What are the pro and cons of selling your home own your on?

Answer 1

If you're still paying a mortgage on the home, chances are good that the commission you save may be less than you lose in mortgage payments and lower selling price. I made the mistake when it took me over two months to sell in an area where realtors were turning over houses in less than 10 days on average. BTW, it was a realtor who eventually sold it after I saw the light.

Answer 2

the market is really weak right now and trained experienced professionals are having a hard time selling houses. How would an inexperience person have better results?
If you sell it on your own:
you have to be home for all showings - you don't have the luxury to turn down a showing or you might be turning away your buyer.
you don't know if the person is a real buyer or someone casing your home - criminals don't usually go to real estate offices to find their victims. Could be burglars, rapists, etc.
Most people looking without the FREE assistance of a real estate agent (seller pays commission) have a reason for dodging the realtors. Usually they aren't qualified to purchase a home and know it.
You miss out on the advertising of the real estate trade magazines and the biggie is missing out on the exposure of the multiple listing service.
You are emotionally attached to the house - the realtor is not. You will probably "over-sell" the house and turn buyers off on it. You wil probably also point out things that they don't care at all about (also will turn them off).
The biggest reason of all not to sell it yourself (besides that you probably don't know what you're doing - sorry) is that the buyer will know that you are doing this to save the commission. The buyer will probably come to you expecting some or all of that savings to come back to them in the final price (just depends on whether you or they are more experienced).

I put in an offer on a For-Sale-By-Owner (Fsbo) after having been a realtor for over 10 years and found that the seller did everything they possibly could to sabatoge the sale - I didn't buy it. What she felt was "hard-nosed" negotiation was in reality just plain rude. I asked her to pay points and some closing costs which I rolled into the sale price and she very incorrectly made the assumption that we were dead-beats and had no money to put down. I told her that I would be interested in buying the house if she would list it with an agent. By the time she realized that she needed an agent, I had found a house I liked better.

Answer 3

Although I hate real estate agents, there are no pros to a FSBO.

The CONS are:
1. Any potential buyer knows that you are not paying a commission and will adjust the offer price accordingly to extract as much of the commission as possible. Thus, you don't really save much of anything.

2. Your jurisdiction may have quirky laws, such a unique/weird disclosure laws. If you are unaware of these, your ignorance may come back to haunt you during or after a sale.

3. Most buyers pick houses based on lists that selling agents prepare from the MLS database. Since you probably won't have access to the MLS, you severely limit your exposure to potential buyers. This alone may offset any commission saved from a FSBO.

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My best advice- and what I do- is to find a starving agent who is desperate for business and beat his/her commission rate down. I never pay my listing agents more than 1%.

If you are really dead set on not paying a commission, then get your RE salesperson license. It will probably cost less that what you will pay in commission and you can have it in a couple of months in many jurisdictions.

Answer 4

Pros:
You cut out the agents and middlemen who want a share of your profits or working for a fee.
The selling of your home would be all in your control under all circumstances.
without any middleman and agents to screen costumers, you can choose the the costumers you want to sell it too.

Cons:
You may not be as experienced as agents.
Agents work for a fee or a small share of the sales depending on contracts.
The screening of costumers would be very much be in the control of the agent.
Agents may withhold information for their own beneficial use.

Anyhow I would consult someone with real estate knowledge and no part with the selling of the house, that way that person is not acting in their interest but just Marley giving advice in your favor.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

pro

save money

con

harder to sell