Selling your house yourself can help you save on broker
commissions but there are three potential pitfalls:
Asking price. You don’t want to sell yourself short by
setting a price that’s too low but you don’t want to
discourage buyers by asking too much.
Advertising. Most buyers ask a real estate agent for help
so you’ll get more exposure if your house is in a Multiple
Listing Service.
Attitude. Selling a home is one of the most emotional
transactions you’ll ever be involved in; you might be
tempted to turn down a buyer’s offer because of an unkind
remark.
One solution is to try selling your own house for a set
amount of time, then turning to a broker if that doesn’t
work.
Another option is to use a service targeted to
do-it-yourself sellers. Flat-fee brokers such as
Help-U-Sell and Assist-2-Sell offer to help you with
advertising, marketing, contracts, inspections, etc.,
for one pre-set fee. Typically, that fee will be a
fraction of the normal broker’s commission.
