Should you sell your home yourself or get an agent? This blog covers the pros and cons of selling a home yourself, working with an agent, and working with a blended firm. The Sacramento real estate market is complex and Sacramento real estate agents know it best. Can you do this one your own? Find out below.
1. What Legal Hurdles Do I Face if I Sell My Own Home?
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When it comes to legally selling your home there are a lot of hurdles through which you must jump. There are legal forms that must be filled out and filed. There are property documents which also must be in place. Those are all part of the sellers responsibility and failure to fill out and file them correctly can prevent the home from selling. So the negative side of selling your own home is that you are responsible for all of the legal and property related paperwork.
When you work with Sacramento real estate agents all of the legal paperwork and property paperwork becomes their problem. The positive is that you don’t have to do the research, file, or stay awake nights wondering if everything is okay. This is why most Sacramento real estate agents charge about 5.5 percent of the selling price as a commission. You can certainly sell your home yourself and save that fee, but is it worth it? The third option is to use a blended real estate company, like Movoto. You’ll only pay around one percent commission and get services such as marketing, legal paperwork and document filing, and even appraisals. The cons are that you still pay a small commission, but the benefits are that the agents do a lot to earn it.
2. How Do I Set the Correct Selling Price?
In the Sacramento housing market, the price is determined by a number of factors, such as how fast the house needs to sell, property values in the neighborhood, etc. While people may set the selling price based on the tax assessment records, and in so doing may under-price the value of the home.
One of the places to start is with the current Sacramento housing market. Investigate what other homes in the neighborhood are selling at before you set the price for your own home. When you sell you own home you are responsible for figuring out the selling price. The pros of working with Sacramento real estate agents is that you gain their expertise and inside data on the local market. The downside is still that 5.5 percent commission and you still have to do all of the research before choosing a price.
Another option for homeowners who want to save some of the cost of a commission is to work with a company that does more for less. Movoto, is one of those agencies where the commission is only one percent of the listing price, and the list of what we do for you is extensive.
3. How Do I Manage Marketing of My Home?
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Marketing is a lot harder than it looks. Sacramento real estate agents not only place the sign out front, they arrange for professional grade photos and video of the property. They also print fliers, and list the property on multiple real estate sites. The internet plays a very large role in attracting buyers and an online presence is almost mandatory if you want to attract buyers from out of the area.
Marketing also requires a continual effort, so the down side of doing your own marketing is the labor and the expense for professional grade material. The pros of working with an agent is that they handle all of that for you, plus they have access to listing sites that the general public may not. A blended arrangement can offer marketing and promotional services for a reduced commission.
4. How Much Energy Does it Take to Sell My Home Myself?
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Selling your home is a lot of work. You will need to be available to show your home, deal with people who “just stop by to look,” and to answer questions by phone or email, and people really have been known to call at 3 am to ask questions. Then there is all of the legal stuff, paperwork, and marketing. In short, this can be a full-time job. What is worse, is that you can do all of this work and not find a buyer. Each of the steps needed to sell your home must be done perfectly. All the marketing needs to be on point. All of the legal forms and papers need to be handled, notarized, and filed. The negative side of selling your own house by yourself is that all of this work is on your shoulders. The benefit is that you can save $15,000 or more. The median price for homes in Sacrament, CA is currently at $280,000. So 5.5 percent of that is $15,400. The negative side of working with Sacramento real estate agents is paying the commission. The positive side is that they do all of the work for you. Another consideration is that the median days on the market for 2014 was 52. So if everything goes well you will need to market and show your home for 52 days. That is a lot of free time to give up, especially if you work.
5. How Do I Know if the Buyer is Qualified?
Qualification for the purchase of a home is often up to the lender and all of them will happily share their underwriting criteria. Real estate agents usually handle this part of the process and that is the benefit of working with them. If you are selling your home on your own, then at the very least you need a lawyer to help write the contract and make sure that you are good from a legal standpoint. Don’t be surprised if your buyer is working with a realtor. So even though you are trying to save money on a commission, you may also need to pay for the commission for the buyers agent. Another alternative is to forego the headache and work with Sacramento real estate agents through a blended firm.
