Can You Sell a House Without a Realtor?

While a lot of homeowners sell their houses through a realtor, there are a few adventurous ones who prefer to do it on their own.

The fact is, selling your home on your own is rewarding and can be a much more profitable undertaking. But there’s a reason realtors exist – selling a house can be tricky and challenging for the inexperienced. However, sometimes the good outweighs the bad.

Let’s talk about selling your own house and its benefits. 

Benefits of Selling Your House Without a Realtor

There are many benefits to selling your home realtor-free. The main one has to do with lowering costs. Getting a realtor is convenient but also expensive. The typical agent will charge 3% of the sale price, sometimes as much as 4%.

And since you also need to pay for the buyer agent’s commission, the rates are effectively doubled. All in all, expect commission rates to clock in at 5% – 6%.

That might seem small, but consider a realtor selling a home at $100,000 at 5% commission (not at all uncommon). You lose $5,000 in profit after you’ve sold your home.  House sales without a realtor eliminate that percentage, putting more money in the home seller’s pocket.

Selling a house without a realtor also gives you full control over the process. Most realtors, especially those from large firms, have monthly sales quotas to meet. Some will try to pressure you into a sale just to meet their deadlines, even if it’s not in your best interest

They might mean well by suggesting a negotiation strategy or sales tactic; however, it is unsure if they truly have your best interest at heart. And it can be rather difficult saying no to persistent realtors.

By selling the house yourself, you can do so at your own pace and discretion. Plus, because you know your home so well, no one can explain it’s benefits better than you. 

How to Sell Your House Without a Realtor

One of the main drawbacks of selling your home without a realtor is that you assume all the responsibilities that are typically taken by a real estate agent. A lot of homeowners often underestimate the number of tasks involved in selling a house successfully. 

While it’s completely doable, the home-selling process can be tedious and error-prone, especially for first-timers. To put it into perspective, here is a rundown of the home selling process.

• Preparing Your Home

  The biggest mistake most homeowners make when selling a house without a realtor is presenting it to potential buyers as-is. 

  Remember, people are looking for a house that they can imagine themselves living in. Seeing your family photos can shatter that illusion pretty quickly and make them unlikely to buy.

  Keep in mind, less is more. So depersonalize your home and replace it with decor and furniture that appeals to the masses or your ideal buyer. Make your house as spacious as possible, and do a deep clean while you’re at it. 

  Making your house as desirable as possible takes a lot of work. Still, it’s a crucial step in getting offers from interested buyers.

• Research the Market, then Price Competitively

  Pricing is a very essential—and tricky—part of selling a house without a realtor.

  Price it too high, and you’ll scare off buyers. On the other hand, when you price it too low, buyers will think you’re desperate or there is something wrong with the property. Not to mention, you won’t get the profit you rightfully deserve.

  Nailing that perfect selling pricing is challenging without the experience and knowledge of a realtor. What you can do is research the local housing market and find similar properties to yours. Use that information as a basis for determining your pricing.

• Draft Your Listing

  Once your home is ready with a price tag in hand, the next step is to draft your listing. For this task, you’ll need to gather or produce two key details:

  One, try to snap beautiful high-resolution photos of your house. These are the “first impressions” of your home. If buyers don’t like what they see, then they won’t click or inquire any further. This step is so important that we recommend you hire a professional photographer when selling a house with no realtor.

  Two, gather all the data about your home. The basics include floor area, lot size, and the number of rooms.

  After you have the necessary info, you can begin drafting your listing. Write a detailed listing that highlights factual data about your home, and do it in a way that compels buyers. Paint the picture of your home being theirs. Hone in on their emotions and use your words and images to virtual transport them to the property. 

• Publish on the MLS

  With your house and draft listing ready, it’s now time to let the world know you’re home is on the market. Typically, this is a step often completed by a realtor. However, you are more than capable of doing it on your own.

  Publishing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is relatively simple. It is also a more affordable method to market your home while giving you considerable exposure to interested buyers.

• Host an Open House

  One great tactic to sell your house without a realtor is hosting an open house. 

  An open house is a scheduled date and time that allows buyers to do a live walkthrough of your home. In order for it to be successful, promote the event to invite and excite buyers about your newly listed home. 

  On the day of, be presentable and tend to every person that takes the time to visit your open house. You never know which one will buy, so treat each prospect equally.

  Not sure how to do an open house? You can visit one in your neighborhood to get tips and tricks first-hand. Going the extra mile by printing out informative brochures for guests to take home is an added bonus. Remember, you’re going against other realtors who do this for a living, so bring your A-game!

• Negotiate Offers

  When selling a home without a realtor, be prepared to get offers. Oftentimes, do-it-yourself home sellers become overwhelmed trying to manage offers, answer calls, and reply to emails. You are also communicating with savvy real estate agents, using your lack of experience to their advantage. 

  Negotiating is something that takes endurance and patience. If you’re struggling with this in the beginning, know that it gets better with practice and experience.

  One key point to help manage it all is to only respond to serious offers. Cheap offers from demanding buyers can drain your time and energy. It is not worth the hassle.

• Complete the Paperwork and Close the Sale

  Congratulations, you’ve succeeded in selling a house without a realtor! Now all you have to do is complete the sale. Unfortunately, it’s not as straightforward as handing over the house keys to the new buyer.

  Closing a deal involves a lot of paperwork and legal proceedings. It might get complicated, which is why it’s recommended you consult or hire a closing lawyer. If you attempt to do it yourself, you’ll encounter serious legal landmines that can land you in trouble.

  Also, don’t forget the myriad of closing costs associated with sealing the deal. These include payments like property taxes, commissions to the buyer’s agents, and transfer fees. One thing to note is that you can usually arrange closing costs payouts with the buyer.

Selling Your House Without A Realtor  vs. House Buyers of America

By now, you might be thinking, “selling my house without a realtor sure takes a lot of work!” Well, you’d be right. 

Yes, there are plenty of benefits But the truth is, it’s an extremely difficult process. Plus, by selling your home without any experience or knowledge, you are bound to make a few mistakes. 

If you want to sell your house fast and hassle-free, doing so without an agent may not be the best route. People tend to underestimate the time, energy, and money that is involved when successfully selling a house without a realtor. As a result, they end up having to pay more than what a fair real estate agent will charge them.

Selling your house with House Buyers of America is the perfect middle-ground for homeowners. We are a technology-driven real estate firm where  we buy houses for cash. We’ll buy your house directly from you, as-is, and at a fair price. There is no need for you to prepare your home, list it with an MLS, or negotiate a deal. You don’t even need to bother with the paperwork – we’ll do all of that for you! Once we have met with you to review the offer and you accept our offer, you’ll get paid in a matter of days.

Ready to sell your house on your own? Or do you want to sell your house fast for cash and hassle-free? Get in touch with the House Buyers of America today by using our  contact form or calling 855-659-3289. We’ll give you a fair cash offer on your house in as little as 10 minutes.