5 Reasons NOT To "For Sale By Owner"

When it comes to selling your Lake of the Ozarks home, you have two options: you can sell your home by yourself, or you can sell it with the help of a real estate agent at the Lake of the Ozarks. Some people are tempted to sell it on their own so they can avoid paying the agent's commission, but homes listed as For Sale By Owner frequently take much longer and are much more of a hassle to sell - if they even sell at all. Here are a few reasons why selling your home on your own may be more trouble than it's worth.

1. Homeowners May Not Be Aware Of Everything That Needs To Be Done Before The Sale
Selling your home isn't as simple as sticking a "for sale" sign in the front yard and waiting for interested buyers to magically appear - there's a lot that needs to be done in order to sell your home quickly. Deep cleaning, decluttering, staging, boosting curb appeal, taking professional listing photos, and making necessary upgrades are just a few of the tasks that await the prospective home seller. Your real estate agent can help you identify which steps you will need to take and offer up-to-date strategies for approaching each of these tasks.

2. Homeowners May Not Appreciate The Importance Of Common Real Estate Timelines
Generally speaking, homes for sale at the Lake of the Ozarks get the most attention and foot traffic in the first thirty days that they are on the market. The longer they are listed for sale, the less money they will probably ultimately get out of the sale. Homeowners may not understand the importance of aggressively marketing their homes as soon as they hit the market, and can miss out on this crucial time period.

3. Homeowners Often Do Not Understand Real Estate Contracts
Anyone who has bought or sold a house before can attest to the fact that real estate transactions come with a lot of paperwork. Unless you have been closely involved in the buying and selling process for the past several years, it is likely that all of the contracts and other paperwork will make your head swim. Because she is constantly immersed in the paperwork, your real estate agent should be able to help you make sense of it all.

4. FSBO Listings Do Not Get As Much Exposure
Homes that are listed For Sale By Owner (FSBO) typically do not get nearly as much marketing exposure as homes that are listed with real estate agents. Agents add their homes to the multiple listing service (MLS), which allows them to be easily found by buyers. Additionally, their listings should appear on countless real estate websites, both locally and nationally. While there are a few websites that allow FSBOs to advertise their properties, many real estate websites restrict their listings to those with listing agents. Without a listing agent, you also won't get the benefit of an independent third-party going out of their way to market your property.

5. Homeowners Are Not Experienced Negotiators
Even if you are in sales or another industry that requires frequent negotiations, you probably have limited (if any) experience with real estate negotiations. There are so many different factors that affect the sale of a home, including appraisal, inspection, loan prequalification/pre-approval, title insurance, property survey, and more. Each of these different factors can affect the overall negotiation process. Having a real estate agent to guide and represent you through these negotiations can be a huge asset.

Don't FSBO - Call Me Instead!
Selling your house at the Lake of the Ozarks is big undertaking no matter what, but you can make the process easier on yourself by delegating a large set of the responsibilities to your trusted Lake of the Ozarks REALTOR®. To learn more about how I can help you with the process of selling your home, visit my website: RealEstateLakeOzark.com

Susan Spica
Professional REALTOR®

BerkShire Hathaway HomeServices
101 Crossings West, Ste. 202
Lake Ozark, MO 65049

Office: (573) 365-6868
Susan's Cell: (573) 280-0484