Every time we encounter a HOT real estate market, we witness the emergence of alternative methods to buy and sell the property. However, even in the hottest markets, more than 90% of Canadians still chose to enlist the services of a professional real estate agent to sell their homes.
‘For Sale By Owner’ companies advertise a unique system for selling real estate promising thousands of dollars in saved commissions. They will tell you the process will be stress-free (which it isn’t), you will save tons of money (which is not always the case) and that you don’t have to pay commissions (which is never true if an agent brings the buyer to your home). The reality is that you will most likely have to pay a 2.5% commission to an agent who is out actively searching for properties for his client. This results in a 2.5% savings to the seller. Calculating the time and expense necessary to market a home properly, the stress of walking strangers through your home, and the uncomfortable situation of having to negotiate the sale price of the home, do you really save any money? Also, untrained real estate negotiators will rarely get top dollar for their home as they do not have all of the information at their disposal to back up their reasons for keeping the price where it should be sold at.
If it was that easy, wouldn’t more people be doing it? What if I told you that even the owner and founder of ‘ForSaleByOwner.com’ couldn’t sell his property on his own and had to list with an agent? Not only could this guy not sell it on his own, when he enlisted the services of a real estate professional, but he also sold for $150,000 over what he originally listed it for. The ‘unique selling system’ they are selling you is unique in the fact that you will most likely end up hiring a real estate professional to do the selling for you.
Also, a large portion of the 10% who attempt it on their own, end up hiring a real estate professional as it is not as easy as they had originally thought, considerably more stress then they had expected, and finally found the value in hiring a real estate professional to get the job done.
It should also be noted that these companies that help people sell properties on their own are not regulated and not licensed to sell real estate. Ask yourself if you would hire someone with no experience and hire a company that is not regulated to manage the sale of your largest financial investment? Would you take your car to a mechanic that wasn’t licensed to fix your car? Would you hold your life savings in an unregulated bank? Would you seek legal advice from your cousin Billy Jim Bob who has not passed his bar exam but has ‘a pretty good idea of how this law stuff works’? It is often attractive to look at the cheaper option, but as in most cases, people always know that you get what you pay for.
Real estate professionals are far from perfect, but if you do your research and interview carefully, you will find one that will help guide you through the difficult process of drafting a contract and negotiating a contract. You will have someone on your side who will answer your phone calls when everyone else is gone for the day. You will have a trusted partner who is obligated by law to serve your best interests. You will have an expert who is qualified, educated and regulated to help protect the largest investment your family will ever make. And if you are still not sure about the benefits of hiring a realtor, just ask the owner of ‘ForSaleByOwner.com’.
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