Thinking of Selling Your Home?

Once you have decided to sell your home there are two options to choose from. You can sell your home yourself or you can list your home with a real estate company. To make the best possible decision, you should consider the pros and cons of each one.

For Sale by Owner

First, the plus side, you - the owner- get to keep 100% of the money from your home sale. The idea may sound attractive until you begin to consider how much time you have to put into the sale of your home, and You WILL put in a lot of time. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR 1996), 93% of those who try and sell their home "For Sale by Owner" end up hiring a real estate agent. Why, because they run into problems!

"For Sale by Owner" homes have two main ways of exposing their homes to potential buyers, yard signs and newspaper ads. BE AWARE, an ad in the newspaper and a for sale by owner sign in the front yard attracts a minimal amount of attention. Data suggests, only 15% of homes sell by yard signs, and only 8% sell by ads (NAR). Your biggest challenge will be to attract potential buyers.

To do that you have to know how to set the right price on your home to make it sell, try to sell your home in the planned time, learn how to do the paperwork for the sale, make time for those whowant to see your home, plan open houses, write ads, arrange appointments with appraisers and inspectors, and handle all the preparations for your move.

In the end, selling your home yourself is a valid option only if you have the time and energy to devote to it.

If you do decide to sell on your own, you should:

• Be informed about the wide range of financing options buyers have.
• Be knowledgeable about details of your home (dimensions, building materials, average utility bills) and your neighborhood (schools, zoning, planning).
• Be sure your home is staged properly to showcase its benefits from curb to closets.
• Be available for showings day and night, seven days a week to reach the widest possible range of buyers.
• Be very aware of your disclosure requirements so you don't have to pay unnecessary damages.

Real Estate Companies

You get much more exposure than just a yard sign and a single ad with a real estate company. You get institutional advertising, prospects from contacts and past clients, and exposure in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The MLS is a computer database that lists information on all the "for sale" homes listed by real estate companies. Agents use it to find the right home with the right features their client is seeking.

65% of homes sell by using MLS listings, making it the major key in being able to sell (NAR). By utilizing real estate companies, you not only get exposure in the MLS, you get professional help from those who know the best way to market your home and guide you through the maze of paperwork and appointments leaving you time and energy to prepare for your move.

The RE/MAX Difference

There are 8 main ways RE/MAX differs from the competition, and why we believe that RE/MAX should be your choice for selling your home.

1. Our agents get all their own calls. In other companies, the least productive agents take turns answering the phones and prospective buyer's questions. These agents may not have even seen your house and may not have all the knowledge and enthusiasm for it that your agent does. With RE/MAX Premier Realty, a receptionist directs prospective buyer's calls to your agent so the person who knows your home best is answering the questions.
2. Our agents pay to sell your home. They buy their yard signs, custom design and purchase all their own advertising and pay most of their own “realtor” fees. Since their money is invested, your agent wants to sell your home as much as you do and so they use the most effective methods available. In other companies, the office pays for these expenses so there is not as much pressure on the agent to sell your home quickly.
3. Our agents make their own business. They can focus on helping their customers instead of worrying about what "the company wants."
   Our agents have services available to them that no other real estate company does.
4. RE/MAX associates generally have more advanced training and real estate experience. We are fortunate to have highly experienced, full time, top producing agents. With other companies you can find inexperienced, part time, or unproductive agents - but in the RE/MAX Premier Realty system these agents don't last. With RE/MAX Premier Realty, if our associates don't have a strong business, they simply won't be in business.
5. 90% of our associates have advanced professional designations and certifications in real estate.
6. The RE/MAX network is the world leader in real estate with over 100,000 associates operating in 54 countries around the world.
7. RE/MAX associates out-sell their competition 3 to 1.