IS SELLING BY OWNER AN OPTION FOR YOU?
So, you are thinking about selling your home yourself, before you put that sign in the yard, here are a few points to consider.
If you are looking at the “numbers” and want to avoid hiring a professional Realtor to represent you thus avoiding paying commission for their services, there is another number you may want to consider. According to the 2016 profile of buyers and sellers, only 5% of home purchases were made directly from previous owner last year. Of that number, 2% knew the owner previous to the transaction. So, if you are looking to sell it yourself, the “numbers” are stacked against you with only a 5% chance of success.
A second number you may want to consider is where those same buyers found the home they purchased. For 2016, a record 50% found the home they purchased searching the internet. Here again, a professional Realtor who is affiliated with the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors has the opportunity to advertise your home to over 80 sites and provide maximum exposure to home buyers. There are several options for an individual to place a home for sale on the internet, but the list pales in comparison to what a Realtor can bring to the table.
Still considering going it alone, there is one more number you may want to take into account. Of the 5.45 million homes sold nationally in 2016, 88% of those transactions were processed through a Real
Estate Agent/broker. If you are avoiding hiring an experienced Realtor, thinking you are eliminating a cost, well you are also eliminating the greatest source of qualified buyer leads.
The last number I would surface for your consideration today is harder to measure and that is the value of your personal safety. Are you really opening your door and guiding strangers through your home or worse yet, hiding a key/ leaving a door open for them to enter alone? In order to be a licensed Realtor in Tennessee, you must not only attend education and pass a state examination, you must also pass a background check, be insured and be affiliated with a brokerage. The lockbox assigned to your home by a local GCAR member is electronic and all activity can be tracked to the minute it was opened and can only opened by via a special “key” which is obtained from GCAR.
So, before you stick a sign in the yard, call an experienced Realtor who is affiliated with the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors to give you their expert opinion of what your home may bring and how long it will take to sell. My experience tells me that you will find that you can get more money in a faster time frame by working with a Realtor and not leave yourself and family at risk of harm.
The Greater Chattanooga Association of REALTORS is The Voice of Real Estate in Greater Chattanooga. The Association is a regional organization with more than 1,700 members and is one of more than 1,400 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors.
GCAR services Hamilton and Sequatchie counties in southeast Tennessee, and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in northwest Georgia. Go to www. GCAR.net for more information.