For Sale by Owner- Allowing Strangers in Your Home

Some homeowner’s first inclination is to put their house up for sale by owner when they decide to sell. They want to reduce the amount they spend on realtor commissions. I too was one who put my first home up for sale by owner and successfully sold it without an agent! I did all the advertising, marketing, showings, negotiating and writing my own contract, scheduled the inspection and appraisal, and set up the closing with the title company. It’s was a great learning experience and a good prerequisite to becoming a licensed real estate agent in two states. When you put your home up for sale by owner you are letting strangers in your home. These could be people that may not have any interest in purchasing, just wanting to peek around your home. You never know if they are pre-qualified or if they can even afford to purchase your home. They could be your neighbors down the street wanting to see if you have updated your kitchen or bathrooms or just checking out the floor plan. You are probably thinking, when agents bring buyers to my home they are still strangers. That is the case, however when you have an agent bringing buyers to your home, you have the comfort of knowing they are pre-qualified buyers. Not only do they have the intention of purchasing, they have a letter from a bank confirming they are able to afford your home. It should put your mind at ease knowing it’s not some random person off the street that is strolling around your property. Plus when buyers visit your home they feel uncomfortable when you are present. They don’t feel like they can look around and open doors and explore like they would like to in order to make the big decision to purchase your home. When you have an agent show your property the buyers can freely mention the good and bad items of the home without offending you, the owner.   It is a big decision to sell your home.  If you plan to list your home for sale by owner soon or in the future, I hope you consider that you will be allowing a stranger in your home knowing nothing about their intentions.