The Advantages Of Having A Private Home Sale
Are you thinking about putting your house up for sale but not sure you want to use a real estate agent and lots of marketing? A private sale means you handle much of the work yourself, including the marketing and the legal transaction, often with the help of a real estate attorney. That's not an easy process, but many people choose to go this route because of the various benefits it can offer. However, there are drawbacks to be sure, such as having to negotiate with prospective buyers and a keen eye for advertising your property.
The National Association of Realtors states that, in 2020, 7% of home sales were for-sale-by-owner properties. About 34% of people who sold this way did not actively market the home, while about 26% put a yard sign out front and waited for buyers to come to them. Is this the right route for you? Here's a look at some of the advantages.
You don't pay commission
One of the biggest benefits you'll see from selling your home yourself is the elimination of most of the commission. Now, this depends on several things. Typically, according to Entrepreneur, the commission on a home sold by a traditional real estate agent is about 6%, though this can differ from one state to the next. The commission is how a real estate agent is paid for their work, but if you don't have an agent, you don't have to pay them for the service. On a home valued at $300,000, that's $18,000.
There could be some other costs you will have to pay for, such as covering the cost of your own marketing, having professional photos done, and handling tasks like hiring an attorney for the real estate sales contract. Also, if you accept an offer from a buyer who has an agent, you may have to pay their fee, which could be half of the sales commission typically charged depending on the agreement you make.
You control the process
When you work with a real estate agent, they call a lot of the shots or at least provide guidance to you on how to sell your property. However, when you choose a private sale where you'll sell your own home, you control the entire process, states Money Crashers. There's no doubt that some agents can be an exceptional asset to the process of supporting the seller, but other times, you may just want to do it yourself.
Sometimes real estate agents may push you to lower your listing price to close on the property faster, or they may tell you that you need to make significant repairs or changes to the home to get the most for your sale. On the other hand, selling the property yourself gives you control over those aspects. You also have more command over when people can come to look at your home or what types of concessions you're willing to offer to get the sale.
You can put all of your attention into the sale
Perhaps you have time to dedicate to the home selling process, but most of the time, a real estate agent will have more than one client they are working with at a time. That means their attention is divided among several clients, and it's not solely focused on selling your property. You just have one house to sell, and that means you can put as much attention toward it as you would like.
This way, you can put more time into marketing the place, meeting with prospective buyers, and managing the day-to-day tasks of selling the home, says Maximum Exposure Real Estate. This is an advantage to you if you really do work on the process, such as meeting with potential buyers day and night and ensuring you're available when they are. However, this may not be the ideal situation if you don't have that type of time to invest.
Consider an alternative
While a private home sale may refer to the process of selling your property on your own, it may also refer to selling it with more privacy but still helped by a real estate agent. This private sale type would be best for those looking for an alternative that somewhat blends listing with an agent and selling on your own.
Forbes Advisor states that you can sell your home off-market, which means it is not heavily advertised on the MLS or real estate sites where anyone can see it. Instead, your agent works to find a buyer for you more discreetly. There is a private listing network, for example, that allows them to list a property for potential buyers but shields personal information from anyone other than licensed agents.
This could help you to preserve your privacy in the process. Of course, you'll still pay your agent, but this could be a way to test the market before launching on the MLS or even to sell your investment property without worrying your renters.