If you are looking to sell your home, you are now deciding if you should choose a real estate agent or to go it on your own. Before you make any decisions that could end up costing you in the long run, you should consider whether flying solo is the right way to go.

Selling your home is a significant financial and emotional undertaking and it would be negligent to reach a verdict without properly considering all of the details below:

Selling your home without an agent

Money is the primary reason that people want to cut out the ‘middleman’ and sell their home by themselves. However, selling without an agent can counterproductive and actually incur in a loss.

There is a great deal of money at stake when you sell your own home. You need to get it right the first time if you want to make it worth your while, so it might not be the ideal route if you do not have the experience.

Real estate agents will sell your property to get you the best outcome possible. That does not necessarily mean you can also sell it for that price on your own. Their wealth of knowledge, skills and property market experience is invaluable when selling your home.

When you consider how much you can save, it is very tempting to sell by yourself, but try to resist this urge, as the potential of loss could be higher than the agent’s commission fee.

Selling your home with an agent

90 percent of all sellers use a listing agent [Source]. There is one reason why so many people choose to enlist an expert rather than do it themselves – it works. There are a number to benefits of using a real estate agent that make them worth their fee. 

They have to act in your best interest

If you are working with an agent, they are legally obligated to act in your best interest.

Experience & specialisation

It takes years of specialised training, experience and local knowledge to attain the ability to sell your home.

Negotiation skills

There is a lot more to a sale than determining the price, getting some photos taken and walking potential buyers through the home. People often have concerns about the state of the property and want to negotiate on the price. A real estate agent can offer solutions to these objections without emotion coming into play.

It’s their job

A real estate agent is a full time job and for good agents, it’s more than a 40 hour work week. If you consider performing the role when you already work full time in a different profession, then you might be underestimating how many hours you need to dedicate to the task.

Tackling the tough stuff

There is another world to real estate agents that you are probably not aware of. Taking calls, replying to enquiries, organise home opens, negotiating, admin etc. Leave this time consuming work to someone who is educated in real estate sales.

Market knowledge

You may have lived in the area for years, but that does not necessarily give you an insight into the real estate market. Real estate agents should be experts in the areas in which they have listings.

Conclusion

In this article, we have looked at the pros and cons of selling your own home versus using a real estate agent.

It is important to understand ‘doing it yourself’ can have financial repercussions and can take a lot of your time. However, if you are experienced, local knowledge and time to sell your home then it can save you some money.

In most cases, people use real estate agents whose job it is to sell your home for the best price possible.

If you have decided to use an agent’s assistance to sell your home, your next step is choose the best real estate agent. Contact Naked Edge Real Estate for more information and highly educated real estate agents in Perth, WA.