5 Reasons Not to Sell Your Home Yourself

You have likely heard someone tell you that you should sell your home on your own so you can keep all the proceeds. While it may seem like a good idea on the surface, it's, in fact often a bad idea that can lead to major disappointments down the road. Here are five reasons not to sell your home yourself.

You have likely heard someone tell you that you should sell your home on your own so you can keep all the proceeds. While it may seem like a good idea on the surface, it's, in fact, often a bad idea that can lead to significant disappointments down the road. Here are five reasons not to sell your home yourself.

You Get Less Respect

Here are the two things that could happen when a buyer's agent sees that you have no seller agent to present you:

1) They will see an opportunity to run circles around you at the negotiation table.

2) They will steer clear of showing your home altogether to avoid the possibility of a disorganized transaction. You don't want either of these situations to occur.

It's a Full-time Job

Are you able to dedicate full-time hours to selling your home? Will you be able to hold open houses, run background checks, make follow-up calls, send emails and evaluate offers? If not, you will want to hire an agent.

Negotiating a Home Sale Is a Skill

Home sale negotiation is a specialized skill even if you have sales experience. Real estate agents are trained to think one step ahead and make strategic decisions that will drive the sale price of your home. Your emotions can be effectively set aside when you have an experienced agent negotiating for you.

Your Network Is Not the Same as an Agent's

Having various personal and professional networks is not good enough to get you buyers. An agent, on the other hand, has a network built for selling your home. You will be happy you enlisted a Realtor when you begin to realize that they're communicating with countless other brokers, buyers, agencies, and other helping professionals on a daily basis.

Slogging through the Paperwork

When it comes time to initiate a transaction, the paperwork can bury you. With so many legal documents and disclosures, you are putting yourself at risk of being sued later if you try to take everything on yourself.