In this hot sellers’ market, should you skip the Realtor and go it alone?
By Patricia Nugent
Splashed across the pages of Mimi Magazine, chatted about at water coolers and coffee shops, and at the top of homeowners’ minds is the fact that local real estate is currently a sellers’ market.
The perfect storm of conditions (short supply of homes on the market not meeting the demand of buyers, for instance) has driven the average home price up, shortened the time a house will be on the market, and made multiple offers a common occurrence.
If sellers hold all the proverbial cards—and getting top dollar for your home is like taking candy from a baby—why wouldn’t you cut out the Realtor and sell your house by owner? Put that hefty commission right back in your pocket?
It’s Not that Simple
We caught up with local real estate expert Denise Zervos for some answers. Along with her husband, Mark, she owns The Neighborhood Experts at Platinum Real Estate and has spent decades in the industry.
“We totally understand why people would think they can save money by selling their own home,” she says. “But in the end, that’s not realistic for many reasons. Hiring a professional Realtor can net you more money in the end and help avoid dangerous and costly pitfalls.”
Rule #1: Never Leave Money on the Table
Denise reports that for a flat fee, her firm often will provide purchase agreements for people who have sold their house themselves, making sure it’s covering all pertinent information and provide follow up coordination.
“Most of the time, when we review, we say to ourselves that we could’ve earned the home seller more money if we had represented them, and reflect on the many ways they left money on the table,” she says.
She explains an example scenario. A homeowner puts his or her home on the market for $200,000. You can immediately take $2,000 off that figure to hire an attorney to prepare the contracts. Then subtract three percent, or $6,000, which is the average you’d pay a buyer’s agent commission, who has the buyer’s best interest in mind. This takes your net down to $194,000.
If you had started with a real estate agent, who has the marketing and negotiating skills to know to bump your price up 10 percent, you’d start at $220,000. From that, if you subtract our fee of six percent, or $13,200, you’d net $206,800. At the end of the day, by hiring a Realtor you’d actually be $12,800 ahead.
Watching out for Red Flags
“With nearly every sale, there are red flags to watch out for,” she says. “As Realtors, this is what we are trained to uncover and fix what needs to be fixed for a deal to go through smoothly.”
She ticks off the pitfalls from A to Z.
“First of all, most home sellers don’t realize they need to verify that pre-approved buyers actually have the assets in the bank,” she explains. “You need to call and check. This isn’t something you can simply trust people about. During purchase negotiations, do you know how to cultivate a deal that is in your best interest? When you execute a sales agreement, who holds the initial good faith deposit? Do you know how to best manage the closing date?”
The bottom line is, selling your home is a complicated and overwhelming responsibility. Before you decide to sell, it’s in your best interest to sit down with a Realtor and weigh your options.
“I would say in all the people we’ve worked with over the years who sell by owner, about one in 50 gets everything right,” she says.
Platinum Real Estate has offices in Northeast Ohio, Columbus and Florida. The new Platinum Center headquarters is located at 7200 Center Street in Mentor. To get more information, call 216-990-2100 or 440-974-SALE and visit YourNeighborhoodExpert.com.