Benefits of selling a house without a real estate agent

Selling a home without the help of a real estate agent, also known as a FSBO or “For Sale By Owner Seller,” has often been perceived by those home sellers who prefer to do so as beneficial in many ways. Chief among those benefits has always been the amount that would have to be paid in the form of an agent’s commission, which the owner would not be required to pay, thus “saving” or keeping the money for personal and other use.

In addition to the above, there are other reasons, many of which have been considered beneficial, why a homeowner might decide to sell their home or investment property without a real estate agent. Among those reasons or benefits are:

• Reduced price for a faster sale.
• Direct negotiations with the buyer
• Marketing and sales without pressure
• High percentage of the sale price

Reduced price for faster sale

Some home sellers realize, as they were once buyers, that the goal of a home buyer is to make the best deal (paying the least amount of money) possible on a home, just as most home sellers do. Home sellers expect the highest price for the price. house they are selling; Therefore, the price of a home discounting the real estate agent’s commission is in many cases more attractive than a price with the commission included. Based on this understanding, the homeowner makes a profit by offering the property for sale at the reduced price without commission in order to obtain a faster sale.

Direct negotiations with the buyer

Home sellers who prefer to engage in direct negotiations with their prospective buyers are in complete control of, and accept responsibility for, any outcome those negotiations produce. However, the benefit(s) derived from direct negotiations is having the knowledge of each stage of the transaction involving your houses instead of waiting for status updates from an agent who is simultaneously dealing with several houses – and the buyers of those houses – involved in so many transactions. A FSBO home seller is free to contact the buyer to ask about anything relevant to the transaction; and this can sometimes be significant in a variety of ways.

Marketing and sales without pressure

Home sellers who have not engaged with a real estate agent, either verbally or in writing via an exclusive listing, are not required to “show the property during reasonable hours,” as many who do have agreed to do. have been listed with agents, so that they are not left open to claims of “refuse to show”, “non-cooperation”, or “taking home from market”, all of which are claims that can be concerning, but were often used by eager and highly motivated real estate sellers to convince a home seller to provide access to their property during a time that the seller had what he/she considered to be a well qualified and interested buyer. The absence of this type of pressure during the marketing and sale of a home is the condition under which the sellers of the fsbo consider it beneficial.

Higher percentage of sale price

In a March 2011 article titled ‘How to Sell Your Home Without an Agent’ and edited by the Real Estate Career Hub, et al., it is stated that, “A 2008 Consumer Reports study found that nearly all homeowners in their survey that sold on their own got their asking price, while sellers using agents received an average of $5,000 below their asking price…” and “…National Association of Realtors figures show that the median sales price for owner sellers was 97.5 percent of their sales price, while agent sellers got only 95 percent.”

This data may be supported by the fact that the price was already lower than it might have been if a real estate agent’s commission had been included; but also the seller’s net price is often adjusted lower – in dollars and cents – than the dollar amount represented by the commission percentage, so when the agent conducts negotiations to adjust the sales price downward , and the commission percentage remains at In fact, the percentage of the price requested by the seller is affected more.

One circumstance that has occurred in recent years, due to the foreclosure crisis, is that more homeowners than ever have found themselves “underwater” (owing more than their home’s value). This is even more why getting the highest percentage of a sales price is so important to today’s home sellers.