Real Estate

Using a real estate agent to sell your home VS sale by owner

In the real estate industry, we call on homeowners who market their property for sale on their own FSBOs or for sale by owners. The obvious primary goal of an FSBO is to save money on real estate commissions. In recent years, we have seen more for sale by owner, especially at lower price points and in neighborhoods outside of the city cores. There are a few reasons for this increase, including the openness of the MLS system, the perception of the role of a real estate agent, and market conditions.

Recently, the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) was opened to the public, which means that an FSBO could list your property on the MLS (still through a Real Estate Agent and Brokerage) but could manage the sale process for your account without offering a cooperating broker. commission for finding a buyer. The reality is that real estate agents will work with a buyer client for months, sometimes years, so naturally a real estate agent would like to be paid for their efforts. For this reason, real estate agents may not work with you and may not bring your qualified buyers to your homes. FSBOs also tend to overvalue their properties, but a real estate agent knows the real value and will present only the properties with the right price to his client.

Real estate agents are often placed in the same category as a used car dealer; The perception is that real estate agents are making money for very little effort. In recent years, the real estate market has been booming, making the job of a real estate agent seem easy with MLS-listed properties selling hours or days after being listed. What people don’t realize is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes when a property is sold and also a lot of liability. It’s a full-time job and people don’t realize this – a real estate agent’s job includes setting the price, marketing the property, managing appointments, negotiating the contract, and ensuring a smooth closing. We are talking about big money when buying or selling a house and in most cases this is the biggest purchase anyone will ever make. Working with a real estate agent as a buyer is a free service, so there is really no benefit to the buyer as the buyer is protected by their own real estate agent. As real estate agents we live and breathe real estate, so selling or buying a property is second nature to us – we know the questions to ask and what to look for.

The good thing about working with a real estate agent is that the seller does not pay for the service unless the property is sold. In the case of an FSBO, each time they hire an attorney to help them, they are charged an hourly rate regardless of whether the house is sold or not. In the end, there are FSBOs that sell their property on their own, but about 80% of FSBOs end up listing and selling with a Realtor.

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