1. Buyers’ agents may be unwilling to show your home to their clients
The harsh reality is that some buyers’ agents have been burned by FSBO deals in the past so they make it a practice to simply avoid them.
For example, some sellers won’t pay the buyer’s agent their fees, or they’ll pay less than agreed on, preventing the agent from recouping their costs on the deal.
2. Your emotions may cost you
There are a lot of memories tied up in your home, so it can be difficult being objective when prospective buyers insult your decor tastes or balk at your listing price.
If you’re aware of this when selling your home you won’t cave to the pressure of a selling deadline or be so offended at a low offer you don’t give a counter-offer.
You can unintentionally give away a sense of desperation or eagerness in your communications, so be aware of this and keep your emotions in check.
3. It will consume much of your time
Your schedule will be dictated by your ability to show your home to interested buyers.
Be aware that you may need to rush home from work to show a prospective buyer your home…maybe even multiple times in a day or week.
Be prepared to have your current schedule continually interrupted and you’ll do fine…otherwise, consider saving the headache and getting an agent.
4. Your network is probably smaller
Even though you list your home across all of the marketing channels available to you, including Zillow, Redfin, Craigslist and even the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) an agent will typically have lots of connections that they can tap to find interested buyers.
5. You’ll have to deal with “tire-kickers”
You’ll probably have some “tire-kickers” or “lookie-lous” who only want to snoop in on your home and aren’t in the market to buy.
Do you know how to weed these types of people out?
If not, you’ll spend lots of wasted hours giving showings and speaking to individuals who neither can nor will ever buy your home.
Who has time for that?
Some kinds of questions you can ask someone who is interested in your house include:
- ⬥ How long have you been looking?
- ⬥ Have you seen any other homes that might work for your needs?
- ⬥ Are you paying cash or have you been pre-qualified?
- ⬥ What schools/amenities/work opportunities, etc. are you looking for?
6. Negotiation can be hard
Even if you’ve got sales experience, negotiating the sale of your home is different because you’re emotionally involved.
If your prospective buyer has an agent, they’ve negotiated many home deals so unless you’re ready for their tactics you could end up taking much less than you could have gotten for your home.
7. You’ll want to get an attorney
There is a lot of paperwork involved in selling a home, so save yourself the headache and the potential for a lawsuit and hire an attorney to handle the closing for you.
You’ll still save a lot of money – an attorney closing is typically thousands of dollars less than what you’d pay in a realtor’s commission.
And while it can be a challenge selling your home without an agent, if you need to get the maximum amount possible from your home sale to secure a new home then it could be the best option for your situation.
