Are you interested in selling your home? It can be hard work. Listing your home on websites, figuring out the right price to sell, and setting up tours or negotiations is frustrating if you're inexperienced. Hiring a real estate agent to do the work for you can be a big help when you live a busy life or simply don't know what you're doing. It might be worth saving yourself from the hassle of selling your home on your own.
What it's like to sell your home on your own
To put it bluntly, trying to sell your home on your own is absolutely difficult. If you haven't sold a home before, you're almost surely jumping into something you have no idea how to handle. A lot more work goes into the process than most people realize. A real estate agent can make it look easy, but it's not. There's nothing easygoing about the real estate business.
Most people are under-prepared for the competition in the real estate market. It doesn't matter if your home is listed at a lower price than others in the same area; something else will always seem better to someone. Some people don't have experience in the customer service business either, which is an absolute must when trying to push a sale as big as a home. Your home may look nice and have everything a family wants, but it's unlikely to get you anywhere if you don't have the right attitude.
Common mistakes made when selling a home without a real estate agent
Almost every person selling without a real estate agent makes mistakes when listing their home on the market. You may not have the confidence, drive, and/or knowledge on how to put in all the work it takes. Sometimes you need to do some spritzing up your home before anyone considers buying it too.
Emotional attachment
Let's be honest; we all have some sort of emotional attachment to the home we're trying to sell. Even if you've only lived there for a short time, there are likely good memories you don't want to let go of. Selling your home doesn't mean you don't get to take those memories with you, but it can make things harder on a person when they're trying to do it on their own.
Pricing
Don't expect to receive the asking price for your home. It will not happen in most cases. Sometimes a person gets lucky, and a buyer offers the asking price immediately, or they'll offer more if someone else has already bid on the home, but that’s an exception. Expect to negotiate with people until you reach a compromise; you won't want to sell your home for less than you feel comfortable selling. You'll typically want to set the price higher than you originally wanted to list it to account for negotiations. That said, people will often set the price at an unrealistic amount. If the price of your home is too high, you aren't likely to get many offers.
Selling at the wrong time
While you can list your home any time you want, the best time to sell is during the spring and summer months. School is out, rental leases are up, and people are just ready for something new. If you decide to list your home in the winter, be prepared to wait a while before closing a sale.
Poor quality or quantity of photos
When listing your home on the market, you will want to have some high-quality photographs available. Take several photos around the home, making sure to get every single room, as well as the front of the house, back of the house, yard, and anything else that may be a selling point for your house. Many people skimp on the listing photos, figuring a few pictures are good enough to get someone interested in touring it, but that's not the case. It may be a good idea to hire a professional photographer to get listing pictures before you sell the home.
Not having insurance
There's always a chance someone viewing your home could have an accident during the tour. If that happens, they might try to sue you for damages. It's important to have homeowner's insurance for that very reason.
Hiding the big issues
It might be tempting to hide some of the major issues of your home, such as a hole in the wall or a broken appliance, but that’s never a good idea. Eventually, a potential buyer will discover the issue, and you'll be deemed an untrustworthy seller. They may even tell others about the experience.
Failing to make the home presentable
We get it. Sprucing up your home can take a lot of effort, even more so if you're worried about this on top of trying to sell your home on your own. Unfortunately, your home is less likely to sell if it hasn't been spruced up in some way. Fix broken things, nicely arrange furniture, and ensure your home is clean before you let anyone tour the property.
Why you should hire a real estate agent
Hiring a real estate agent will make the process of selling your home much easier. With so many things to worry about when making a move, it's nice to have someone knowledgeable to rely on. A realtor will tell you everything you need to do and how much you should price your home, as well as anything else necessary to the sale.
No emotional sales
Rejections can be the most challenging part if you've never sold a home on your own. You probably won't sell your home to the first person who looks at it, and that's okay, but you need to be prepared for the rejection. A real estate agent will help you avoid this problem. You can avoid experiencing the inclination to sell your home at too low a price out of desperation and having to deal with interested buyers on your own.
Price negotiations
A real estate agent is skilled in price negotiations. They've likely done these dozens of times already and know when it's time to let the seller know about an offer. Realtors won't let someone lowball or try to manipulate you into accepting an offer you shouldn't take.
They'll handle the viewings
When you hire a real estate agent, there's no need to worry about dropping what you're doing to take someone on a tour of your home. For a realtor, it's their everyday job. It's probably better if you're out of the house during a viewing, as buyers are often uncomfortable when the current owner of a home is there at the time.
They might notice things you don't
Some things may go unnoticed when you're trying to sell your home. We tend to look over the things we see daily because they may not be a big deal to us. Potential buyers might not see it that way; a minor flaw could mean rejection. A realtor can help you spot these flaws to take care of them. They want you to sell your home, so they definitely won't overlook anything that could cause buyers to stay away.
Legal knowledge
Realtors know what is legal and what isn't when selling and buying a home. A lot of paperwork is involved in a sale, as are a number of legal risks, and it's hard to know what you're doing when you've never sold a home before. A realtor will pay attention to the contract and seller's disclosures to ensure you can't be held liable for anything related to the process. It's essential to make sure everything is done right!
Don't dive into the housing market alone
Whether buying or selling a home, you need to hire a realtor. You always want to ensure you're avoiding a scam, unqualified buyers, and lowball offers on your home. Going through the process alone is stressful, but even more so if you have to deal with something unexpected. It's best to get it over with and hire a real estate agent to handle the dirty work for you. You'll be grateful you did once you close that sale on your home!
Partner with Team Hensley today
Now that you know how difficult the process of selling a home really is, it's time to contact one of the agents at Team Hensley. We're Midlothian and Chesterfield real estate experts, and a founding agent for Compass Real Estate in the Richmond area, so if you're selling a home in the area, be sure to inquire about our services. We won't cut corners or push you to take an offer you can't accept either. Our goal is to sell your home and leave all of our customers happy and satisfied.
