WP Stevenson & Companies

Many people can and do successfully sell their homes on their own without the help of a realtor and the expenses of sales commissions to the Broker.

If you are the kind of person that enjoys selling cars by running ads in the newspaper you will probably want to attempt selling your home the same way.

A few words of practical warning however are in order.

• Are you prepared to write a contract and open escrow?
• Are you prepared for home, and termite inspections, and walk throughs?
• Are you ready to open your home up to complete strangers and literally let them walk around in your house and look in your closets and bathrooms?
• Can you keep your emotions in check when dealing with a buyer who offers you $50,000 less than your asking price?
• Are you ready - and I mean absolutely ready to open up the flood gates to absolutely every Real Estate agent in your area to stop by and introduce themselves to you?

Real Estate agents are true professionals that watch their given territory like Hawks watch mice in a field. They can read your FSBO signs, and your Open House ads in the newspaper too! They’ll likely come right into your open house, and look the place over before they introduce themselves to you. They’ll want to know if you are willing to offer courtesy to agents? Translation; if I bring you a buyer, will you pay me a 3% commission? Many of these agents will actually have motivated buyers who are actually to the point psychologically where they are ready to write a contract. Unfortunately for the FSBO seller, you’ll never get to meet this buyer if you are unwilling to pay a commission. On the other hand, if you are in no hurry to sell, and can deal with all the aforementioned issues FSBO is a good choice.

Listing has a cost for sure which will be negotiated when the contract is written. Simply put, you get what you pay for. Real Estate agents are real pro’s. Good ones are tenatious as heck and will get your house sold with the minimum of headaches, and minimum amount of time.

A real estate agent is a tool, not a necessity. But if you ever attempted to work on a car for example without the proper tools, you may have looked back and said, “I wish I would have never even started that project.”

On the other hand it would have been cheaper and less expensive to have just taken it to a qualified mechanic or repair station in the first place. So it is with a good Realtor. They have the training and the proper tools at their disposal to get the job done and their commissions are well earned and deserved.