At CashNVestors, one of the most common questions we are asked is: “Can I really sell my house without an agent?”
Can you sell your house without an agent? The answer, of course, is a resounding YES!
The traditional real estate process clings stubbornly to inefficiencies that now seem pointless, thanks to the rise of the internet and the tools it now grants to both buyers and sellers. Selling your house privately before the age of the internet was an incredibly intimidating proposition. For decades, real estate agents kept their trade secrets close to the vest, to ensure that they could maximize their business and make the industry seem as confusing as possible to outsiders.
While these practices were good for people employed in the real estate industry, they also served to mire private buyers and sellers in a grinding, slow process that often ended in disappointment. Typically speaking, a real estate agent’s priority is to quickly maximize commission on the sale of a person’s home. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, it also means that the goals of agent and seller are not always exactly aligned. One area in which we see this misalignment of priorities really assert itself is in the timing of the property sale.
Timeline to Sale
There are two scenarios that are worth looking at to better understand the inherent advantages when you sell your house privately.
Scenario 1 – Seller is NOT in a hurry to sell the home
- In this scenario, for whatever reason, the person selling their property is not rushed to complete the transaction. This could be because the property in question is not their primary residence; because they just inherited the property; or, because they are financially stable enough to wait out a lengthier sale process. Even in a situation like this, selling your home without an agent can be advantageous. Earlier, we mentioned the misalignment of goals between seller and agent, and this scenario is one that frequently presents a source of conflict between the two parties. It is in the agent’s best interest to sell a home quickly so that they can collect the commission and move their energies and attentions on to the next property.
- However, for a private seller who is in no hurry to make the sale, this approach can mean settling for a lower sale price than they are comfortable with. Since the home (and the property value) does not belong to the agent, the agent often feels all too comfortable dropping the sale price quickly if he or she does not like the quality or quantity of offers coming in. This rush to make the sale can mean tens of thousands of dollars in lost value for a patient seller, who wouldn’t have minded waiting longer to receive a better offer.
Scenario 2 – Seller IS in a hurry to sell the home
- A significant portion of people listing their property are doing so because they need access to the resulting cash quickly. Whether for a medical emergency, a new property purchase, a family matter, or whatever else — all that matters for these folks is that the transaction proceeds smoothly and quickly. However, here too we can see how the traditional method of real estate sales can negatively impact the seller. The traditional method of listing a property is notorious for taking inordinate amounts of time, and sellers are often at the mercy of their agent’s work ethic in terms of the marketing efforts and research involved in optimizing the sale. For a seller who needs money fast, a listing that sits on the market forever can mean financial ruin. This is a problematic scenario that has been ripe for disruption by technology and industry innovation for years.
Options to Sell Your Home Without an Agent
As you can see, there are some serious problems and inefficiencies buried in the traditional sale process — but the good news is that you can avoid almost all of them if you are willing to sell your own house.
There are two main options to consider if you want to sell your home without an agent:
Option 1 – List the property yourself
- For the more industrious and ambitious homeowners looking to sell, listing the property yourself can land you some very significant savings on the sale. After all, a realtor’s commission usually runs around 6%-7% of the sale price. The median home value in Los Angeles as of Spring 2016 is about $576,000. Six percent of that figure is $34,560 — an astronomical sum to pay someone just to avoid the work that goes into selling a house. For private sellers with the right attitude and willingness to put in the work, selling your home privately can be an extremely attractive option. All in all, listing the property yourself is usually appropriate for the first scenario we mentioned above (sellers who are not in a hurry to sell the home). But what about those who need the sale to go through as quickly as possible?
Option 2 – Sell your home directly to an investor
- This is where CashNVestors comes in — and we are more than happy to buy a house without a real estate agent involved. The CashNVestors team are not realtors, we are investors. That means that we can completely eliminate the middleman and get you cash for your property extremely fast. The advantages of this scenario for those who need to shed a property quickly are numerous. First of all, there is no uncertainty as to how long the property will sit on the market or whether you will even receive an offer. We guarantee that you will have a cash offer within a day of our appraisal. Secondly, there is no need to make a ton of costly or time-consuming improvements to the property before you can go through with the sale. We purchase properties as-is, no matter what.
What About Distressed Properties?
If your home is distressed in terms of repairs needed or the status of your mortgage, it becomes significantly harder to list the property yourself through traditional channels, but you can still sell directly to CashNVestors. One of the biggest values we can offer our clients is the ability to quickly and easily be free of a property that is dilapidated, in need of extensive repairs, or even about to go to foreclosure auction. In the case of foreclosure, our investment team will step in to stop your sale date, and still get you cash from your home sale quickly and easily. Think of CashNVestors like the “magic button” to trade your home for liquid cash, with no headaches, waiting, or commission fees.
Best of all, there is absolutely no obligation to get a free quote on your property or speak with our team to discuss your options. So what are you waiting for? If you’re interested in selling your house without an agent, you should contact the CashNVestors team as soon as possible so that you can start your next chapter on the right foot!
Contact the CashNVestors team at (844) 227-4683 today!
