The founder and former CEO of ForSaleByOwner.com recently sold his New York City apartment … by using a real estate agent. The irony of the situation aside, this perfectly highlights the important role that real estate agents play in conducting real estate transactions.

Selling your home For Sale By Owner

As the former CEO found out, selling your home by owner comes with its challenges. While he marketed his home through his network and on his own website, he was not able to get his home seen by enough people. The visibility that the Cincinnati Multiple Listing services provides home sellers is unmatched.  Since Cincinnati real estate agents work cooperatively, every agent in the city has access to every listing. Furthermore the network of real estate agents with buyers is the network sellers want to tap into.

Most For Sale By Owners will list with a Real Estate Agent.

AGBeat columnist Herman Chan said, “If people want to take a stab at For Sale By Owner (ie FSBO), go for it. But well over 80% of FSBO’s eventually have to list with an real estate agent to get their house sold. It’s harder than it looks!” The marketing, buyer network, pricing insights, contracts, negotiation assistance, and the legal protection are all benefits of working with a real estate agent. The bottom line is that attempting to save money by selling By Owner may actually cost you much more than the 6% commission in the end. Most people would agree that paying a real estate agent a commission when your house sells is a lot better than not having your house sell at all.

Interested in a listing consultation? Contact Alison and Brett today.