Why You Shouldn’t FSBO Your Seattle Home

With how fiery hot our Seattle housing market is, you might think you should save yourself some money and plop a “For Sale by Owner” (or FSBO) sign in the front yard. It’s understandable—your home is likely to fly off the market in these conditions, so isn’t it the perfect time to save yourself some cash? 

Not so fast! There are some good reasons why you shouldn’t FSBO your Seattle home, especially in a market as hot as this one. With such a short window to get your home listing just right, you can’t afford any missteps. Let’s talk about why you need an agent on your side.

Net More Money When Using an Agent

It’s true—you usually net more money when you use a real estate agent, not less. How can that be? Homeowners selling on their own just don’t have the time to dedicate to the process of selling a home, and they don’t know how to properly price, market, or negotiate the home. All these things have a big impact on the final price.

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, FSBO homes sold for $217,900 in 2018 versus $295,000 for agent-assisted homes. That’s a lot more than the agent’s commission check. The sales price tends to drop even more if you’re selling the home to someone you know.

More Exposure to Prospective Buyers

Of course, you can list your home on Zillow, Craigslist, Facebook, Redfin, and you can technically even find a flat-fee service to help you get on the multiple listing service agents use. But even if you have a large network of personal and professional contacts, those people don’t have a lot of interest in letting the world know that your home is for sale. 

Agents have relationships with other real estate agents and potential buyers. Starting with a smaller group of buyers means less demand for your home, and you may not get what your house is actually worth.

Less Emotion

For most people, listing your home is emotional. After all, it may be full of good memories like moving in with your boyfriend or bringing your kids home from the hospital, and listing that home can be hard. Having a real estate agent helps keep you one step removed from these very normal emotions, and you’ll be less likely to make mistakes like overpricing your home, refusing a counteroffer, or something else that could reduce the final price.

It can be upsetting for sellers to have a counteroffer rejected or to hear some of the comments made about a beloved home by buyers and even their agents. An agent is a buffer for some of these difficult emotions.

Agents Do Real Estate Full-Time

While you can Google and YouTube and technically learn how to do just about anything, you probably shouldn’t! It’s the same reason we hire trained electricians, send our kids to school to learn from licensed teachers, and go to lawyers who have passed the bar exam.

When you do something day in and day out, you’re going to know things that the average Joe does not. 

Plus, do you want to rush home to show it to prospective buyers? Do you want to take a break from a meeting to market your home? Do you want to spend Saturday evening going over offers? How much time is this all going to take? Letting an agent do all this work is the way to keep your sanity.

Weed Out Unqualified Buyers

There are few things worse than going under contract on your home, taking it off the market, and then learning that your buyers aren’t actually qualified to buy a home. This wastes your time and money, so limiting these hassles is important.

Agents know what questions to ask to make sure a buyer is serious and to spot any red flags before entering into an agreement. Knowing that a buyer can most likely obtain financing for a home brings a lot of peace of mind in the time between accepted agreement and closing.