As a home seller, it’s natural to want more money for your house. It’s a home you invested and put much time in, so you want to get as much profit as possible.
Selling your own home can be lucrative if you know what you’re doing. Foregoing the agent is something tempting. Many people who have time on their hands would rather do it this way.
Even then, what are the benefits of selling your home yourself?
In this guide, we give you 12 advantages of selling your own home:
1. Avoid Agent Fees
The most obvious reason why people try to sell their homes by themselves is to avoid agent fees. Many realtors would have two types of agents – the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent. This money can go into your final value or put to use for other things.
When selling a home, the usual real estate agent would do everything to list your home and have people buy it. At this time, you would need to pay the agent fees up to around 5 to 7% of the final sale price. This amount can be both hefty and problematic, especially if there is very little equity on the sale.
By avoiding the 7% agent fees, you’re putting extra dollars back into your pocket. It’s not chump change either. We’re talking thousands upon thousands of dollars.
2. Get Savings On Commissions
Much like savings from agent fees, you’re saving more money on commissions if you sell your home by yourself. Commissions can be problematic as they can compound and cost you more money.
When realty agencies handle your home sale, you would also need to pay a bevy of fees. In many cases, this is apart from the percentage you pay your real estate agent as commission. By the end, you can only get around 85 to 90% of your entire property value.
By saving money on commissions, you can use it for other crucial details. This gives you not only more incentive to sell your home but also to get a better one.
3. Avoid Scheduling Issues
Scheduling conflicts are a common problem when working with real estate agents. A realtor will handle between 5 to 10 cases at a time, more in some cases. They need to partition time among clients, meaning less time to talk to potential buyers.
Not all buyers will have time to handle the sale. Some are only available at certain times, which means if your agent is not available, you lose a buyer. If you as the owner have enough time to handle potential buyers, why not do it yourself?
Selling your home yourself opens you up to different possibilities. Why settle for a limited time slot from a realtor if you can do it yourself? You can even try to list your home in virtual brokerages for everyone to see.
4. Get More Competitive Pricing
One of the advantages of selling your own home yourself is you know the value of your home. You know the comfortable equity for you. If you want to sell your home faster, you can do so by selling it yourself.
How?
Remember the 5 to 7% agent’s fee? As we know this is big money, so if you don’t mind the savings not going to your pocket, offer it up as a discount. Slash it off the top of your home sale price.
This can make your home price much more competitive within your own bracket. You’re making your home price more attractive to potential buyers.
5. Use Your Savings For Closing Costs
Apart from agent fees, one of the major issues homeowners have is closing costs. Much of the closing costs can eat up a good chunk of the net equity you can get from the sale. By selling your property by yourself, you can reduce these fees.
Home closing costs can go as much as 2 to 4% of your total sale price, which is hefty. These include:
- Escrow fees
- Origination fees
- Home protection
- Attorney’s fees
- Transfer taxes
- Notary fees
- Title policies
By losing the third party, you can combine some of these services yourself. For example, lawyers or title companies can handle escrow duties for you as part of their service. This saves you a good chunk of money in the long run.
6. Control Your Housing Market Availability
When it comes to the real estate market, there are times when it’s best to sell your home. There are also downtimes where you’re wasting your time on a buyer’s market situation. If you are selling your home by yourself, you can pull out and put back your home whenever you want.
Home sale prices can fluctuate depending on the time of the year. If you change your mind or unhappy with the current market, it’s hard to pull back if you have an agent. By maintaining control of your position in the housing market, you choose when to sell best.
7. Decide On The Price of Your Home
As we noted, selling your own home gives you full control to adjust the price of your home. Whether you’re trying to sell fast and low or you’re willing to wait for a good deal, it’s up to you. By foregoing any middle man, you get to decide how to sell.
Many people who try to DIY sell their home try one of two things. This is to either go as low as possible, with enough equity for themselves. Some also try to sell as high as possible within their home valuation.
Both methods have their own merits. If you know about your home’s value and how to push it, that’s the best you can get.
8. Screen Potential Buyers Yourself
Some people have attachments to their homes. These can be ancestral homes that they inherited or their first home that they have many fond memories of. Whatever the case, you can screen all the potential buyers yourself if you handle everything.
By screening potential buyers yourself, you know you’re giving your home to someone who cares. You’re making sure that they have the right intentions in your neighborhood and your property. This gives you peace of mind in the end, especially if your home has much sentimental value to it.
9. Set All The Terms and Conditions
When selling your house yourself, one of the best benefits you can get is setting all terms and conditions. Some real estate agents will have terms and conditions that are not within your liking. By selling your property by yourself, you make sure the elements of the sale are within parameters.
This means you can set everything according to what works for you. Set the finance terms, who pays specific closing costs, what fixtures and appliances come with the home, and many more details that you can be granular with.
Control the details of the home inspection. Set the closing date. All these will be within your own parameters.
10. Show Your Knowledge of the Property
For home sellers, one thing that you can’t get with real estate agents is your knowledge. Your complete mastery of how your property works can be a good way to further sell the buyer. It lets you position yourself better and improve your chances of landing a sale.
Homeowners know their homes from top to bottom. They know every flaw, every good thing, and even every person in the neighborhood. You can use these to help sell the idea of your home better to a buyer.
11. Market Your Home Better
At the end of the day, one of the benefits of selling your home by yourself is marketing. With your intimate knowledge of the benefits of owning your home, you can help create not only with improved marketing.
If you have some time, market your home better by using as many sales channels as possible. From social media to word of mouth, you can be official when you start negotiations with a potential buyer. If you can find a way to market your home and make it more desirable for the people who are buying.
Post your home on a virtual real estate brokerage with zero commissions. Market the need for a home like yours. Pick and choose what works for your needs.
12. Learn The Best Practices
In the end, what you learn from selling your own home by yourself is a matter of learning. Everything you learn during the process of your home sale is skills that you carry with you. Whether you decide to do it again on your next property or let agents do it for you, you learn the best you can do.
By choosing platforms that can help you sell your own home online, you learn what’s best for you.
Selling Your Home Yourself Is The Best Choice
Selling your home yourself is a decision that has many different advantages. From the financial savings to knowing how to do it better, doing it yourself is a big decision. Weigh your options and see if this is the best choice for you.
Looking to sell your own home? Need a brokerage that doesn’t ask for commissions? You need a team you can trust.
Talk to us at Bluematch today. We want to make home selling simplified.
