With the number of resources available online, you can surely handle selling your home all on your own, right? The truth is that real estate is packed with nuances, regulations and terminology that you may not be aware of. Here are several reasons to work with a Roanoke Realtor to sell your residential property rather than presenting your home as For Sale by Owner.   

Your home needs to be properly prepared 

Preparation is key when it comes to successfully selling your home. When done via FSBO, you may not know which aspects of your home need the most work to stand the best chance of hooking potential buyers. You can lose a lot of time and money by not working with an experienced Realtor who knows the local market. According to the 2018 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, "the typical FSBO home sold for $200,000 compared to $265,500 for agent-assisted home sales."

Marketing your home requires expertise and resources

Once your home is ready to sell, you will need to market it to the right audience in the right way. Each home is different, so the marketing for each home will be different. I wouldn't market a Smith Mountain Lake estate in the same way that I would market ranch home in Roanoke County. A seasoned real estate agent has built a library of marketing resources to devote to the task, some of which are not available to the general public. 

You may not have the time to devote to inquiries and showings

People live busy lives. If you have a lot going on, you may not have as much time as you'd like to thoroughly and promptly respond to questions about your house. That's a problem, because buyers are making decisions quickly. If they can't get an answer, they may move on to the next property. That's why Realtors are often answering inquiries in the evening and on weekends. Real estate moves at the speed of light. That means you either get right or get left behind. 

Not every seller is a negotiator

Have you mastered the art of negotiation? If not, you don't want to use selling your own home as a training exercise. Doing so can have disastrous results. Real estate professionals have spent their careers recognizing when to compromise and when to hold firm during negotiations. When handled by yourself, you could potentially bumble the perfect deal, giving up ground you should have held on to. 

Potential buyers don't want to feel the heat

When a buyer takes a tour of your property, she or he doesn't want to feel pressured to make an offer on the spot. No matter how desperate you may be to sell your home as quickly as you can, you can't let that show. Let the buyer look through your home while you aren't there. Because this is an obvious security and safety concern, leave the job to an expert. 

A real estate sale may be the largest single transaction you ever make in your life. There's too much at stake to put your home up for sale as FSBO. Contact me to make your life and the process easier. Email me at sonya@sonyadickinson.com or call 540-353-0123.