In the age of “Google”, anyone can quickly look up advice on how to do practically anything you can imagine. And advice on how to sell your own home is in no short supply. In this environment it is entirely legal and possible for a person to sell their home or property without a licensed Realtor. Its also entirely legal and possible for someone from Topeka to travel by bicycle through Thailand without a tour guide. It is possible, and we’ve all heard of people who were able pull it off. But, like doing Southeast Asia on a Huffy without a guide, its also not a great idea. So for anyone reading this who is considering going solo on the sale of your home or property because you imagine it will save you money, just give me two minutes to ask you a few questions.
First, do you really want, in addition to your full-time job and family life, to try to analyze current market conditions and predict trends in order to figure out how much you should ask for your home? Are you willing to risk loosing sleep over whether you are charging too much or leaving money on the table? Do you want to handle booking and paying for professional photos and possibly video to put your home’s best foot forward for online lookers? Do you want to manage scheduling and herding a potentially large number of complete strangers through your home at all hours of the day while also attempting to subtlety convince them that they should buy it? Do you delight in the possibility of dealing with the endless scenarios involved in negotiating repairs with a tense buyer who has an ominous 30 page inspection report in hand? Do you know how to respond if the property doesn’t appraise for the negotiated amount? Are you thrilled at the prospect of needing to convincingly “play it cool” in front of potential buyers and pretend you don’t feel desperate to sell when all the while you are feeling inwardly frantic to get a buyer on the hook?
When the first buyer backs out two weeks from closing, are you you prepared to start all over again? Do you understand that the process can sometimes go on for months or longer? And what happens if something major breaks right after you complete the sale and the new owners accuse you of knowing there was a problem and lying to them? And what if they decide to sue? It doesn’t usually happen that way, but it happens more often than people think. Real Estate brokerages carry insurance specifically for the potential of such lawsuits and experienced Realtors are very accustomed to dealing with all of the aforementioned scenarios with a cool resolve. Our job is put our study and understanding of the market to use in your specific situation, to usher you through the process, and to watch out for your best interest along the path. Not only can a skillful realtor help protect you from the many pitfalls often associated with selling a property, and in the process many times save you more money in the end.