I get this question all the time, “Why should I use a real estate agent when I can sell my house myself?” My answer is, “Have a seat, this may take a while…”

I ask one simple question, “If your child were to break their arm, you wouldn’t try to fix it yourself, would you?”  No, absolutely not, you would always go to the hospital to have it addressed by a medical professional, so why would you think selling your house is any different when there are licensed professionals in the field who do this day after day?

The common response is that they want to recoup the money that they would have to spend on using a real estate agent.  Let me tell you that statistically sellers who try to sell their own home end up taking less money, even after the fees would have been paid, because they weren’t able to negotiate the contract appropriately to ensure that they were getting the maximum possible.  That alone should be telling.  If it’s money you want, spend a bit to make sure that you get more in the long run.  I often see “For Sale by Owners” get taken advantage of by the buyers agent as well so it doesn’t make sense not to have proper representation throughout the entire transaction.  Money talks so get yourself more of it!

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