Should You Sell a Property Yourself or Use a Realtor?

This is a common question that you will have to answer early in your real estate investing career. There are positives and negatives for either approach.

Friends will tell you that you should sell your house yourself because . . .

There is no reason to pay a realtor’s commission of six percent.
Realtors might only want to list your house so they can get the listing fee, then they will stop working hard to sell your house and let other realtors do the hard work.

Other friends will say you should list your property with a realtor because . . .

Realtors will do the hard work of showing your house. Why would you want to do that?
Realtors bring experience and expertise to the process, increasing the odds of making a sale.
Realtors know about the area where you are selling, putting you at an advantage.
Realtors earn their commissions by paying for advertising, holding open houses, and providing other services. They can actually save you money in the end.
If a buyer is overly demanding or difficult, you won’t have to deal with him or her directly.

Those statements can be either true or false, depending on the realtor and your needs. The only certain truth is, you have to make the wisest choice you can, based on a realistic assessment of the following factors.

You Should Probably Sell Your House Yourself if . . .

You are selling your property under very advantageous market conditions, where demand for properties like yours is very high. But if houses like yours are “flying off the shelves” in your town, it can make good sense to try to sell it yourself.
You are willing to invest a great deal of effort to sell your house by advertising, holding open houses, etc.
You know potential buyers who have already expressed interest.

You Should Consider Listing Your House with An Agent if . . .

You do not like selling.
You have identified a real estate broker with exceptional experience and skills and you want him or her to bring those assets to selling your property.
You lack the time to work hard to sell your property and want a professional to shoulder more of the workload.
You need a real estate agent who is a regional specialist for the type of non-residential properties you are selling, such as stores, offices or shopping malls.