“For Sale by Owner”

I read an article the other day that made a statement that blew me away. It indicated that about half the homes that were sold in 2013 were not in the MLS system. I have no clue if this information was correct or not, but you know what happens when info like this gets out there, many will believe it. 

The article went on to talk about homeowners that are selling their own properties. They were making the point, in certain hot markets, as soon as a property becomes available, there are buyers. 

I have folks contact me on a regular basis that either want to market their property without using the services of a Realtor. I do everything I can to dissuade them, as there are just to many things that can go wrong. 

When I am involved in a transaction that doesn’t involve the services of a Realtor, the issues that show up make each transaction extremely challenging and one out of four never close. 

Negotiations throughout the process, home inspections, appraisals and occupancy are the main culprits. It takes a pretty sophisticated buyer and seller to navigate all the possible issues. My advice continues to be, hire a Realtor to represent you through the entire process.