What are the advantages/disadvantages of selling your house yourself and not using a realtor?

Question

I'm getting ready to sell my house. Should I use a realtor or sell it myself? Advice?

I have an attorney who is willing to help me if I try and sell it myself. Total cost for time and paperwork is $500. Good deal or no?

Answer 1

By selling yourself you save whatever you would've paid in commission (2-6% on average). That is the advantage.

The disadvantages include you having to do any advertising/ marketing, open houses, and negotiating with potential buyers. A realtor has access to list your property on websites that are not available to the general public (you can view them but you can't list yourself).

If you are a hands on person these may not all be disadvantages at all.

Another potential issue for your buyers is that lenders look more closely at FSBO (for sale by owner) properties... Sometimes that scrutiny can cause problems for that buyer and their ability to qualify.

There are several companies that help you sell for a flat fee... They provide marketing and listing while you do most of the footwork. This may be your best option as it allows you to get your property out there w/o it costing you an arm and a leg. While also allowing you to run open houses and maintaining some of the hands on aspects that I think are truly beneficial for sellers, especially in todays market. No one can sell your house like you can. I have added a couple of these companies links:

http://www.forsalebyowner.com/fsbo.html
http://www.fsbo.com/retail_shop/

Good Luck.

Answer 2

Great deal.

The main disadvantage I can see is that you know so little about selling a home, you came to Yahoo answers. This means that you know less than any agent who brings a buyer to you. You never want to be the least knowledgable in a transaction like this.

I don't mean to be insulting. But there are all sorts of rules and regulations that can vary by county or city that have to be taken care of prior to listing a property. Do you know what they are? How to find them? A realtor would.

If your attorney friend is a real estate attorney, you'll probably be ok, as they can advise you the whole way through, at a very reasonable price. But I'd be hesitant if real estate isn't their primary area of practice.

Answer 3

Disadvantage: you have to pay the realtor for the work they do for you.

Advantage: they know how to market and sell homes (they are tested and licensed for this). Your home will be listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), where most other real estate companies in your area can see it and show it to their clients thus increasing the opportunities for a solid buyer. The realtor will work on your behalf with confidentiality. The realtor doesn't get paid until your home sells and that money comes from the proceeds of the sale - not out of your pocket now as with your attorney.

The better idea is to get a realtor on your side.

Answer 4

Good deal for the attorney.

I tried selling on my own and ended up spending money on ads in the paper and stuff that didn't even help. In the end, I listed with a realtor. Just list the house high enough where you can still sell it and pay the commission but end up around where you want to be.

Perks of a realtor: More exposure
Downfalls: Paying large commissions

Perks of selling on own: No commissions
Downfalls: You are the realtor, so be prepared for people to call you non-stop, and also people are rude and make appts. and then never show up. It is very time consuming and sometimes you change your schedule for a big fat nothing (no one shows up).

Answer 5

Selling without a realtor will probably not let you get as much for the house as you would with a realtor. So even with the commission cost, you will probably make more. A realtor knows the right asking price to list at and can work with other realtors to help find more buyers.

Answer 6

Advantages
-no agent commissions or fees
-you know your home/neighborhood better than anyone else and therefore more able point out the positives
-you decide how the home is marketed
-there is no rush to sell the home by a certain date
-you negotiate directly with potential buyers

Disadvantages
-you don't have the marketing network provided by a realtor
-FSBO for sale by owners usually don't have experience on how to deal with issues that develop
-you have no way of knowing whether a potential buyer is qualified to buy
-you have to manage the sell of the home while going to work, family responsibilites, etc.

$500 seems like a great deal.

Answer 7

There will be a lot of agents and tools on this board that will say services like Help-U-Sell is no good but thats because they need to eat and pay bills too. But here is what I know....

Choice#1: FSBO only works in a HOT market. Choice#2: I am not willing to pay 6% of my equity (approx 30k which is nuts) to a realtor so I am going with Choice#3 a hybrid which is Help-U-Sell. YOu pay for the level of service you want. You can pay for FULL SERVICE just like the bignames and STILL save money. Only thing I have to do is show the house and I save thousands.
I just interviewed 2 'traidtional agents' and i Help U sell broker. The discount brokers DO NOT charge the fee up front. You can pay when it sells just like the traditional way. After chatting with them I am thouroughly convinced the only thing the traditional agent does the discount agent does not is SHOW THE HOME. The traditional agents tried to BS me by saying they have tons of buyers, the market is going up, they have unique markeitng plans, blah blah blah . The Help U sell broker worked for Prudential, Remax in the past and he is no joke. Interview all your options and go with the one option that will be cost effective AND will market your home. Good luck.

Answer 8

Advantage is that you keep all the profits for yourself. Disadvantage is that it may not sell as fast as it would with a Realtor and all it's resources. Best bet is to try to sell it yourself at first and if it doesn't work out try going through a Realtor.

Answer 9

That is OK if the agent comes through. A long time ago this was called a hip pocket listing. No one knew of the listing except the listing agent, the listing broker and the other real estate agents in the listing office. I would be more concerned with the results as oppose to why he did not list the property. I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck. 'FIGHT ON"

Answer 10

I would suggest trying to sell it yourself if you are in no rush. There are some websites where you can post and try to sell it.
If you are really feeling lucky you could even try ebay.
There are also newspapers.

I used a Realtor because i was in a bit of a rush and didn't have time to deal with inquires. As far as i am concerned, my realtor earned his commission.