MUST WE USE AN AGENT TO SELL OUR HOME?

by Neil Jenman

Reading time: 2.5 mins apx

No. You do not need a real estate agent to sell your home.

One of the many myths that abound in the real estate industry is that sellers always get a better deal if they use an agent than go it alone. This is nonsense. The opposite is more likely true.

Sellers who reject typical agents get a far better result. Less costs and a higher sale price.

As you will discover if you do a little research, typical real estate agents do nothing that most sellers could not do for themselves.

Repeat: Most sellers could do a better job than most agents.

Incredibly some homeowners think they must use a real estate agent (by law) to sell their home.

You can use your mate next door to help you sell your home (provided your mate doesn’t receive money on your behalf). Indeed, you and your mate would surely do a better job than most agents. After all, mates care about each other.

Seriously. Just take a few minutes to consider what most agents typically do – not what they say they do; what they actually do.

Agents don’t sell homes. That’s another myth. Buyers buy homes. The “sell” in real estate is convincing sellers that they need a real estate agent. Most sellers believe the myth that they must have a real estate agent. Wrong. Most agents are not worth having.

As a seller, all you need is some basic research and a legal representative to assist you with the title transfers. When you discover what most agents do you will likely have two thoughts: first, “Is that all they do?” and secondly, “I could do that”.

You’re right. Of course, you could what most agents do: Place an ad on-line and wait for a buyer to show up. How hard is that?

Who knows your home better than you? Who knows your street better than you and those who live in the area?

W Somerset Maugham was a famous writer who, like Arthur Conan Doyle, originally qualified as a doctor. Maugham said: “No one knows more about a patient than a patient.”

The same with real estate: No one knows more about a home than an owner.

And while it’s hard to graduate as a doctor, the basic qualification needed to graduate as a typical real estate agent is a pulse. Have you ever heard of anyone failing to qualify as an agent?

Me neither.

Some criminals who’ve served prison sentences have become agents. And some agents who’ve served consumers have become prisoners.

If you have a pulse, chances are that you can do better selling your home yourself than by employing a typical real estate agent.

By “better”, it means you should be able to achieve three things: First, a better price. Second, less stress. And third, less expenses.

So why pay tens of thousands of dollars in commission, thousands of dollars in needless marketing costs and, the costliest of all, short-selling your home – often by hundreds of thousands of dollars. It makes no sense.

The only time you should employ an agent to sell your home is if you can find a skilled and competent agent who can genuinely achieve a better price, who charges lower marketing costs and whose commission can be easily justified.

One of the best ways to recognise competent (and ethical) agents are those who offer a ‘pay-only-on-success’ method. They have faith in their ability, they guarantee themselves. “Don’t pay us until (or unless) we succeed” (i.e. Until we sell your home for the best price).

These are the only agents you should consider.

Granted, agents who offer a guarantee are rare. But it’s worth spending time looking for one.

If you can’t find a skilled agent, you only have two choices: Use a typical agent (which means paying needless costs and selling too low) or do-it-yourself (pay less and get a better price).

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FOOTNOTE: Over many years, we have given many sellers help to sell their own homes – if they can’t find a good agent. We have given away hundreds of copies of a book on the subject explaining how simple it is.

If you are selling and you can’t find a decent agent – one who agrees to charge you nothing until your home is sold – let us know. If you haven’t already got a copy, we will send you a book on how to sell without agents. No charge or obligation. Just click here.

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