If you don’t like working with New York City real estate agents, you may want to pursue the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) home selling process. Yet, what are the benefits of selling a home by owner in New York City? The biggest advantage is bypassing part of the real estate agent commission fee, which can end up as much as 6 percent of the home sale price.
FSBO sellers, however, will still need to cover the buyer’s agent commission fee, which is around 2 or 3 percent of the home sale purchase price. Below, you will learn about all the advantages of selling a house by the owner through the FSBO route. We will also detail the cons of selling a house via FSBO listings.
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Benefits of Selling a House By Owner
Here, we will go over the biggest benefits of selling a home by owner. First, when working without a real estate professional, you can avoid the real estate commission fee that realtors charge once the real estate transaction is complete.
If you want to avoid the entire 5 or 6 percent of the home price in commission fees, you may want to contact cash home buyers in NYC. Cash buyers generally do not utilize realtors. Essentially, the biggest benefit of an FSBO sale is avoiding paying the realtor commission fees and garnering a larger profit from the home sale.
For instance, if you sell your home for $300,000 via the FSBO route to a cash home buyer, you can avoid paying a commission fee of $15,000 to $18,000. That way, you’ll keep that money as part of your profit from the sale.
Another benefit is that you would have complete control over the home-selling process. If you know how to market your house via social media or Zillow and find the right buyer, you will enjoy having full control of the sale without interference from a realtor.
You will also need to know what asking price to choose based on the average home value in your neighborhood. If you know your property’s market value, you’ll have no trouble finding prospective buyers.
Further, you may like the benefit of picking a real estate attorney and a professional photographer by yourself without a realtor’s opinion. Essentially, an FSBO sale provides you with full control.
Negatives of Selling a House By Owner
Nonetheless, there are specific downfalls of selling a house by the owner. Selling via an FSBO means that you’re going to have a lot more work to do. Sometimes, it may feel like a full-time job to sell your home without a realtor’s help.
Selling For Sale By Owner (FSBO) houses can end up being a huge hassle and will take a lot of time, as you’ll need to do all the marketing yourself. You’ll also need to set the price yourself and hire a professional photographer to take photos of the place for listings. Further, you’ll need to schedule home viewings or a possible open house by yourself.
You will also miss out on a comparative market analysis that a listing agent would provide. That analysis can help you determine the right asking price for your home.
Homeowners who have never sold a home before likely cannot do this for the first time without a seller’s agent. You won’t have the resources and information necessary to complete a successful home sale if you’ve never done it before. You’ll likely face problems with marketing the property and possible home inspection issues.
Another disadvantage of an FSBO sale is the final home sale price. Usually, FSBO homes get less money than properties sold with the help of a realtor. In 2020, agent-assisted home sales reached a median of $318,000 while FSBO home sales hit a median of $260,000.
If you lose out on those funds, you won’t save much on realtor commission fees when selling the house for less. Furthermore, another risk of an FSBO sale is that it can take longer to find a potential home buyer.
For instance, you may accidentally put out an asking price that’s a bit too high. That will get you very few offers or prospective buyers. You may also have trouble marketing your property, which means the home sale will take longer. Buyer’s agents also find that they make less money from FSBO sales, which means they often steer their clients away from FSBO listings.
Another major disadvantage of selling a house by the owner is the offer negotiating process. You’ll likely need some experience in negotiating home prices. Also, you’ll need to understand possible buyer contingencies in the contract. For example, a home inspection contingency can require you to make any needed repairs before the real estate transaction goes through.
Pricing a home is also quite important, but you may find it challenging. Without the tools and expertise of a realtor, you may have trouble determining the right price for your property. You could list it at a price that’s out of most home buyers’ reach.
That can make the sale take much longer. At the same time, underpricing the house can lead you to lose out on some key financial security.
If you don’t have a specific home buyer in mind, you may have trouble marketing your house to the general public without an agent’s help. Generally, the biggest issue is the amount of time it takes to market a property and find a buyer.
You also may not have access to the MLS listing where you can add your home. Other real estate agents may solely use the MLS system to find the next house for their clients, which means it will take that much longer to find a buyer.
Should You Sell Your House By Owner in New York
In the state of New York, the average real estate agent commission fees can go as high as 6.37 percent or as low as 3.57 percent. The median home value in New York reached $411,900 in 2022, which means the commission fee may go as high as $13,600 or more for a median-value property.
To avoid losing out on that profit, you should consider selling your place under the FSBO process. Yet, you should understand that many FSBO transactions sell for 6 percent less than agent-listed homes. As such, you may not end up making that much profit.
Still, if you’re an experienced home seller and have the time to put into marketing the property well, you may potentially sell your property for a good value. Therefore, you can make a good chunk of change without paying a realtor.
Also, you may benefit from having more control over how you price your home, the home viewing schedule, and the negotiation protocol. Without a listing agent, you can save an average of 2.61 percent on commission fees in New York.
Furthermore, New York home sellers who sell to a cash buyer or another individual without a real estate agent can save an additional 2.36 percent on average in commission fees.
Things to Consider When Selling Your House By Owner
When selling a house without a realtor, there are specific things you’ll need to consider. First, you will need to hire a real estate attorney since that’s an FSBO requirement in the state of New York. You will also need to follow specific state disclosure requirements.
The mandated state disclosures include:
- A flood zone statement
- The lead-based paint disclosure statement
- The seller’s property disclosure statement
You are also allowed to put an FSBO sign in your front yard when selling a house in New York without a realtor.
Unless you can find a home buyer without a realtor, you will also need to cover the commission fees of the buyer’s agent. On average, these commission fees are 1.66 to 3.06 percent of the final home sale price.
You will also need to get your house clean and staged for viewings as well as handle all repairs after a home inspection. When selling under the FSBO process, you’ll want to accurately price your home. Also, you’ll have to market it through quality photographs, an effective listing description, social media, and print advertisements.
These are a few of the top considerations to make when selling via the FSBO route.
Conclusion
Now that you know the major benefits of selling a home by owner, it might be time to list your property as a For Sale By Owner home. That way, you can save on the commission fees of a seller’s listing agent.
You can also bypass the commission costs of a buyer’s realtor if you pursue a home sale to a cash buyer. The cash offer process in NY is a legally binding agreement between two parties once both sides sign the contract.
So, if you’re looking to sell a house fast in Brooklyn, make a call to the best cash home-buying companies in NYC. We buy houses New York locals can’t get enough of, so contact us today!