For Sale By Owner V.S. selling by real estate agent

[AdoreMyDogs]

What's the pros vs cons to selling by owner vs by real estate agent? We are going to be looking into either renting our house out or selling it (most likely selling it as good renters are so hard to come by) but we need to make at least a little profit. We've only owned the house for just under 2 years so we don't know what is the best thing to do. There's lots of research to do. If anyone can add any tips that might be helpful in selling, please feel free to chime in. Thanks.

[catnapper]

My brother sold his house himself and had a great profit because he did it that way. I wish I had some real experience myself with realtors and by owner but I don't.

[Lady's Human]

When we sold our house in MA, we used a real estate agent.

Yes, you have to pay them a commission, but you are paying them for their sales experience and their experience with legal issues regarding the sale.

Unless you have a LOT of time to devote to the sale, I would go with an agent.

[Karen]

Start doing research now, as to what comparable homes in your area are selling for. You may want to also look into the websites that help you sell the house yourself, and make sure you get an MLS listing. It depends how active your market is, and how much time you are willing to devote to the process, really.

[Freedom]

Do you have Help U Sell in your area? That may be one way to increase your profit but have a realtor guiding you.

In this area, it is common to have a realtor AND an attorney involved in any real estate sale. So if you did the selling yourself, you would end up with a slightly higher attorney fee as you would be relying on that professional more. I've heard that some areas of the country, you only need a realtor and no attorney at all. I don't know how you would get extra support in such a case.

There are certain things which MUST be disclosed; and if you don't make the proper disclosure, you are potentially liable to the buyer for 3 years (or maybe even longer) after the sale. There are many ways to write up "we had termites." Not all of them sound bold, blunt and ready to sink the sale.

Also, is this the only real estate you have ever purchased? It is a stessful time, selling and /or buying. Taking on the added burden may not be something you eally want to take on?

That's about all I can offer for help just now.

[AdoreMyDogs]

Do you have Help U Sell in your area? That may be one way to increase your profit but have a realtor guiding you.

In this area, it is common to have a realtor AND an attorney involved in any real estate sale. So if you did the selling yourself, you would end up with a slightly higher attorney fee as you would be relying on that professional more. I've heard that some areas of the country, you only need a realtor and no attorney at all. I don't know how you would get extra support in such a case.

There are certain things which MUST be disclosed; and if you don't make the proper disclosure, you are potentially liable to the buyer for 3 years (or maybe even longer) after the sale. There are many ways to write up "we had termites." Not all of them sound bold, blunt and ready to sink the sale.

Also, is this the only real estate you have ever purchased? It is a stessful time, selling and /or buying. Taking on the added burden may not be something you eally want to take on?

That's about all I can offer for help just now.

I don't know....I am starting to lean more towards letting a real estate agent do the whole thing. The more I've read up on it, the more of a headache it sounds like. I think we might be able to make a bit more $$ if we sold it ourselves, but it's an awful lot of work. I don't know if we'll get much on the house, because this street and area just had a MAJOR flood, thank goodness only 2 houses on the street were destroyed, but our house was so close to being flooded, it might scare off potential buyers. We did have the ugly carpet ripped up and hardwood treated, and we only got around to painting 2 rooms before money ran out, so we might get a small profit...or we might break even since the major flood may have scared sellers. I guess we'll see...we still have some research to do. Monday I'm calling a Real Estate agent just to get the ball rolling and see what they say.

[Karen]

Call more than one real estate agent. If you have friends who've lived in the area a while, ask for realtor recommendations. It is a lot of work, you are right about that, but hopefully you'll make at least some profit. And you can say that your house was not affected by the flooding, if anyone asks.

[Lady's Human]

The house not being affected by flooding was one major selling point of our house in MA. The cellar was a little higher than the neighbors houses, which meant that it was the LAST house on the street to flood. (Of course, the next year, northbridge got the proverbial 100 year flood, and everything was under water, but that wasn't our fault)

[CathyBogart]

I don't have any experience personally, but my parents said they were extremely pleased with their decision to sell their last house themselves. I'll ask my mom if she has any tips next time I see her.

[kuhio98]

I don't know how prices in your area have changed recently, but houses in our area are selling for $30,000 to $40,000 less than they were last year. (We are closing on a house on Monday. It's been on the market since March. We offered $50,000 less than they originally listed it for and they jumped at the offer. :eek: So, you may not make the profit you hope for. I hope your area is different than ours.

Real estate commissions are usually around 6%. So, for every $100,000 your home sells for, you fork over $6,000 to the real estate agent. If you've got the time to devote to selling the house yourself, you can put that money into your new place.

Check out http://www.forsalebyowner.com/?PID=QG-NA for more details.

[sirrahbed]

Hi Leslie - my 2 cents to consider is that some folks prefer to BUY from an owner. When we were looking to buy our first home, "for sale by owner" homes were what we looked for. Now, I also had a couple friends who are realtors and they gave me some advice about things like getting the termite inspection, a full house inspection, and I knew of an attorney that I requested because he handles the bulk of the realestate sales in our area. I like dealing with the homeowner and tend to be put off by realtors. If I were to turn around and SELL, I would probably try by owner first. That 6% commission can be significant. Both the buyer and the seller can split that savings. I know that the family we bought from had sold a previous home themselves and were happy to go that way again ......and that it was a good experience for both of us.

People that only buy from owners are probably not that common though - I just am the type that is always trying to save cost. I know that the family we bought from saved by not paying realtor fees...and we also saved by paying much less than the average cost for a home in this area :)

I imagine folks are skittish about buying so soon after the flooding. Are you able to carry your current home for a period of time or do you really need to sell quickly? Maybe in this case - having a realtor will be well worth it to you. I agree with the posters above me....that the fact that YOUR home was not affected by the flooding - will turn out to be a good selling point. Hope it goes well Leslie :)