FIVE REASONS NOT TO BE A "FOR SALE BY OWNER

It's always tempting to do something yourself.  Get rid of the middle man, save yourself some dough.  Most people would never fill their own cavity, paint their own house, or fix their fender after an accident.  Yet with their greatest investment, people can be downright cavalier.  There are many problems to selling your own home, which are detrimental to your peace of mind and certainly to your pocketbook.  You may save the twenty or thirty thousand on commission, but you may lose two or three times that by mispricing your home or tying it up with a buyer who can never close, but that gets you under contract and keeps you from selling to someone who could buy.  Here are the top 5 reasons: 1) There are too many people you have to communicate within a real estate transaction, whose job description you know nothing about and therefore cannot properly represent yourself, i.e. , Home Protection services, termite, appraiser, lawyers for the buyer, the lender, the loan underwriter, the escrow agent, a home stager  (properly staged homes can get up to $50,000 or more for your home.), to name a few .  2) Qualifying a buyer - as already stated, once under a signed contract, you are obligated for an escrow period, even if the buyer can't buy.  A preapproved letter means nothing, you're looking for a prequalified buyer.  If you don't know all the differences, it's trouble waiting to happen.  3) Negotiating on your own home.  This is a dangerous area; overprice it and sit forever, under price it and you'll be sorry forever.  Knowing not only comparable sales, but all the attributes that add to your homes price is paramount.  4) Pricing your home.  As already stated, price is a sensitive topic.  Ask too much, and the perception is already out there that your home is overpriced.  How do you know when an offer is legitimate or a lowball offer, looking to capitalize on your lack of knowledge.  5)  Most importantly, keeping your family, your home, and its valuables safe from real predators, and cyber predators.  Where will you advertise? Craig's List, Angie's List?  The Penny Saver, somewhere else online?  How will you hold open houses?   What will you do when 10 or 15 people come at once?  And what if all those people are not actual buyers?  How do you qualify them, how to you control them once they step into your home?  These are not scare questions.   These are very real scenarios that Realtors deal with every day and have professional procedures to protect you, your home, and to sell your home for the highest price, with the least amount of inconvenience.  Truly, this is something to think about.