In the age of information that we live in, you can pretty much You Tube or Google just about anything and figure out how to do it. And like most things, it always seems easier than it really is. Sadly, it isn't until we realize that selling a home yourself is not as easy as one might think. And depending on which study you are reading, somewhere between 25-35% of homeowners try to sell their own home, and only 10-15% of those succeed. Most end up listing with an agent for good reason. When it comes to selling a big investment like a home, effective marketing is the only way to leverage the most return on your investment. Last year according to the National Association of Realtors, only 7% of homes were sold by owner, and the average sales price for For Sale By Owner (FSBO) was $260,000 while the average sales price sold by an agent was $318,000. It is no secret that homes sold by owners sell for far less than when sold by an agent. But why is that? Posting a home online seems easy enough, right? Talk to any businessperson who has gone through running ads on a business Facebook or Google page. Words like optimization, algorithm, key words, Google verified, come to mind. It is expensive to run effective ads on social media, or to do any kind of advertising for that matter. When a realtor sells your home, exposure is one of the biggest advantages that you have. Agents pay for professional marketing companies and photography to advertise your listing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that goes out to other agents and their extensive pool of buyers. Many agents also pay to boost ads on social media and advertise on other platforms where home buyers are searching. I might also add that real estate agents spend hours figuring out how to optimize their online posts or they pay a company to do it for them. In any case, advertising to the right target audience is expensive. Agents are experts in their field. They follow market trends and understand the psychology behind what buyers are looking for in a home. They help sellers maximize the value of their home through this understanding. The market value, especially over the past couple of years, has changed significantly and can even vary from subdivision to subdivision within the same town. If you overprice a home and it sits too long on market, many buyers wonder what’s wrong with the house. If you underprice a home, many buyers also wonder what’s wrong with it. A local agent will have a strategy to price the home so that a seller gets the most amount of money for their home in the least amount of time. Agents will also coordinate the multiple showings of your property, sometimes up to 5 or 6 per day during the first week on market. Oftentimes FSBO homes aren’t able to be shown that many times due to scheduling conflicts of the seller, making many buyers “trash” the property on their online portal, never to see it in their feed again. Agents know how to “refresh” a property so that it continues to come up on the online feed of buyers and stays top of mind. Agents also vet their buyers who are walking through your home. Not only are the agents accompanying the buyer to the home, but they have also discussed the financial capability of the buyer to buy the home and often have a pre-approval letter from a lender. This ensures that the buyers looking at your home are ready and able buyers. Agents can also anticipate where real estate transactions can go wrong, landing buyers/sellers in court. They protect a buyer’s/seller’s interest by drawing up a legally binding contract that leads to all parties being protected from very costly mistakes. Agents also protect your time and peace of mind. To some degree, they vet who is walking through your house through the pre-approval process. They accompany a buyer throughout their visit to protect your privacy as well as your assets. They answer the many questions that buyers have and know how to de-escalate their fears. Agents coordinate the scheduling and completion of inspections and appraisal, negotiate repairs, schedule contractors, facilitate communications between title company, lenders, contractors, and other agents all throughout the process until close. Many FSBO sellers struggle with finding that kind of time while maintaining their own full-time job. Let us take the risk and hassle out of selling your own home. You will spend less money, get more for your home, sell it quicker, and enjoy your peace of mind in the end. Call Diana Allen at 314-603-0487 for a free seller’s consultation.