With a good market for homes in Farragut and Knoxville, some sellers might be seduced into trying to sell their home on their own without the assistance of a real estate professional (or For Sale By Owner Knoxville TN or FSBO). So if you choose to try that route, what can you expect? First and foremost you can expect to negotiate.
While good real estate agents in Knoxville and Farragut are trained and have years of experience in negotiation, in most cases, folks selling their home for sale by owner do not. Especially in the negotiation of real estate. While studies show that using a real estate agent, on average, nets a homeowner 13% more on the sale of their home, why is that?
Here are the reasons:
NEGOTIATION: Here is who you, as someone selling For Sale By Owner, will have to negotiate with because you don’t have a REALTOR®:
- The potential buyer who is looking to buy the house at the lowest price possible
- The buyer’s agent who’s job is to ONLY represent the best interests of the buyer
- The buyer’s attorney (should they choose to use one)
- The home inspector who works ONLY for the buyer and who will undoubtedly find issues with your home.
- The termite company if issues arise.
- The buyer’s lender to make sure financing is on track and also in the event that you are asked to participate towards closing costs and prepaids.
- The home appraiser in the event there is a question of value and you are required to provide information on how you priced your home.
- The title company should there be any questions regarding prior ownership, liens on the property from contractors, permit issues or any other challenges with certificate of occupancy.
- The town or county in the event you need to get the information to give to the title company for proof.
- They agent and or person buying the buyer’s house in the event there are any snags in the sale of their home (as most buyers will be selling a home to purchase yours).
- Your bank in the case of a short sale.
MARKET EXPOSURE (it’s simple supply and demand. The more eyeballs that see the home, the more interested buyers, the higher the selling price. With over 90% of buyers looking for their home online, professional marketing is crucial. That marketing is using high quality pictures and video and putting those pictures and video on ALL of the available real estate portals that buyers use to search. I mean let’s be honest, do you really think you can expose your home to more people than a professional agent?
WHERE ARE THE BUYERS? First, as stated above, they are on the internet, but 2nd and just as important, the buyers are working with real estate agents. From above we know that over 90% of buyers use the Internet to search for homes, and that’s huge. But just as huge from the perspective of a home seller is the statistic that says that 90% of home buyers who used the Internet to search for a home, ultimately purchased through a real estate agent!
As you can see, there is quite a bit that goes into selling a home in Farragut and Knoxville. And we haven’t even touched on paperwork. The paperwork involved in selling and buying a home has dramatically increased with the ongoing addition of disclosures to protect all parties and additional mandatory regulations. Going it alone may open you up to legal issues down the road. This, along with many other reasons, is why the percentage of homeowners choosing to sell For Sale By Owner in Knoxville and Farragut has dropped significantly. Nationally, people selling FSBO has dropped from 19% to 9% over the last 20+ years. Heck, I even read in an article that the Chief Executive of BuyOwner.com, when it came time to sell his Florida mansion, decided to list with a real estate agent instead of going it alone. If that story wasn’t enough, a few years back, Colby Sambrotto, the CEO of ForSaleByOwner.com, also called in a real estate agent when it was time to sell his home. That’s pretty telling! Two high powered executives, of companies trying to convince people to sell homes through their FSBO sites, recognized the value in using a real estate professional.
Obviously the choice is yours, but before you decide to tackle the myriad of challenges involved in selling your home For Sale By Owner, sit down with a professional in your marketplace to see what they have to offer. If you are in Farragut or Knoxville, contact me, Troy Stavros with Gables & Gates, REALTORS and I’d be happy to sit down and talk about your situation and how I can help. Interested in finding out what your home could sell for? CLICK HERE.