The Pride of Do it yourself Home Sellers
There’s something special that happens when we all can save some money, especially large chunks versus paying a company. Like when you fix a problem on your car or repair that busted pipe under your sink.
While there’s a financial savings – we all love that, there’s also a sense of pride. You did not need a professional to perform a service; you were able to handle the task without the so-called “credentials” of being a licensed mechanic; you are a renaissance man (or woman).
I think this feeling is true when selling your home. I help a lot of people that want to get top dollar for their property, but I also encounter several homeowners have a more jaded view of real estate professionals and the sales process. As one homeowner put it, “Why would I pay someone to do the same thing I can do?” And as another homeowner told me, “I know my house better than any agent – I have lived here 10 years; who better else to sell it than me?”
I can smell the pride right through the phone, and rightfully so. Let be clear: before I was an agent, I too, put my house For Sale By Owner. I had similar feelings and undervalued the role of agent and had no clue a hybrid service such as mine existed. I had purchased homes before, and I could sell and negotiate my home, right? Right, I could, except…I could not. And I learned the hard. It really was no fault of my own. It was the result of not understanding the full real estate sales cycle and participating in it.
Education, some say, is the key to success. And with selling your home, I could not agree more. But I don’t mean understanding how to stage, how to clean, blah blah blah; while that’s all important, you’ve heard it before. What I’m speaking of is understanding how real estate sales actually work and how to find ways to maximize the money you make when selling. Once you understand that, you will be a better, more effective seller.
Real estate agents will tell you this all the time. “You need to be on the MLS to get top dollar.” True, but unfortunately a high majority do not explain why. Perhaps this will help all of us and continue to create an more efficient ecosystem of home selling.
Most people think they need to be on the MLS for the “marketing.” That’s part of it, but that’s not really the most important part. You need to be on the MLS because that is the marketplace where residential real estate for more than 100 years has been bought and sold. This regulated system of buying and selling works and while it can always be improved, is currently the best way to get top dollar when selling your house.
Why is the MLS so important? Because it’s a place where real estate agents and cooperate and compete. It’s a relationship business to some extent between agents. Think of it as a distribution channel. Dozens of writers self-publish books, but never get the attention and/or sales they desire because the book distribution is peanuts compared to a big publishing company. The big boys have systems in place and it just works; self-publishing, like selling on your home on your own, works occasionally – but you have better have a stellar home, a stellar market, and some luck on your side.
Again – like a book – it’s no fault of your own. The content of the book could be amazing, but you just need the distribution of a big company. Your house could be amazing as well, but agents that have buyers need to know you are cooperating with them. And all agents cooperate on the local MLS.
Is it fair? Well, that’s subjective, and honestly, does not really matter. For most people, what matters is getting your house sold fast, and making as much as money at the closing table. There are ways to work around the high listing commission rates – that’s what I do – but I’m not attempting to reinvent the wheel and create my own new real estate marketplace.
My suggestion is working with the confines and maximizing your efforts to get top dollar while reducing your expenses with low listing fees. That has proven, and continues to prove, the best way to make the most money when selling your house. And on the note of “making the most money:” Selling fast, as you know, counts. That reduces your vacancy costs (mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities) and reduces your risk of something bad happening to your property (theft, HVAC issues, yard work, etc.)
While there’s a financial savings – we all love that, there’s also a sense of pride. You did not need a professional to perform a service; you were able to handle the task without the so-called “credentials” of being a licensed mechanic; you are a renaissance man (or woman).
I think this feeling is true when selling your home. I help a lot of people that want to get top dollar for their property, but I also encounter several homeowners have a more jaded view of real estate professionals and the sales process. As one homeowner put it, “Why would I pay someone to do the same thing I can do?” And as another homeowner told me, “I know my house better than any agent – I have lived here 10 years; who better else to sell it than me?”
I can smell the pride right through the phone, and rightfully so. Let be clear: before I was an agent, I too, put my house For Sale By Owner. I had similar feelings and undervalued the role of agent and had no clue a hybrid service such as mine existed. I had purchased homes before, and I could sell and negotiate my home, right? Right, I could, except…I could not. And I learned the hard. It really was no fault of my own. It was the result of not understanding the full real estate sales cycle and participating in it.
Education, some say, is the key to success. And with selling your home, I could not agree more. But I don’t mean understanding how to stage, how to clean, blah blah blah; while that’s all important, you’ve heard it before. What I’m speaking of is understanding how real estate sales actually work and how to find ways to maximize the money you make when selling. Once you understand that, you will be a better, more effective seller.
Real estate agents will tell you this all the time. “You need to be on the MLS to get top dollar.” True, but unfortunately a high majority do not explain why. Perhaps this will help all of us and continue to create an more efficient ecosystem of home selling.
Most people think they need to be on the MLS for the “marketing.” That’s part of it, but that’s not really the most important part. You need to be on the MLS because that is the marketplace where residential real estate for more than 100 years has been bought and sold. This regulated system of buying and selling works and while it can always be improved, is currently the best way to get top dollar when selling your house.
Why is the MLS so important? Because it’s a place where real estate agents and cooperate and compete. It’s a relationship business to some extent between agents. Think of it as a distribution channel. Dozens of writers self-publish books, but never get the attention and/or sales they desire because the book distribution is peanuts compared to a big publishing company. The big boys have systems in place and it just works; self-publishing, like selling on your home on your own, works occasionally – but you have better have a stellar home, a stellar market, and some luck on your side.
Again – like a book – it’s no fault of your own. The content of the book could be amazing, but you just need the distribution of a big company. Your house could be amazing as well, but agents that have buyers need to know you are cooperating with them. And all agents cooperate on the local MLS.
Is it fair? Well, that’s subjective, and honestly, does not really matter. For most people, what matters is getting your house sold fast, and making as much as money at the closing table. There are ways to work around the high listing commission rates – that’s what I do – but I’m not attempting to reinvent the wheel and create my own new real estate marketplace.
My suggestion is working with the confines and maximizing your efforts to get top dollar while reducing your expenses with low listing fees. That has proven, and continues to prove, the best way to make the most money when selling your house. And on the note of “making the most money:” Selling fast, as you know, counts. That reduces your vacancy costs (mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities) and reduces your risk of something bad happening to your property (theft, HVAC issues, yard work, etc.)