I can’t decide whether I should sell my home myself or hire a real estate agent. What are the pros and cons of each?
Before you decide to sell your own home, consider how much time and expertise it will take. Also, know that commission rates with real estate agents are negotiable.
When the time comes to put your home on the market, it can be tempting to handle the transaction yourself, referred to as a FSBO — For Sale By Owner. After all, who knows your home better than you?
Going the FSBO route means you’ll be responsible for everything : — 1. Setting the right price,
2. Advertising your property,
3.Making yourself available to let interested buyers in to take a look,
4.Reviewing offers,
5.Negotiating terms and
6.Managing the paperwork once an agreement is reached.
One of the challenges you will face is getting the attention of homebuyers, who largely turn to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to identify available homes that meet their needs. Only registered real estate professionals have the ability to post listings on MLS. Some real estate brokerages now offer a “mere posting” service, where your property is listed on MLS for a fee, but leaves you responsible for all other facets of the transaction.
Even if you don’t use a real estate professional to help you sell your home, you may still end up paying commission — to the buyer’s representative. That’s because in a traditional sale, the commission for both representatives is typically paid by the seller. As a seller in a FSBO scenario, it’s your choice whether you agree to pay a buyer representative’s commission. If you don’t, the buyer would have to pay and may see it as a disincentive to purchasing your home.
There are significant benefits to working with a registered real estate agent, including valuable consumer protection. The There are three pillars of that protection are knowledge, professional standards and insurance.
Registered real estate professionals must complete ongoing, mandatory continuing education. That means they’ll be fully prepared to help you navigate the selling process, including determining how best to market and show your home to buyers, deciphering paperwork and negotiating on price and terms.
Your real estate professional is also required to uphold professional standards that emphasize fairness, honesty and integrity, and follow rules and regulations protecting consumers. In the rare instance that something goes wrong and you want to complain, RECO will investigate and take steps to hold the real estate professional accountable for their actions.
The final pillar of protection, insurance, has two facets:
1. Deposit insurance provides the buyer with peace of mind knowing their payment will be held in trust and insured against fraud, insolvency or misappropriation.
2. Real estate professionals must hold errors and omissions insurance to pay for damages and legal costs arising from claims related to a real estate transaction.
Working with a real estate professional, however, can save you time and effort, and affords you protections that don’t exist in the FSBO scenario.
Before you decide to sell your own home, consider how much time and expertise it will take. Also, know that commission rates with real estate agents are negotiable.
When the time comes to put your home on the market, it can be tempting to handle the transaction yourself, referred to as a FSBO — For Sale By Owner. After all, who knows your home better than you?
Going the FSBO route means you’ll be responsible for everything : — 1. Setting the right price,
2. Advertising your property,
3.Making yourself available to let interested buyers in to take a look,
4.Reviewing offers,
5.Negotiating terms and
6.Managing the paperwork once an agreement is reached.
One of the challenges you will face is getting the attention of homebuyers, who largely turn to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to identify available homes that meet their needs. Only registered real estate professionals have the ability to post listings on MLS. Some real estate brokerages now offer a “mere posting” service, where your property is listed on MLS for a fee, but leaves you responsible for all other facets of the transaction.
Even if you don’t use a real estate professional to help you sell your home, you may still end up paying commission — to the buyer’s representative. That’s because in a traditional sale, the commission for both representatives is typically paid by the seller. As a seller in a FSBO scenario, it’s your choice whether you agree to pay a buyer representative’s commission. If you don’t, the buyer would have to pay and may see it as a disincentive to purchasing your home.
There are significant benefits to working with a registered real estate agent, including valuable consumer protection. The There are three pillars of that protection are knowledge, professional standards and insurance.
Registered real estate professionals must complete ongoing, mandatory continuing education. That means they’ll be fully prepared to help you navigate the selling process, including determining how best to market and show your home to buyers, deciphering paperwork and negotiating on price and terms.
Your real estate professional is also required to uphold professional standards that emphasize fairness, honesty and integrity, and follow rules and regulations protecting consumers. In the rare instance that something goes wrong and you want to complain, RECO will investigate and take steps to hold the real estate professional accountable for their actions.
The final pillar of protection, insurance, has two facets:
1. Deposit insurance provides the buyer with peace of mind knowing their payment will be held in trust and insured against fraud, insolvency or misappropriation.
2. Real estate professionals must hold errors and omissions insurance to pay for damages and legal costs arising from claims related to a real estate transaction.
Working with a real estate professional, however, can save you time and effort, and affords you protections that don’t exist in the FSBO scenario.
No comments:
Post a Comment