Living in Contra Costa County

I had a minor fender bender the other day and took the car into the shop this afternoon.  I wanted to see if the damage was over my deductible before I called the Insurance Company.  Sure enough it was.  The bumper on a Toyota van is over $700.00, and there may be hidden damage.  So I call the insurance company and set up the claim from the shop.  I declined to use my rental car company as I figured it will only take a couple of days.

Guess again.  I asked on my way out the door.  It will take at least a week and maybe more! Why? Because my insurance carrier wants the shop to try and put after market parts on.  I don't mind after market parts, but it takes longer to get them and when they come in if they do not work right then the carrier has to come out and take a look.

Guess what! I now need to get the rental car and it will cost the carrier $30.00 per day.  The savings on the bumper, probably less than $50.00.

I know that sounds foolish, but there is a Foolish Choice home sellers make everyday - Not using a Realtor to sell their home!  Why is this foolish?  There are a number of reasons, but I will give you Five:

1. A home is most people's biggest investment?  The money in a home is often the owners biggest asset.  (I know someone is out there saying, "Yep that's why I am not going to pay anyone to sell it - I need to save the money."  Well if you were going to have Brain Surgery would you hire the a) Cheapest Surgeon you can find;  b) Your Cousin right out of med school; or c) The best you can afford.
   
   So what you say!  Selling a home is not Brain Surgery!  No it is not, but it is not a garage sale either (unless of course it comes with the property :) ).  A Quality Realtor will help you get the most for your property for a relative small fee, on average a lot more than selling it yourself.
   
   
2. Selling a home for yourself is viewed as a discount way to buy and sell.  Who shops for discounts?  Who goes to Walmart?  The Goodwill? Target?  People wanting to pay top dollar?  Guess again . . .  This buyer is going to expect you to cut him at least half the money you think you are saving on a Realtor, but do you really think it will stop there?  Have you seen these people chisel at a garage sale?  Well when you say For Sale by Owner you have just put a big sign on your lawn that says: Make Offer - cheap skates and swindlers welcome!  Some people will not even shop for a home without a Realtor in tow.  They know who gives good advise and what this purchase means.  If the Realtor or his client spot the For Sale By Owner they might well steer away from it knowing the problems in dealing with an amateur, and if not that Realtor still needs to be paid, probably by you.
   
   
3. Let's suppose you now have the buyer.  You have divided up the savings on the Realtor between you.  Maybe the buyer is even finished nickel and diming you.  Who is going to do the paper work?  Do it your self?  What happens if you don't do something right, or forget a disclosure?  Do you have E&O insurance?  Is there anyone standing behind you other than an ambulance chaser with his knife out?  Maybe you have an attorney review it for you?  What does he cost?  So what if he looks it over good, it doesn't mean you cannot get sued and if you do maybe he is not responsible.  He may defend you - for some more money! No matter how you cut it, there goes more of your cost savings.
   
   
4. Now the main thing you are missing is the MLS (Multiple Listing Service Exposure) exposure.  I know there are lots of ways to expose a home. I use many of them for sellers and search them for buyers, but it all comes back to the MLS.  Most of these other lead sources are promoting homes on the MLS or point back to the MLS for information. 
   
   Even if someone finds a home out in cyberspace the Realtor is going to check the MLS, if it is not there the chance of getting the home shown is greatly diminished.  If I don't find it on the MLS, especially the local one, I get suspicious.  Is it a loss leader?  Some sort of Fraud?  Or some guy selling it himself that I don't want to deal with? 
   
   There is nothing wrong with all these sources to sell a home and they should be used.  Do you know all the sources.  Do you know the best type of ad to run?  When to run it?  How often to run?  Are you available to respond to inquiries all the time?  Do you want to spend all your time putting the ads out?  Did you know there are sites you have to be licensed to use, other than the MLS, that are very effective.  At the end of the day to get top price you want to be on the MLS - The local MLS.
   
   
5. But maybe you push through for months, wade through the cheap skates and actually get it sold.  Did you get the highest price you could have?  I doubt it, because you did not show it to all the potential buyers.  The next question you have to ask is how much of the time spent was a waste?  How much did I spend on payments and upkeep while selling it my self?  How much value did my home loose setting on the market?  Even in an up market you can be loosing value if your home is setting unsold! While setting on the market did more and more people think they could low ball the offer?  Did they?  You bet they did?

If you want to sell it yourself go ahead.  Call me up.  I will even give you some free advise and marketing tools.  Maybe your are selling it yourself because you do not have enough equity to pay a Realtor.  Well there are ways to deal with that, but you need to ask a Realtor First.

Call me I have a 39 Day Home Sale Guarantee or I will sell it for Free!

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