There are good reasons to leave property sales to the
professionals
Do you know Thomas Stevens? I thought not. He happens to be the
current president of the National Association of Realtors. He’s a
little annoyed right now.
The New York Times ran an article on Jan. 3 entitled
”
Owner’s Web Site Gives Realtors Run for Money.
”
It told the story of two middle-aged women who created a
for-sale-by-owner web site in Madison, Wisc., home to the
University of Wisconsin. I visited there once while I was getting
my master’s degree in architecture from the University of Michigan.
Charming college town. Long known for its anti-business sentiment
and liberal politics, it was the perfect place to launch the site.
For a fee
– payable only by check (they don’t accept credit cards) – an
owner can list a home. It is very successful there.
There are good reasons to leave property sales to the professionals
Do you know Thomas Stevens? I thought not. He happens to be the current president of the National Association of Realtors. He’s a little annoyed right now.
The New York Times ran an article on Jan. 3 entitled “Owner’s Web Site Gives Realtors Run for Money.” It told the story of two middle-aged women who created a for-sale-by-owner web site in Madison, Wisc., home to the University of Wisconsin. I visited there once while I was getting my master’s degree in architecture from the University of Michigan. Charming college town. Long known for its anti-business sentiment and liberal politics, it was the perfect place to launch the site. For a fee – payable only by check (they don’t accept credit cards) – an owner can list a home. It is very successful there.
Okay, so on Jan. 4 Thomas Stevens shoots back a letter to the editor. Here is the body of it:
“Your article about a for-sale-by-owner web site in Madison, Wisconsin (January 3, 2006) failed to provide your readers an accurate picture of the advantages and disadvantages of going it alone when making the most important transaction of their lifetime.”
The fact is that using a professional to sell your home more than makes up for the cost, not to mention the savings in time, effort and hassle. The average home sold with the help of a professional last year brought $230,000 while the average home sold by an owner went for only $198,200-a 16 percent difference. It’s no wonder that the percentage of homes sold by owners actually declined last year despite the real estate boom in most areas of the country.
So how do you feel about selling your home by yourself? Let’s look at this from the practical standpoint. First of all the house needs to be readied for sale. You’ll need to get all the repairs done, staying home to meet workers who don’t show up or leave the job half-finished for weeks. (Double that timeframe if you’re doing it yourself!) That’s okay. You can probably endure the pain for a bit. A Realtor would help you find service providers and could help with access to your property if you so desired.
You’ll have to do some research to figure out what your home is worth. Information is available at the assessor’s office and online. Have at it. It might take you awhile to figure out some of the nuances of pricing, but you should be able quickly to make a good guesstimate, as I call it.
Next you’ll need to be available nights and weekends to show your home. Generally speaking that’s when people are free to look at properties. Since the time on the market has extended to 3 to 6 months just go ahead and cancel your social life until June.
Now you keep the house spotless. You live in a museum. People call and say they’re coming to see the house at 3 p.m. They either show up at 6 when you’re all sitting there with spaghetti all over your faces or they don’t show at all and never bother to call.
So you finally get a reasonable offer. Great! Big smiles all around. You begin packing and planning and getting ready to leave. Oops. They can’t qualify for a mortgage. They forgot to mention they declared bankruptcy just before the requirements were tightened. Too bad, so sad. Hit the road, Jack.
Okay, so here comes Buyer Number Two. Big smiles all around once again. Uh, oh. Looks like the transaction is turning into a pile of number two. The buyer wants new carpet, new paint, and a credit for landscaping before the transaction can continue. But you want that money for paint and carpet and tree roses in your new place.
Whoa, doggies. You begin to see the picture, I’m sure.
Okay. Switch places now. How do you feel about buying a house directly from the owner? First of all, ask yourself this question: The seller is asking me to assume some risk by not working with a trained professional acting on my behalf in this transaction. Is the seller willing to share some of that savings with me?
The answer is, of course, “Heck, no.” Oh. So there’s really no upside to buying this home and a lot more risk.
What risk? Well, are you sure the buyer is aware of all the disclosures he or she must make to you? Is all the legally required paperwork in order? Do you really want to chance going it alone for your largest financial investment of your life? Hmmmm.
Of course I can’t tell you what to do. But if I decided tomorrow to give up being a Realtor (which I won’t because I love helping people attain their goals and live their dreams) I would gladly pay an agent a full commission to sell my home. When I sell my home, I want to make money, not save money.
Quick market summary: San Benito County has 25 new listings for a total inventory of 175. South Santa Clara County has 35 new listings for a total of 270. Everything else similar to what we’ve been seeing: More pending release clauses, more expirations and cancellations of listings, longer days on the market. For more information, call your local agent. If you don’t have one, spend a little time finding one now. We’re here for you for more than just a transaction.
And be kind to your Realtor.
