For Sale By Owner, Does It Really Work

With any good piece of advice on house selling, therebecause they didnt have all the paperwork done, or
is always some sort of evidence behind it that showsthe buyer hadnt been properly checked out and
that it can work. Spend two thousand dollars onbacked out late, or the property inspection revealed
gardening and you will increase your sale price bysomething was wrong that would require big money to
$15,000!; Sometimes you will. Other times you will justfix. At the same time, there are plenty of happy sale
blow through $2,000 and still have to settle for belowby owner sellers for whom everything went great, but
market rates on the sale. I sold my house by auctiondo you really want to take the chance on something
and got $20,000 over asking!; That person probably didgoing wrong, and do you really want to give all those
just that, but did they mention what happens when thethousands of dollars to a realtor driving a Lexus, while
auction doesnt fetch a high price?you are getting by on a 14-year-old Toyota?
The one piece of advice that we, as real estateThere is another way. More and more, home sellers
professionals, always hear is I am going to try to sell itwho know they are going to make a profit on their
myself and save the realtor commission andsale are deciding to forego the realtor route, as well as
sometimes, wouldnt you know it, such a tactic actuallythe sale by owner option, and are choosing to sell
works.instead to companies that buy properties fast, for a
But other times, it doesnt, and the homeowner is leftslightly lower price than a realtor would be looking for,
watching the value of their home drop, while theand have money in your hand today instead of in six
mortgage ticks up.months time.
So what is the inside scoop should you try to sell byThese companies look at what your property is worth
owner? Is it worth it to save a 6% commission? Theas is - give you that price for it, and then they spend
honest truth is, sometimes but there is very littlethe thousands of dollars and months of time, and
chance of actually figuring out when that sometimes isweeks of labor and sweat, to bring the property up to
going to happen.its maximum value. For companies like these, they
Real estate agents do provide a valuable service forhave the resources to sit on a property for months of
all the money they take off you. They will guide youeven years waiting for the house to reach its potential;
through the sales process, tell you what thesomething that many home owners simply cant afford
weaknesses in your property are, they will run ads forto do.
you online and in print, they will handle the paperwork,So if your property price is not moving like you would
negotiate a price there is a reason they take as muchlike it to be, and your house requires a lot of money
cash for their time, and that is that they are good atspent to bring about a decent price in return, think
what you are not the inside info.about exploring that third option, and get the money
Added to that, more than a few property ownersyou need today, so you can upgrade to a new home
have found their sale harpooned at the last momenttomorrow.