Like the back of your hand, you know everything there is to know about your home. Why wouldn’t you be your own perfect real estate agent? Many homeowners put their homes up for sale themselves on sites like Zillow or Redfin.
They do their own research on home values in their neighborhood and set their asking price.
But does every For Sale By Owner (FSBO) house sell this way?
Nope. Not even close.
While you might know a lot about your house, there’s one thing most people don’t know: how to sell it.
Selling your house without working with a Realtor®, as some (overly) confident homeowners-turned-home-sellers have discovered, is a challenge you could likely do without. In fact, best-case scenario, your house just won’t sell.
Worst case, though, is that your home sells for far less than it’s worth. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), this is the more likely scenario. In fact, in 2024, the average FSBO home sold for around $55,000 less than homes sold with a realtor’s assistance.
Don’t opt for convenience and saving a little on real estate commissions over getting a true professional to sell your home. Working with a real estate listing agent to sell your home is a simple decision.
But don’t just take my word for it!
Below, I’ve compiled a list of four reasons why you should take an FSBO real estate transaction off the table.
#1. You’re (most likely) not a marketer
Okay, maybe you passed that Intro to Marketing class back in college. And maybe you’ve retained a lot of the lessons, like telling people about your new product with a savvy sales pitch and a “Get it now!” sale price. If only selling a house were that easy! Getting that one perfect “customer” to buy your “product” takes work — specifically, a network and a ton of legwork…
A real estate agent is connected to multiple networks. Those networks equate to connections with multiple potential homebuyers looking for a “product” just like yours.
Real estate agents’ connections are many. The greatest network an agent has is access to the MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, where even more agents and prospects can get their eyes on your home.
I can help you list your home, reach the most qualified potential buyers, stage your home for sale, schedule showings and open houses, and so much more. Call me or send me an email and let’s work together!
#2. Home sales (and subsequent negotiations) are better left to professionals
Do you know your home’s value? No matter how long you’ve lived in your home, you’re likely quite partial to it. It’s personal, right? But your home’s market value isn’t necessarily the same as what it’s worth to you.
Think of the last genuinely personal item you sold. How’d it go?
Depending on its value, how long you owned it, or its sentimental value, it may have gone one of two ways:
- Super simple: You were no longer attached or the item just didn’t have the same meaning to you anymore. Parting was easy.
- Not so easy: You were still attached. You wanted to sell it to someone who would covet the item as you had. But you also knew exactly how much the item was worth, so someone willing to pay your asking price must feel exactly the same as you, and also knows the item’s worth.
But here we’re talking about a house. A whole house! How do you put a price on a place where you’ve made countless memories? How do you negotiate the highest selling price? The lowest closing costs?
How many times have the markets soared atop lofty peaks or skidded along the rocks of a seemingly bottomless valley in the years since you bought your home?
Exactly. Tons. Tons of times.
So, all else equal, what’s your home’s valuation today?
Chances are nothing’s equal. You’ve likely made multiple updates and maybe even extensive renovations to your home in the years since, and these are rarely a dollar-for-dollar exchange.
Working with a Realtor to sell your home eliminates the guesswork that can lead to an extreme under- or overvaluation. This partnership is crucial if you want to draw in serious buyers.
If you’re unsure what your home is worth, give me a call! I’d be happy to walk you through the details of your valuation.
#3. The paperwork is complex, and the laws nuanced
Some of the things you need to know to sell a house are only taught within the walls of a Realtor course, such as those taught by NAR.
In these classes, you’d learn:
- How to gauge market conditions
- What goes into setting a list price
- How to stage a home for sale
- Photography best practices for posting listings to social media
- How to value the local market
- The paperwork involved, like drafting a listing agreement
- Necessary disclosures
- Proper closing procedures
- How to work with a buyer’s agent
…and so much more.
A home is the largest purchase that most people will ever make, so it’s not something you can just dive head-first into — unless you’ve got a real estate professional on your side who cares about this transaction just as much as you do!
#4. The time commitment can be super stressful
Think of all the things you’re committed to on a daily basis — work, family, friends, personal hobbies.
Now, imagine squeezing a home inspection, staging, photography, showings, and open houses in between your shifts, family time, and other prior commitments.
And that’s not even a tenth of the amount of work a good agent with the proper know-how puts in on your behalf. Could you do it, though, if you had to?
Sure.
If you had to.
But take your life from 0 to 60 in 2.2 seconds — if you’re stressed now, imagine your mindset when you have to cancel long-held plans or miss out on spur-of-the-moment fun…for a sale that ultimately falls through.
Good thing you don’t have to do this alone, huh?
So, should you work with a Realtor?
Working with a realtor to sell your home can be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made. When you work with me, you get the advantage of my years of experience in real estate:
- Buying and selling homes
- Managing properties
- Handling renovations
- Conducting negotiations
Since 2019, I’ve bought and managed several of my own short- and long-term rentals and, in doing so, I’ve cultivated multiple relationships with property managers, contractors, and other professionals, which makes my network a lot larger than the average real estate agent.
But most of all, you should consider hiring me as your agent because of my code of ethics. I’m genuine. I really do care about the work I do and about doing it the right way. I care about helping you get the best return on the biggest asset you’ve ever purchased — it really means a lot to me!
So, weigh your options, and if you’d like to learn more about how working with a realtor to sell your home can ease the entire home-selling process and even yield a higher selling price at the end of the day, send me an email or give me a call. I’d love to meet you and learn how I can help.
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Images by: J. Cameron | Street Savvy SEO
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#NoAI
Cait Fisher, Realtor® 
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