Choosing To Sell Your Home Without An Agent Adds A Little Extra Complexity To Trying To Sell A House As-Is
What Does “For Sale By Owner” Mean & Why Sell Your Home that Way?
Choosing to sell your house without an agent appeals to many homeowners because it can reduce the cost of selling your home by thousands of dollars. That’s because the average real estate agent’s commission is 6% of the sale, so when you choose “for sale by owner,” you’re guaranteed to pocket a bigger portion of what the buyer pays.
Why Don’t More People List Their Homes For Sale By Owner?
The vast majority (about 90%) of homeowners don’t choose to sell a house without an agent. That’s mainly because, when you list your home for sale by owner, all of the work that goes into selling the property becomes your job. That includes the legwork of prepping/marketing the property and conducting showings and open houses and the legal work of putting together a sales contract and conducting negotiations.
What’s more, it can be more difficult to sell a home without an agent than with one — not only because a good real estate agent comes with a lot of connections that can help sell the house, but because agents may be less likely to show properties listed for sale by owner. As a result, for sale by owner listings often attract less attention, get fewer showings, and ultimately sell for about 70%-75% of what they could have if they’d been listed with an agent instead.
[READ MORE: How To Sell A House With A Realtor]How To Sell A House As-Is & Without An Agent
The steps you need to follow to sell a house as-is are fairly universal and involve seeking pre-listing inspections, getting estimates for repairing known issues, and setting/negotiating a sale price based on that information.
When you also choose to sell the house without an agent, the procedural and legal end of the process gets a little more complicated. That’s because you’ll need to handle all the backend listing processes and, unless you’re a real estate attorney yourself. Plus, a real estate agent likely has a more comprehensive understanding of real estate disclosure laws than you do, which will reduce the legal risks of selling a house as-is.
[READ MORE: How To Best Sell A House As-Is]The Basic Steps For How To Sell A House As-Is By Owner
- Prepare your home (this includes getting the pre-listing inspections and estimates mentioned earlier, as well as taking photos and staging).
- Set an appropriate price based on the home’s features, condition, location, and the sales prices of similar homes in the area.
- List your home on the Multiple Listing Service. Different options for how to do this have varying costs, so look for a flat rate and affordable option.
- Market your home (and be sure to always mention you want to sell the home as-is). This may include putting up for-sale signage, making flyers, finding paid- and free opportunities to advertise the home (like advertising the house for sale by owner on Craigslist), and hosting open houses.
- Make yourself available for showings and contract negotiations.
- Prepare to negotiate the contract yourself in compliance with your state’s specific disclosure laws for selling a house as-is.
- Retain an escrow agent from a title company to facilitate closing.
