7 Reasons Why FSBO Is A Huge Risk

At the moment, the housing market is as hot as ever. Everything seems to be in the seller’s favor. Market conditions have homeowners thinking it’s easy to sell their home at any price. However, selling a home yourself as a “FSBO” (for sale by owner) is extremely risky. This is especially true right now. Here are seven reasons why FSBO is not recommended or necessary.

In this sellers market, anyone who lists their home will likely receive several or even dozens of offers in a relatively short time frame. Home offers are very complex and involve a lot of factors that most people would find extremely confusing and time-consuming to read through. When you go into the home selling process alone, you’ll have to sift through multiple offers, respond to each, and try to figure out how to choose the best one for you.

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If you have an agent, though, this process is a lot easier. Agents are trained to be able to sift through all of this paperwork, determine which offers are serious and which one is ultimately the best one for you. Having an agent there to walk you through the process of comparing and choosing an offer will definitely come in handy.

Remember that the home buyers will likely have an agent representing them. It makes sense to have a professional representing you, too.

Scheduling showings is a very stressful endeavor, especially now with the massive amount of buyers who will likely be trying to view your home. It’s very difficult to manage the dozens of phone calls, texts, and emails from various buyers and buyers’ agents attempting to contact you about a home showing.

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This is where an agent comes in. Listing agents are able to balance all of the complex scheduling that comes with showing a home. They will get as many people as possible to see the house, while still building it around your daily schedule and needs. Plus, agents have tools to help manage showings that simply aren’t available to homeowners.

There are a lot of subtle factors when it comes to listing a property. Even though homes are selling fast, there are still many homes that buyers don’t want to touch for various reasons – overpriced, poor condition, low-quality pictures, lack of staging, or any number of factors. Selling a home can be extremely difficult if it hasn’t been listed properly. In fact, even during this Seller’s Market, some homes are going stale, getting reduced, and selling for much less than the listing price. Selling a home takes more effort than simply putting a sign in the yard.

An amazing agent knows how to manage all of this and create a listing that is appealing to buyers. They have the knowledge and resources to be able to price a home properly, take high-quality photos, and advise the seller on repairs and staging. A great agent will help you prepare your home to sell quickly and profitably with less stress.

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Selling a home is not like selling an armoire on Facebook Marketplace. If you mess up, it could cost you BIG TIME. Selling a home without the help of an experienced REALTOR can be enticing, but it isn’t always wise. For starters, you may not be aware of all the local regulations in regard to selling property. Additionally, common mistakes like miscalculating the current market value of your home or failing to properly list disclosures could leave you open to potential lawsuits. An experienced real estate agent has the expertise to help you navigate through the complexities of the process. They also have a network of other real estate professionals such as title agents to make sure all t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted.

It’s hard to tell how serious a buyer is about your home, especially in a market where buyers tend to put in offers on as many homes as possible, due to the fear that one or more homes will sell. This means that many buyers are not truly invested in your home specifically, as it is just one of many.

Listing agents have worked with hundreds of buyers in the past, and they know how to tell when someone is truly invested in a home. From there, they will be able to help with the various negotiations surrounding the home-buying process.

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The average homeowner isn’t aware of the laundry list of things that can go wrong during the process of selling a home. What if something comes up in the home inspection? What if the buyer’s financing goes wrong? What if there are unforeseen delays? What if the buyer just decides to back out? These are just a few “what ifs” that need to be thought about when trying to sell a home, and it’s hard to juggle this while trying to maintain your day-to-day life outside of selling. It is the listing agent’s job to maintain this balancing act during the selling process, and keep the seller informed about everything that’s going on.

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It’s often difficult for a buyer and seller to come to a consensus when it comes to the actual exchange of a house. Post-closing occupancy agreements need to be worked out, and many things that can be difficult to understand.

Listing agents can help to negotiate and fill in some gray areas during this process. Post-closing occupancy is becoming more and more common, and without a listing agent, it can be a nightmare to deal with.

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If you’re thinking about selling your Columbus, OH home, you’ve got lots of options! There’s really no reason to attempt to list your home yourself. Rita Boswell can help you sell your home fast for top dollar with less stress. We have years of experience in all types of housing markets and proven strategies.

Plus, homes sold with a real estate agent generally sell for 25% more than FSBOs. That means that on a $400,000 home, a FSBO could lose over $100,000. That loss is far more than an agent’s commission. And, a FSBO still has to pay commission to the buyer’s agent.

If you really, REALLY want to sell your home yourself, but you want to limit your risk, we can help. You can find the buyer, and we’ll handle the paperwork for just 1 percent. Learn more about our 1% Seller Assist service.

Another possibility to sell your house fast is to get a fair cash offer. That means NO repairs, NO staging, and NO open houses. We can help you get a fair, all-cash offer for your home.

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Wondering how much your home could sell for right now? Easily get an idea of how much your home is worth with our instant home value estimator. If you have questions about selling your home, please contact Realtor Rita Boswell at 614-830-9767.