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Is Selling A Home For Sale By Owner in Knoxville Worth It?

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Is Selling A Home For Sale By Owner in Knoxville Worth It?
For Sale By Owner in KnoxvilleFirst, let’s just get this out of the way.  I, along with everyone else I know, like to save money. This is witnessed every year by the frenzied shopping taking place on Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.  People will line up, in the cold, overnight to save a few bucks. So trying to save yourself some money by selling a home For Sale By Owner in Knoxville isn’t surprising.  But that being said, are you really saving yourself money?  Better yet, forget saving money, are you allowing yourself to make the most money possible on the sale of your home?  Statistics say no.

Here is what you need to know:

  • Last year, the typical For Sale By Owner home sold for $184,000, where the typical home sold with the assistance of an agent sold for $230,000.  Therefore, on average, using an agent brought a 20% higher sale price.
  • Last year, only 9% of all homes sold were FSBO.  Of those 9%, 40% of the homes were sold to people who were already known by the sellers.  So really that 9% number is more like 5.4%. The other interesting fact is that the number of homes sold without an agent has decreased year after year.  In the last decade it has gone from 20% to 9%.

The takeaway is this. If you are thinking about selling a home for sale by owner in Knoxville, follow these steps:

  1. Exhaust your friends and family to see if anyone might be interested in buying your home, THEN…
  2. Contact a real estate agent for assistance.  Here is a recap why:
  • Statistics show a higher sales price is imminent with agent assistance.
  • Avoid the possibility of legal action against you (there is a reason agents have so much paperwork… to protect you).
  • This is a huge investment.  You need a professional to guide you.  You wouldn’t perform a do it yourself surgery would you?
  • There is a reason why the numbers of FSBO sales are dwindling.  One it’s hard, and two it’s ineffective.

For help with selling your home in Knoxville, contact Troy Stavros at 865-999-0925 to sit down and talk about your goals, and how he can help you make a strategy to reach them.

SOURCE: National Association of REALTORS Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2013

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