Agent or Not?
Should you employ the services of Real Estate Agent or not to sell your home? Or should try to sell it yourself and save on the potential commission you would otherwise have to pay? To correctly decide on the best choice to sell your home quickly at the best price you need to consider the following factors:
- Total payable commission as a percentage of the sale you will need to pay
- Actual dollar amount of commission you will have to pay the agent & broker handling your sale
- Benefits of a marketing campaign managed by a qualified real property professional
- Amount you could save by listing and promoting your property yourself
- Time you will need to devote to advertising your property by yourself and time to show it
- Resources you have available relative to a trained agent who has office support staff
- Documentation to close the deal (Offer / Counter Offer / Agreement of Purchase and Sale)
- Do you have a website or access to an online resource where you can list your home?
Selling a home is a great amount of work and requires that you be accessible nearly 24 / 7. A prospective purchaser could contact you at anytime to submit an offer or to request a showing. Having the valuable experience of a real property agent could prove useful, especially because they do have office hours and they have many resources available; many of which a homeowner may not have access or use of regularly.
Even if you do choose to sell your home on your own you will still need to be sure to hire a competent lawyer to manage your side of the sales transaction. You will also want to seem professional and be able to provide a buyer with a detailed feature sheet that highlights the valuable components of your home and lists amenities and details of local utilities.
- You might even consider having your own business cards printed which will display a photo of the best room in your home or a view of it from outside in the best perspective; along with top saleable features and your contact information.
- You may want to consider having a separate e-mail address specifically for your home for sale.
- A distinct phone number (preferably a cell phone or internet phone line) would be a good choice, since you don’t want to be pestered all day and night by unqualified buyers. You can turn off this phone and turn it on when you want to be available. You can also set up voicemail with options for a vast amount of messages to be left.
