Selling Your Columbia SC Home By Owner
Selling your Columbia SC home yourself and going the "For Sale By Owner" route is a well-intentioned concept. The most common reason people do it is to save money on commission — the sales fee that is split between real estate agents and brokers.
Who doesn't want to save money? But the reality is, many sellers who sell "By Owner" end up losing money and go through a great deal of stress in the process.
Selling your Columbia SC home is a multifaceted process — much more than just putting a "For Sale" sign in your yard and listing it online. Even if you have experience in real estate, you'll probably be selling yourself short by selling your Columbia SC home without the use of a licensed, experienced agent. Let's look at some of the ways how.
Reasons Not To Be Selling Your Columbia SC Home Yourself
Pricing.
Real estate agents know how to price the market using reliable, real-time data. Some FSBO homes are underpriced because the seller doesn't realize the true market value.
Most FSBO homes are overpriced — sellers often get greedy or unrealistic because they love their home for sentimental reasons or read too much in the news. A real estate agent takes emotion out of the equation helps you set your price based on current data and market conditions.
Exposure.
It's a seller's market right now. It's not uncommon for real estate agents to get multiple offers on a properly priced home shortly after it goes on the market. But that demand is created through exposure — exposure that leads to more potential buyers becoming aware of the availability of your home for sale.
FSBO severely limits that exposure. A real estate agent has the ability to market your home on avenues such as the MLS (multiple listing service).
Negotiations.
First, there's the complicated issue of agreeing on a sales price or of handling multiple offers. That's actually the easy part. Navigating and troubleshooting the many steps that result in a successful closing is where a real estate agent's expertise is vital. The most difficult part of a real estate transaction is from the contract to the closing — a place where deals can very easily fall apart. A qualified real estate agent has a wealth of experience of inspections and negotiations under his or her belt. The average seller may have only been through this process once or twice.
An experienced professional real estate agent can guide you through selling your Columbia SC home and avoid the countless pitfalls and liabilities that can catch a homeowner by surprise. These problem areas could include legal, logistical and even ethical issues that homeowners can fall victim to. Real estate agents have been educated, trained and certified to handle all of these issues.
If these factors don't scare you, then perhaps For Sale By Owner is the route for you. If they do, then you just might want to consider hiring a licensed real estate agent to help you in selling your Columbia SC home.
For more tips on selling your Columbia SC home, see our section on Columbia SC Home Selling Tips to your right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.