I know, paying real estate commission is EXPENSIVE! Homes SEEM like they are selling themselves right now because they move so fast. You’re not a real estate agent, but you’ve sold the family car a time or two, how hard can it be right? Well, there is a lot to it, and a ton of laws to follow. However, in Tennessee it’s perfectly legal to sell your home yourself. Just make sure you don’t make these mistakes.
Not Advertising the price
Have you ever seen something you wanted to buy, but you couldn’t find how much it costs? Unless you REALLY, REALLY want it, you probably aren’t going to continue searching for the price. I don’t know about you, but price is a major factor in my level of interest. “Great!” You say, “This keeps out everyone that isn’t serious.” Well, honestly, they don’t know how serious they are until they find out if they can afford it. In the eyes of a buyer, it often seems like the seller is unrealistic with the price they are asking and don’t want to face the scrutiny from their friends and family on Facebook. Maybe you’re just private and don’t want people to know how much you’re selling your house for. In that case, your privacy may be better protected behind the wall of a good agent and their marketing. Either way, if you are serious about selling, you need to make it easier for people to buy it. That means advertising the price or at least making it EASILY accessible without calling, texting, or dm-ing someone they don’t know!
2. Terrible Photos
I know you aren’t a professional photographer, and neither are most agents. So, honestly, this one goes for agents as well (we’ve seen some terrible listing photos from them too). I know you hate when good photos make a home look better than it really is, but we have seen so many times where even us as agents have overlooked a home entirely which looked far and above better in person than in photos. Curiosity isn’t the best marketing strategy when it comes to not being for sure if a house is nice or not. It all looks familiar to you, but you’re representing your home to someone who has never seen it or been inside it. Using the right framing, gathering enough light, and showcasing the flow are key to good listing photos. Professional photos really make your home standout and gather as much interest as possible. Again, you don’t want to make a buyer work hard to see how gorgeous your home is. We love photographing houses, and often photograph homes for other agents. As part of our listing package, we offer our professional services in photo and video at no additional charge to you, if you decide not to go it alone.
3. Not being willing to work with buyer agents
This real estate market is HOTTTTT! If a buyer is serious, they are already working with an agent to help them stay on top of the market. Why wouldn’t they? They need to be able to focus on their careers and their families, not become a real estate agent. So many times, we see for sale by owners not being willing to work with buyer agents, which means, not offering them a fair commission to show a buyer your home and handle the paperwork. We respect someone trying to sell their home themselves, so we don’t hassle them, we just want our clients to be taken care of and get the home they want. Many times, we pretty much need to walk the seller through the process as well because they don’t know how, and they shouldn’t. That’s what the professionals are for. Being extremely guarded and difficult to work with however, is not going to be in your favor (that goes for you too agents). If you don’t want to list your home, that’s your call, but at least be willing to work with a buyer agent. If not, you will really narrow down your pool of buyers.
4. Expecting Top Dollar
No, I’m not one of those agents who is so arrogant to believe you don’t know what top dollar of your home is. I do have experience on my side and see how buyers and sellers alike respond to price points, homes, and neighborhoods. Let’s be real though, you CAN spend the time and take a deep dive into the data of the recently sold homes and probably come up with a pretty solid number, but, will you get it? There’s one thing we’ve seen from a for sale by owner situation that typically puts you, the seller, at a disadvantage. You and the buyer, usually aren’t on the same page with the whole, seller not paying commission thing. What do I mean? Well, you, the seller, decided to navigate the waters of selling your home yourself because you wanted to keep that extra money for yourself. Nothing wrong with that, right? Well, the buyer knows that, and for some reason, expects you to pass that savings along to them. How do I know that? I’ve literally had several people tell me they wanted to find a for sale by owner so they could get a “deal” because they KNOW the seller can come down since they aren’t paying commission. That’s the people I want to negotiate with lol. They target you, so they can get a DEAL. Hmm. You want more money, they want a deal. Idk how that works.
I know, plenty of people have sold their home themselves and no one died. Everything was just fine. There’s a lot to know, and once you agree on the price, there will be inspections, repair requests, and if they are using an FHA or VA loan, there will typically be minor repairs required by the appraiser in order to close the loan. It can be tricky to navigate. If you decide to list your home yourself, please don’t do the things above. We are here to help, even if you don’t use our services. However, we know how stressful it can be, we have made it our mission to make it easier for you, to take things off your plate, so you can focus on the other important parts of your life. If you need us, we are here!
Have questions or need us to list your home?
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