These days, it seems like there’s an app or a YouTube video for everything. On the one hand, that’s empowered millions of us to take on projects that we wouldn’t have dared to tackle just a couple of decades ago, which is a great thing. On the other hand though, it’s convinced some people to hurt themselves by avoiding the assistance of specialists when they need it.
In my opinion, deciding to be your own realtor is like deciding to be your own dentist – it might make sense on a spreadsheet, but there’s a good chance you’ll come to regret it later.
Does that seem like an overstatement? I’ll let you decide. Here are four reasons you might not want to list your own home for sale:
#1: The Process of Selling a House Can be Grueling
On television, realtors usually bake cookies, walk potential buyers through homes, and enjoy their commission checks. In reality, just preparing and presenting a single home can amount to a grueling amount of work. In fact, lots of homeowners don’t realize just how much goes into it until they try to do things themselves and discover they would’ve been better off working with a professional.
#2: It’s Good to Have Experienced Help With Open Houses
Even though there are hidden dangers and hassles during almost every part of the home selling process, staging an open house can be particularly tricky and stressful. Preparing the home to increase its “curb appeal” is a big job, and that takes place before guests even start arriving, asking questions, and (sometimes) trying to negotiate prices on the spot. It’s a good idea to have someone with experience in this kind of environment on hand to help you plan and manage the event.
#3: A Good Realtor Can Help You Sell Your Home Faster
No matter how hot or cold the housing market is, a great realtor can help you generate interest in and offers for your home. That, in turn, can translate to a faster, more efficient sale. From things like online descriptions to photographs, landscaping, and appointments with buyers, your realtor should do everything in his or her power to encourage buyers to take the next step. That’s not always possible when you’re working on your own.
#4: You Don’t Want to Handle Contracts and Negotiations Yourself
The big motivation for listing your own home for sale, of course, is the desire to save the realtor’s commission. Even this can be a false economy, though, because a good realtor will “pay for themselves” by generating larger offers for your property. And, even in the cases where they can’t, they can help enormously during the contract and negotiation phase. This is one step you almost certainly don’t want to handle without professional help of some kind, so why not work with a trusted realtor?
Want to see what the right Denver realtor can do for you? Contact True Performance Real Estate today and see how I can help make the process of selling your home less of a hassle.
Call: 303-317-6311