Selling a House on Your Own Is an Enormous Challenge

In Every Respect; Working With an Agent Is Best Choice

Ted and Liz, nearing retirement age, have considered downsizing and selling their 36-year-old south-central Omaha home on their own. Said Ted: “Just stick a sign in the front yard and put a classified advertisement in the weekend editions of the newspaper.” After all, he said, that worked for a neighbor 30 years ago in their subdivision. “Why not us, too?” Ted asked while they were watching “House Hunters” on HGTV.

Two friends who had sold their long-time Papillion-area home a year and a half ago, offered a different view: “As far as selling your home on your own, you’ve got to realize things have changed drastically since the 1980s. It is far more complicated than you think.”

Ted and Liz heard from others: “You ought to check with Nebraska Realty.”

The locally owned Nebraska Realty, in business for 26 years, has 625 licensed agents and is the largest independently owned real estate company in Nebraska and southwest Iowa. In 2019, Nebraska Realty will close nearly $1 billion in real estate transactions. Nebraska Realty and their agents are are regularly recognized by the real estate industry, their peers and the community for their for their commitment to excellencece. 

Looking into “for sale by owner” situations, Nebraska Realty found this research:

• 95 percent of buyers search online for a home. By comparison, 13 percent use print newspaper ads. Most real estate agents have an internet strategy to promote home sales.

• 50 percent of buyers found their homes on the internet, 28 percent from a real estate agent, 7 percent from a yard sign and 1 percent from newspapers. The key takeaway: The days of selling a house by putting up a sign and listing it in the paper are gone; a strong internet strategy is crucial.

• Sellers are negotiating with too many people: 1, The buyer, who wants the best deal; 2, the buyer’s agent, who solely represents the buyer; 3, In some situations, the buyer’s attorney; 4, Home inspection companies, which work for the buyer and will almost always find problems with the house; 5, The appraiser, if there is a question of value.

• Paperwork has increased dramatically as industry disclosures and regulations have become mandatory. That’s one of the reasons the percentage of people selling on their own has dropped from 19 percent to 7 percent during the past 20-plus years.

• Many homeowners believe they’ll save the real estate commission by selling on their own. But they must realize buyers who are looking primarily at “for sale by owner” also believe they can save the commission. Of course, both parties can’t benefit.

A study by Collateral Analytics revealed that “for sale by owners” don’t save anything by skipping an agent. In some cases, they may cost themselves more. Quoting the research, one of the main reasons for the price difference at the time of sale is: “Properties listed with a broker who is a member of the local Multiple Listing Service will be listed online with all other participating broker websites, marketing the home to a much larger buyer population. And those Multiple Listing Service properties generally offer compensation to agents who represent buyers. Agents have the incentive to sell the property and again potentially enlarge the buyer pool.”

Nebraska Realty pointed out: The more buyers who view a home, the greater the chance of a bidding war for the property. The Collateral Analytics study found the difference in price between comparable homes of size and location is an average of 6 percent.

Nebraska Realty’s advice? “Listing on your own leaves a seller to manage the entire transaction. Why do that when you can hire an agent without additional cost? Before deciding to face the challenge of selling a house on your own, let’s get together to discuss your needs.”

To learn how Nebraska Realty helps in the home-buying process, check out:https://www.nebraskarealty.com/buy/how-nebraska-realty-helps-with-the-home-buying-process. See why working with Nebraska Realty is different: https://www.nebraskarealty.com/buy/faqs-about-buying-a-home.

For additional information, contact Nebraska Realty at https://www.nebraskarealty.com/ or reach any agent at https://www.nebraskarealty.com/agents or call (402) 491-0100. The Nebraska Realty Corporate office is located at 17117 Burt Street, Omaha, NE 68118, north of the Village Pointe Shopping Center. Nebraska Realty has offices in Omaha, Papillion, Lincoln and soon to be Council Bluffs.