The Pros Of Listing Your Home For Sale By Owner
The most obvious advantage to selling your yourself is that you get to keep more of the net proceeds of sale than you would if you listed with a realtor. Typically, you will pay 6% in real estate commission if you list your home with a real estate agent. In other words, you will pay $6,000 in real estate commissions for every $100,000 that your home is worth. So if your home was worth $300,000, the cost of involving a real estate agent would be $18,000, leaving a net sales price of $282,000 before other costs are deducted. Obviously, if you can save some or all of this commission, that’s more money in your bank account.
Now, you shouldn’t believe that by selling your home yourself means that you will get all of that $18,000 because it is generally recommended that you price your home slightly lower than similar homes listed with a realtor. In fact the rule of thumb is to calculate the realtors commission, multiply that figure by 30% and deduct the resulting figure from the average listing price for similar homes. So taking the above example, if the average listing price for similar homes to yours was $300,000, then the realtors commission at 6% would be $18,000 and 30% of $18,000 would be $5,400. Deduct $5,400 from $300,000 to get a competitive sales price of $294,600.
Another advantage associated with selling your home as a FSBO is that you remain in control of the transaction throughout the whole process. You can decide when you want to show your home. Similarly, at no time will you be subjected to undue pressure from a broker or realtor and, providing you’re not in a hurry to sell, there is no pressure to accept a lower offer than your asking price.
Finally, the other main advantage of selling your home yourself is the personal satisfaction you will gain from having done so. Depending on your local market conditions, selling a home can be difficult process fraught with many pitfalls along the way. So if you are able to sell your own home for a price you feel happy with, the sense of personal satisfaction you will feel will be tremendous.
