If you are serious about selling your home, selling it on your own in this market, is not the best way to do it. Here’s the brutal truth as to why:
In a Buyer’s Market, I have been representing many buyers lately. Most are “First Time Home Buyers”, using FHA loans (that’s who’s doing the most lending these days). FHA grants loans up to $280,000.00 – ish (it fluctuates). Anything under that amount is in a hot market right now.
A First Time Home Buyer is new to the housing market, therefore they will 99% of the time use a Realtor. My 1st priority is to protect my client, such as clear title, mold, inspection, proper disclosures, Chinese dry wall, etc… Knowing that and knowing that other Realtors must abide by certain laws and ethics as I do, I am going to only show my clients homes listed by other Realtors (remember…this is truth…others may not actually say this, but they’ll do it).
Another market is the “High End Buyer”. These are professionals who unless they are in Real Estate, are too busy to sweat the details of purchasing a home. They too will go to a reputable agency, and hire us to do the hard stuff.
That’s just some of the basics as to why Realtor’s won’t show your property, and you are limiting your market base. If you want to hear more reasons, please feel free to call me.
Now here is why you might be selling yourself short…
As a Realtor I must keep up with everything that is going on in the market. There are sooooo many options available, for many different situations. For instance do you know all of the options you may have if you’re “flipped” on your mortgage? There are ways to resolve this AND stay in your home (if that’s what you want to do), even if you have been behind on your payments. You can also do a “Short Sale”, which depending on your situation may not always effect your credit negatively. I personally do not list Short Sale properties on my own, I partner with a Realtor in my office that is a Certified Short Sale Specialist. That way my clients always get the proper representation. I handle the maintenance and marketing of the listing (that’s what I’m especially good at). The other reason why I do this, is that I am not a true believer in mitigation firms (we can discuss that at a later time if you would like).
Another reason is the temperamental mortgage market. I can’t even tell you how many deals fall through, due to financing. And many of those buyers were prequalified! Due to the current housing market, Realtors typically ONLY take out buyers that are pre-qualified, WITH a qualified lender. That also saves you time from chasing a buyer’s financing around. I am honestly in this business to help people. I have noticed many “For Sale By Owner” properties either end up in pre-foreclosure OR listed with an Agent. Save yourself the time and aggravation. I would also recommend researching Realtors. You can quickly “Google” their name, and see what sites they use to market themselves and their listings. Also check out their website…if it’s just a “heap” on the web…maybe they’re not E-savvy.