house you really didn’t want. This example of course is a bit more difficult, because you’re dealing with a loss of a loved one, so there’s that first wound, that only time can heal. The other part to that equation is that the house is now an added cost for you to maintain. Instead of dealing with that cost, you’d rather just sell the house and get what you can for it. These are just a few examples, but you get the idea. When you have these types of motivation to sell fast, a real estate agent may not be the best option for you. They have to go through the arduous process of getting your property ready for the market. Which does take some time to do. This will probably bring you more grief than anything else, if your motivation is to sell your home as fast as possible.
Paying Fees
Real estate agents get a pretty good commission for every property they sell. Typically, an agent will receive upwards of 5% in commission at closing. Let’s break that down into real numbers here. Let’s say you’re selling a house and it’s worth $500K. Using a real estate agent to sell that property, he or she will be getting $25k to close that deal. Maybe more… That’s $25k that comes out of what you’re getting from selling your house. That’s a good chunk a change. Now, of course I’m not advocating not to do business with real estate agents at all. There are many cases where hiring a good agent is very beneficial. They are providing a professional service to you as their client, and should get paid what they’re worth. However, it’s good that you’r aware of what really happens at closing when you work with a real estate agent. You might be the type of person that would rather not pay that fee. If that’s the case, then obviously getting a real estate agent would not be ideal.
You determine the price of your home
An agent will try to get the most for your house, which is a good thing. However, for an agent, it’s an added incentive because that’s more of a commission they can earn. Depending on market condition, you may need to be a bit more flexible with your price. You also may need to get a little creative to sell your house. Let’s say you’re in a buyer’s market when trying to sell a house, your property may be listed on the market for 4 to 6 months (maybe even longer) and still not get sold. The natural thing to do to improve the chance to sell your house is to lower your price. An agent may not be as flexible as you can be with your price. This gives you more control over selling your home. Let’s get back to the creativity part. You may be inclined to work with other types of buyers…such as investors. Who may offer to buy your home in a non-traditional manner. Working with an investor as a buyer and having to use a realtor, may not always go so smoothly. Most agents don’t work with investors because they simply don’t know how. There are some exceptions of course, and some agents can and does prefer to work with investors. But they are far and few in between. However, as the owner selling directly to a buyer such as an investor gives you more control on the price that you want on the house. It puts you in the driver’s seat, which can put you in a win-win scenario between buyer and seller.
The Choice is Yours
At the end of the day, the final decision rests with you. However, I wanted to inform you as a property owner, of the different options you have as it relates to selling your home. As I mentioned before, this is not about taking business away from real estate agents. However, you may have discovered that working with a real estate agent may not be ideal for you. If your motivation is time sensitive, personal, you need cash right away, or anything related to those types of motivation, then getting an agent may slow you down more so than anything else. Working with an investor to get your home sold faster just might be what you’re looking for. This may be an option worth looking into.