When you make the decision to sell your Sioux Falls home, a lot of questions can arise regarding how you should list your home. One of the options that homeowners have at their disposal is to sell their home themselves. If you see a “for sale by owner” sign, that is what the sign implies. While it may be tempting to sell your home yourself, there is a reason that realtors exist; selling a home is not easy. Here are a few reasons why selling your Sioux Falls home yourself is not in your best interest:
You Are Not Saving Money
Contrary to what many may assume, selling your home yourself does not save you money nor does it result in a higher selling price. While realtors do require a commission fee, realtors also get buyers to purchase a home for a fair price. In fact, a study conducted by the National Association of Realtors showed that those who sold their homes themselves netted an average of $210,000, whereas those who used a real estate agent sold their homes for an average of $249,000. Because realtors do this daily, they are more well-versed in negotiations and fair market pricing.
Privacy and Security
In a time where so many transactions occur on the internet, it is understandable that some homeowners may assume that selling a home is as simple as placing an ad online and putting a sign in the front yard. Real estate agents in Sioux Falls do more than just sell homes. Agents also screen potential buyers. With a “For Sale By Owner” home, it can be harder to regulate privacy and security as you are inviting strangers to visit your home. Having correspondence and meetings that go through a realtor is beneficial because your time will not be wasted with buyers that are not truly interested or preapproved. Real estate agents also deal with the other people that need negotiating with during the home-selling-and-buying process. Attorneys, home inspection companies, and appraisers can all go through a realtor, which saves a homeowner a great deal of time (and, ultimately, money).
Details Go Unnoticed
There are too many mistakes that can occur when trying to sell your Sioux Falls home on your own. Further, the more luxurious the home, the more mistakes that can potentially occur. Realtors are trained in how to properly read closing documents, how to calculate what the true value of a property is, and how to fill out purchase agreements. Additionally, laws and regulations regarding real estate transactions differ by state. Selling a home is a very complex process that not only involves selling a high-price commodity but involves a lot of legal work as well. If documents are not carefully pored over, you could open yourself up to litigation in the future. A realtor’s job is to make sure that deals do not fall through because of things like collapsing financing.
For Sale By Owner homes have decreased in popularity because of the reasons listed above. If you are looking to sell your Sioux Falls home, resist the urge to go with FSBO and hire a knowledgeable and trained real estate agent instead.
