Selling on Your Own? Read This First

HOMES SELL FOR TWO REASONS:  PRICE and EXPOSURE.

PRICE:
If you are selling on your own, without using an agent,  you are doing so in order to save on PRICE.   Time is of less concern and the exposure will not be there.

The question is - will you save on price when you lack exposure? 

The answer is NO, in 90% of the cases, according to the National Association of Realtors.  "FSBOs accounted for 10% of home sales in 2011. The typical FSBO home sold for $150,000 compared to $215,000 for agent-assisted home sales." 

Now, let's do the math.  The commission on a $215,000 house (if listed at 5%) is $10,750.    The average home seller actually walks away with MORE money by using a real estate agent.

Further, homes that are priced accurately draw more buyers.  This spring; RIGHT NOW, is a time of multiple bids on homes that are priced correctly.  Multiple bids actually drive the final sales price up, not down.  


EXPOSURE:
Internet
The current stats tell us that 88% of potential home buyers use the Internet for their home search, and 86% also use a real estate agent (according to the National Association of Realtors).   The Internet and use of social media can make your listing viral, but only licensed agents have access to the MLS.  Sites that are available to buyers are not updated, often inaccurate and reach a far smaller audience.   IDX is an option only agents can use.  An Internet Data Exchange (IDX) is a real estate property search site which allows the public to conduct searches of approved Multiple Listing Service properties in a certain area.   It means that, if listed, your home is available for the world to see by cooperating brokers.

Accessibility
Exposure, however, is not limited to the Internet.  Exposure also means your ability, as a seller, to actually show your own home.  Are you home all day, every night and weekend?   How many buyers do you lose because you don't have an agent to expose your home?   If you are limiting your showings   (for example) to Saturday mornings only, from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, you are missing out on a very large buyer pool.  Further, the potential buyer does not want you around while they are looking through the house.    To the buyer, the house is not yours - it's potentially theirs.

Here is the reality and conclusion.  Your home is a commodity,  and it is being sold along side other commodities within your neighborhood.  PRICE and EXPOSURE sell commodities.  When you start to think of your home in this way, you begin to see why a real estate agent can help you get more for this asset.

If you are looking to sell or buy in northern NJ, give me a holler.  I'd be happy to help.

Annmarie Cristiani
Sales Associate
RE/MAX Traditions Real Estate
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