So, you’ve decided to sell your home all by yourself. Congratulations, you brave soul! I can already picture you standing proudly in front of your freshly polished “For Sale By Owner” sign, beaming with confidence and dreaming about the 6% commission you’re about to keep all to yourself. It can’t be that hard, right? Well, that’s what I thought, too, back when I was a naïve, wide-eyed real estate investor. Spoiler alert: I learned a thing or two.
Let’s break down what this wild ride entails so you can make an informed decision. First off, did you know that 97% of homes are bought and sold through real estate agents? Yes, ninety-seven percent. Why? Because buyers want an expert to help them get the best deal, find properties, handle the paperwork, and generally guide them through this emotional minefield. Trust me, these folks love their agents.
And here’s the kicker: any agent worth their salt will want to get paid. When they show your property to a potential buyer, they’re going to ask, “What’s the commission?” If you don’t offer at least the standard 3%, they’ll probably hustle their client over to a better deal faster than you can say, “open house cookies.” So, right out of the gate, your 6% savings has been cut to 3%, and that’s if you don’t want to scare away 97% of your market.
“But I can handle the marketing myself,” you say, with the determination of someone who hasn’t yet tried to wrangle a drone into taking dramatic sweeping shots of their front yard. High-quality photos, video tours, drone footage—it’s all essential. So, you hire a photographer and a videographer for a mere $800 (or the cost of 400 cups of gas station coffee, if that’s how you measure expenses). Next, you consider staging. You could skip it, but that would be like showing up to a first date in pajamas. So, you shell out for a staging company and get everything sparkling.
Now comes listing. Sure, Zillow is great, but the big players are on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). You find a flat-rate company to get you on there for $300, but whoops, in the fine print, they also take 0.5% of your sale price. Suddenly, you’re down to 2.5% in potential savings.
Still feeling optimistic? Let’s keep rolling. Pricing your home is an art form. If you overshoot, your house sits longer than an avocado on sale at the grocery store. Undershoot, and you leave money on the table. You pay $600-$1,000 for a professional appraisal. We’re down to 2.4% now.
But wait! There’s more! It’s time to market like a pro: Facebook, Instagram, maybe even create a shiny custom website. You drop $1,500 on a website and another $1,500 boosting posts on social media. Your phone starts blowing up for showings. You’ll personally conduct 35 of these, while secretly wondering if you should start charging admission.
At this point, you’re down to about 2.1%, and your wallet isn’t looking as fat as you’d hoped. And oh, by the way, you’ve spent roughly 300 hours on this endeavor. If your time is worth $50/hour (bless you for being so modest), you’ve just “spent” $15,000 of your own labor. We’re now sitting at a measly .06% or $600. Oh wait that was the cost of the Sign and permit fees and permit expeditor cost.
Still with me? Good, because now comes the real rollercoaster: negotiating. This is when the buyer, with a gleeful grin, presents you with a laundry list of issues discovered during the inspection, from ancient pipes to an army of termite cousins throwing a block party in your walls. They’ll want thousands off the price, and your patience—and composure—will be tested.
A seasoned agent knows how to keep a poker face during negotiations and can handle the delicate process of closing. Your nerves, on the other hand, might not be quite as unflappable. After all, the emotional rollercoaster of selling your biggest asset is not for the faint of heart.
In the end, the choice is yours: a commission well spent, or a Herculean effort that could leave you frazzled, slightly poorer, and a newfound expert in real estate marketing. Choose wisely, my friend.
Written by Todd Nation of 1 Nation Realty
