Most people sell their home through a realtor or real estate agent. Often, with this option, you can trust the process to your realtor and they’ll take it from there. But that’s not the only option! Like most choices in life, hiring a realtor has its upsides and its downsides. If you’re on the fence, here are 5 pros and 5 cons of selling your home via a realtor.
Pro #1 Realtors are professionals at selling homes
Realtors sell homes on a regular basis, and most of them know how to get the job done from start to finish. Most realtors will do their best to make the process as seamless as possible for you.
Pro #2 Realtors help you avoid paperwork/red tape
Paperwork is one of the hardest parts of selling a house in the traditional way, and thankfully, your realtor is a pro and helping you avoid paperwork and red tape! You’ll have to sign a few documents, but you won’t have to worry about the majority of the paperwork.
Pro #3 Realtors will market and negotiate for you
Few home sellers are expert marketers or negotiators. That’s what your realtor is there for!
Pro #4 Realtors have extensive networks of professionals to help you out
Your realtor gives you access to contractors, home stagers, and others who can help you get your property ready to sell.
Pro #5 Realtors are very familiar with your local community/housing market
One of the biggest hidden bonuses of a realtor is that they know your community inside and out. This helps them succeed as they market the property and search for buyers.
Con #1 There’s no guarantee that your home will sell quickly
Sometimes, homes just don’t sell quickly. They may spend several months on the market in spite of all the time, effort, marketing, staging and repairs. It might be your realtor’s fault, it might be the market, it might be a lack of good buyers… but the bottom line is, when you list through a realtor, there are no guarantees.
Con #2 You’ll probably have to clean, repair, and stage your home
Usually, before you can sell your house through a real estate agent, you’ll have to make some repairs, do a lot of cleaning, and make sure your home is staged and ready to sell.
Con #3 Showings and open houses are time-consuming
If you still live in your home, you’ll have to clean and tidy it up and exit the property every time there’s a showing or an open house. This can be a bit of a hassle even if your real estate agent does their best to make it easy on you.
Con #4 As the seller, you’ll pay the commission for both the seller’s and buyer’s agents
Think you’ll walk away with the full list price of your home? Unfortunately, that’s not even close to the case. You’ll pay thousands in commissions and fees for the services of your realtor as well as the buyer’s realtor.
Con #5 Even with a realtor, your buyers may fall through
Your realtor doesn’t have control over buyers backing out or falling through. So, you and your realtor might go to all the effort of finding the right buyer only for the sale to collapse at the last minute. This can be very frustrating.
Here at MarketPro Homebuyers, we aim to help you as much as a realtor would help you while also helping you bypass the stresses and worries of the traditional house-selling process. We are trusted, local real estate experts with lots of experience and connections. We will purchase your home quickly, reliably, and fairly, and we can even purchase properties as-is: no repairs or even cleaning necessary!
