Selling your Home Without an Agent - Is it a Good Idea?

By Alfonso Garcia

Those of you who are thinking about selling your home might be considering the possibility of doing it yourself, without the help of a real estate agent. You're thinking you can save some money by doing it this way. You will save money, but is it worth it?

First, you put up the sign on your front lawn. At this point you are only advertising to those that drive through your street or by word of mouth. Your property won’t get the needed exposure to the wide variety of prospective buyers that are out there. You might be thinking, "I'll just put my house on one of those websites that allow people to sell their property without an agent." This brings me to my second point.

You’re pretty much on your own when it comes to who enters your home wanting to see the property. Putting your house on some website basically tells all the psychos out there: "hey, my house is open to whoever wants to come in. All you have to do is tell me that you want to see the house. I'll probably be home with my kids and maybe my spouse. Welcome!" Do you see my point? You don't know the kind of people that you will attract.

A real estate agent will take care of showing your property for you and finding people who really are interested in the property and not dangerous individuals who are interested in doing harm to you and your family. The real estate agent can schedule open houses and individual appointments to show your property when you are not available.

So let's say you decided to sell your house on your own and you did find someone who is interested and is now ready to buy. You are probably not aware of all of your rights when it comes to negotiating and closing the deal. A real estate agent knows all the required documents that you will need to ensure your sale goes smoothly. For example, all the disclosures that need to be signed and all the legally binding contracts that enter parties into an agreement.

Wouldn’t you rather have someone that can take care of this whole process for you and make it as stress-free as possible? Someone that can let you just focus on your move, which is an ordeal in itself? Remember, a real estate agent works for you and it is in their best interest to make the process of selling your property as smooth as possible. They’re very familiar with all the problems that may arise, something that can make your life a lot easier. Your real estate agent will work hard to make sure your deal does not fall through, because if it does he or she will not get paid.

Some would rather take the whole task upon themselves just to save a few extra bucks. Take my advice, hire a realtor unless you have all the time in the world and you don't care how long it takes to sell your house, and you don't care whether your deal falls through or not or if something goes wrong due to lack of knowledge on your part.

Alfonso Garcia is the co-founder of Garcia, Valley & Associates, based in Lawrence Massachusetts. Those interested in buying or selling real estate in the area can visit Lawrence MA Real Estate.

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