Reasons Why You Must Consider Hiring A Real Estate Agent Over “For Sale By Owner”

When you think of selling your home by yourself, you may think that this would save you a lot of money. After all, the standard real estate agent’s commission is 3% to 4% — that’s $15,000 to $20,000 on a $500,000 home.

Given the magnitude of this fee, you might think that acting as your own seller’s agent is certainly worth the savings. Here are some reasons why you might want to reconsider, you can also use this as a guide to improve on the common mistakes made by FSBO sellers:

Biggest Reason:

90% of real estate transactions involve a real estate professional, which means that 9 out 10 times you will be approached by a Realtor enquiring about your property. They will expect you to pay buyer side’s commission of 2% and in most cases you will say yes. Also, the left over 10% are not the private buyers only, it consists of a huge chunk of new construction home sales which are done using sales managers (approximately 4%). Considering that, you will mostly likely be working with a real estate professionals who is protecting best interests of buyer client not yours, but you are paying his commission. I hope that makes sense, now lets take a look at all the reasons below that will show why its worth paying another 1.5-2% to the listing agent who is protecting your best interests and will take all the load off your shoulders.

Emotional Sales:

Selling your home can be an emotionally challenging process. Having an agent helps you stay in control and avoid making any mistakes , such as overpricing the price of your home, refusing to counter a low-ball offer because you’re offended, or simply giving up when your sales deadline expires. If you abandon the agent, you will have to deal directly with the denial each time the buyer’s agent says that they are not interested in the property anymore.

FSBO Is A Full Time Job:

Can you frequently miss work to accommodate showing requests to see your home? Can you leave a meeting every time your phone rings? Do you have the energy to market the property at every opportunity? What experience do you have with selling houses? Do you have experience doing this? Your answer to all of these questions is probably “no”. The agent answered “yes” to all of these questions. Also, with an agent, you get a lockbox for your front door, and the they can show your home even when you’re not there. Anybody who visits your house has their identification verified by their agents. They also organize open houses to generate more footfall and every visitor signs a sign-in sheet before entering.

FSBO vs Realtor Stats:

FSBO accounted for 7% of home sales in 2020. A typical FSBO home sold for $ 260,000, compared to $ 318,000 for agent-assisted home sales. Source: 2021 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Hiring an agent means they correctly value your property and get you the most money in the shortest amount of time, a combination that means 10-23% more net profit. If you are considering saving 2-4% on listing fees, keep this in mind.

You Have To Advertise To Agents Not Buyers, So You Must List It On MLS:

Approximately 90% of homes that are sold are listed with real estate agents, which means all those sales utilize a buyer agent. Considering this fact, you must really be advertising to buyer agents, not buyers. Just listing your property on MLS make your property accessible to all these buyers and their agents. Just listing on MLS with low commission brokerages will again not be a good step, as they normally are not available to promptly answer all the queries and sometimes even work remotely; there are a lot of other disadvantages of using them compared to an agent who works full-time for you. Local agents have big networks within and outside of their brokerages, with large distribution lists which they use to send email blasts for their new listings.

Approved Buyers:

Realtors can find out if the person who wants to see your home is really a qualified buyer, a dreamer or a nosy neighbor. Its a lot of work and a big interruption, every time you need to put your life on hold, to prepare and show your home. These issues should be limited by the screenings to the showings that will most likely lead into a sale. Also, most buyer agents make sure that they are working with buyers who are pre-approved to buy the house and know the price range they can buy within, so there is a good chance that the buyer who walks in your house is financially capable to afford it.

Price Negotiation:

Even with other sales experience, you have no experience in negotiating home sales. As the buyer’s agent does this, they are more likely to succeed in the negotiation. In other words, you have less money in your pocket. It’s also likely to be emotional about the process, and if your agent doesn’t point out when it’s unreasonable, you’re more likely to make a bad decision.

Ignorance:

A real estate agent can guide you through your home and point out the changes you need to make to attract buyers and get the best deal. They can see problems that you don’t notice because you see them every day, or just because you didn’t see them one. They can also help you determine feedback from potential buyers and act on it after you bring your home to market, in order to increase your sales potential.

Legalities:

Selling a home requires many legal forms and paperwork that professionals need to fill out correctly. One of the most important points is the information provided by the seller. Sellers may be liable for fraud, negligence, or breach of contract if material defects they know about the property are not fully disclosed. Unless you’re a lawyer, your agent probably knows more about disclosure laws than you do. The buyer can sue you if you do not disclose any danger, obstruction, or flaw, and if the buyer returns to you after they move and discover the problem. Agents can also make mistakes, but they are covered by errors and omissions insurance. So the buyers will claim damages from realtors in case they made a mistake, as they have professional liability insurance to protect themselves and provide buyers with reimbursement claims.

Showings:

Its almost always impossible for a buyer to freely explore the house when the seller is present, it makes them uncomfortable. Having a property listed on MLS will bring the buyers who are accompanied by their agents, which is our primary market audience as discussed above, gives the buyer space to speak openly about the property with no worries of hurting seller’s feelings.

Your Property Might Not Be Shown To Interested buyers:

In FSBO transactions, the buyer’s agent knows that there are no experts at the other end of the transaction. Even if the buyer insists on looking at your home, the agent will point out the difficulties and risks involved when the seller tries to market the transaction without a professional agent and without a guaranteed commission. Even if they bring in their buyers, you will still end up paying commission for the buyer’s agent.

Scams:

FSBO scams occur on both sides of a real estate transaction with very little recourse. Common scams include fraudulent appraisals & loan paperwork, foreign buyer deposits, purchases through a fake lawyer, and asking for personal information.

Services Provided By Realtors That You Will Miss Out On:

• Full Time availability
• Dealing with buyer enquiries
• Negotiations
• Secure showings with lockboxes
• Open houses
• Expert Advice
• Home Staging Assistance
• Realistic pricing strategy
• Comparative market analysis
• Knowledge of current market trends
• Trusted third party contractors
• Marketing strategies
• Analysis of the property
• Professional photography provided for no charge by most realtors
• And much moreContact me for more info:📞 (647) 323-5310
  📧 bhupinder.singh2@century21.caIf you’re thinking of SELLING, BUYING, BUILDING, or INVESTING in London or the surrounding area, 📲 call me @ 647.323.5310!
  Bhupinder Singh
  Realtor® Salesperson
  “Client Focused, Results Oriented”
  Century 21 First Canadian Corp.