There are three ways to sell your house:
- List your house with a real estate agent
- Sell your house on auction
- Sell your house by yourself in what is known as “for sale by owner”
We personally believe that selling your house by listing it with a real estate agent is the best option. And here are four reasons why:
1. It’s the Easiest Process
The easiest way to sell your house is to list it with a real estate agent. An agent will guide you through the entire process from staging and decorating your home to the final step of receiving your check and handing over the keys. The real estate agent’s job is to help you from start to finish – not just show up the day of the auction. This gives you confidence throughout the process and ensures you won’t make a mistake along the way.
2. It Brings the Highest Sale Price
Listing your home with a real estate agent gives your home exposure to the most buyers. It also allows them to interact with you in the most customer-friendly way, which allows your home to sell for the highest price. Other methods of selling your home tend to limit the number of buyers.
3. It’s Less Stressful than an Auction
An auction is highly intimidating for many people. Auctions are high pressure and require quick decision-making which will steer potential buyers away. Also, an auction only lasts for a very short period of time on a particular day, so you may lose buyers who can’t make their schedules work to be at the auction during the scheduled time.
4. It’s More Efficient than Selling by Yourself
A “For Sale by Owner” home is often seen as a negative thing by buyer’s real estate agents. Homeowners who are selling their homes by themselves are often trying to squeeze every penny out of their home sale and may not be very cooperative in negotiation. They usually aren’t willing to pay as high of a commission as a listing agent would and require the buyer’s agent to do a lot of the work that a typical listing agent would do. This means that the buyer’s agent does a lot more for a low return. These challenges will ultimately discourage buyer’s agents from presenting your home to their clients.
So if hiring a real estate agent is the most efficient means for selling, why do some people choose options 2 or 3?
Why do People Sell by Auction?
An auction can be a great way to settle an estate. If you are an heir to a property and want to quickly sell the property without needing to wait for a long time or worry about negotiating with buyers, an auction can be a great fit.
An auctioneer costs less. They don’t offer as many services as a listing agent so they can charge less.
Why do People Sell their Homes by Themselves?
A lot of people see what a listing agent charges to sell their home and think that they can do it cheaper. A homeowner can definitely sell their own home cheaper than a real estate agent. But a person who sells his home for $100k with zero costs makes less money than the person who sells his home for $150k and has $10k in costs. We encourage everyone to weigh both the costs and the benefits before selling their home by themselves.
Have a follow up question? Let us know in the comments or get in touch here.
For some additional information on the home selling process check out this article from Dave Ramsey.
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