Should You Sell Your Home FSBO or Realtor?
An important decision that you will have to make in the process of selling your house is whether you want to work with a real estate agent or not. Most homeowners will hire a listing agent to aid them in pricing correctly and promoting the home, while others might decide to sell their home in a process known as “for sale by owner,” or FSBO. There are reasons why sellers opt to sell FSBO, whether it is that they are confident they can sell their home without the help of a professional or the buyer pool consists of competitive buyers willing to compete for the property.
In this article, we will discuss both the benefits of selling with an agent and FSBO style and what to know before deciding to move forward with either type of home sale.
Benefits of FSBO
There are plenty of reasons why a seller might prefer FSBO over a home sale by an agent. Below are three benefits of the FSBO selling style:
1. No Commissions for a Listing Agent
Real estate agents who help with a home sale will usually receive up to 6% of the home sale’s worth of commissions, with 3% going to the listing agent and 3% going to the buyer’s agent. Opting to sell FSBO will cut the commission costs down because you will only be required to pay the buyer’s agent commission fee, not the listing agent’s.
2. Control Over the Price, Showings & Open Houses
Without an agent present, you will be in charge of the listing price, how many showings you want to take on, when to host the open houses, and who to sell to. Rushing out of your home during a showing and hosting open houses every single weekend can be a hassle, particularly when you need to deep clean and organize your home accordingly before every visit. When selling FSBO, you will decide how and when your home will be shown, and you won’t be required to wait for the agent to get back to you about when buyers will be stopping by to see your home.
3. Your Home Will Be Promoted from a Personal Perspective
An underrated benefit of selling your home by yourself is to show it from your personal perspective. An agent will possess the professional experience to sell your home; they have not experienced living in your home the way that you have. FSBO sellers are more than happy to discuss their experiences living in the home during the selling process. Buyers are typically interested in more than the home itself, they are going to want to know what living in the neighborhood is like, who their neighbors are, and things that add to the location of the home. Only a seller who has lived in the home can talk about how the property fits in the community, as you know the home the best.
Benefits of Using a Real Estate Agent
On the flip side, the effort and time required to sell a home on your own will take a lot out of you. If you already have a full-time job or a family to take care of, it can be difficult to find the necessary time to find the hours every week to ensure your home is sold. Realtors will be paid a commission as they handle the time-consuming tasks required to sell a home. Below are five benefits of selling with a real estate agent:
1. Photography and Staging
Real estate agents understand a buyer’s need to envision themselves calling a property home. They will oftentimes hire a professional home and real estate photographer to present homes in the best possible light. If they have been in the game of real estate long enough, agents will provide a network of contacts they can reach out to. As an FSBO seller, you might not have access to this particular professional network, making it all the harder for you to properly achieve similar photographic and staging results.
2. Pricing the House Accordingly
Agents with experience will have an understanding of the local market and work regularly with appraisers to determine the values of the property market. They will have a general understanding of how to price your home to make it appeal better to prospective buyers while maximizing the profit margins. FSBO sellers will run the risk of underpricing their homes with an eagerness to sell quickly or overpricing their homes due to an inflated sense of value. An agent can assess your property, making it all the less likely that you will price your home incorrectly.
3. Great Marketing Services
A key advantage of working with licensed real estate agents and brokerages is the ability to use Multi Listing Service (MLS). MLS is a primary source of listings for buying agents, meaning it is in a seller’s best interest to have their home listed on the MLS. FSBO listings aren’t posted on MLS without a real estate license present.
4. Home Showings
The bulk of what a real estate agent does is host and schedule showings for prospective buyers. As this is their job, agents are more willing to move their schedules around to be more accommodating to buyers. FSBO sellers have to leave work early or find a babysitter to show off their property. They have to miss out on some showings due to conflicting schedules. It can take longer to find the best buyer, leaving your home on the market longer than it should be.
5. Legal Paperwork will be Handled
Whether you opt to go the FSBO route or hire a trusted agent, you have to file paperwork associated with knowledgeable agents and brokers who are trained in home sales. Legal aspects of selling a home, as well as completing all the required paperwork. FSBO sellers will oftentimes opt to enlist the help of a real estate attorney to help them file home sale paperwork accurately. Those who choose to file legal paperwork themselves will run the risk of filing incorrectly, which can result in problems later on.
Conclusion
Whether you decide to sell FSBO or through the use of a real estate agent, it is a big decision in the process of selling your home. While FSBO offers several benefits, from saving on agent commissions, adding a touch to promotions, and controlling the aspects of the listing, it will come with its fair share of challenges. For some sellers, the expertise, convenience, and resources offered by real estate agents will outweigh the commission expenses, leading to a smooth and profitable home-selling experience. Trust the real estate professionals at Property Sourced to guide you in finding and settling down in the home of your dreams in the many beautiful, thriving suburban neighborhoods that make up Manteca, CA, today.