Do you need to sell your house in New Port Richey? In our latest post, we offer 5 things homeowners should know about working with a real estate agent to help sell your house.
When it’s time to sell your house in New Port Richey, your first instinct may be to call up a local real estate agent to quickly get your house up on the MLS. While this works for some homeowners, there are a few things you should know before hiring a New Port Richey real estate agent to help you.
We are not trying to discourage you from using an agent, just trying to help you understand what might occur by listing with one.
The Costs Can Be High
If you decide to sell your house with a New Port Richey real estate agent, make sure that you are aware of all of the costs that typically go into a successful listing. Aside from the thousands that will be deducted from your offer when the house sells, you will have a number of expenses to deal with before your house even hits the market. To start with, you’ll need to make some basic repairs and have the house professionally cleaned. You could be faced with marketing costs such as photography and staging that isn’t covered in the scope of your listing agreement. Some homeowners will even have an inspection done on their own so they know what to expect when their potential buyers have one done. Add all of this to your holding costs, and you’ll see how a simple listing can quickly turn into bills costing thousands.
Plus, you are required under the terms of the listing to do all maintenance like keeping the electric and water on while it is for sale unless the agent gets specific instructions from you about them not being on, and, the listing reflects this.
It May Take Awhile
While this varies from neighborhood to neighborhood and city to city, it will typically take much longer for a traditional sale to be completed as opposed to a direct sale. In fact, when looking at nationwide statistics, houses will take over two months to get an offer on average. While your house is listed, you will still have to pay taxes, maintenance, your mortgage, utilities, and insurance. Not to mention, you will have no idea how long the sale can take, giving you zero ability to plan ahead. Don’t miss out on your dream property because your house is caught up in a listing agreement that doesn’t make sense.
In hot markets, homes can sell quickly, sometimes in the same day. Then is a level or slow market, selling could take a long time that you were not expecting.
Not All Agents Are The Same
While some agents are there to help and provide genuine service to their clients, there are others who are simply after that commission check. They will encourage you to make expensive upgrades to sell the house faster, they will encourage you to take less than it’s worth just so they are able to cash in before your agreement expires. If you decide to list your house with a real estate agent in New Port Richey make sure it is someone who comes highly referred and that you are certain you can trust.
Many homes sell in as-is condition with no repairs expressed or implied. Do not fall for the conversation if you know your home is in very good condition, and even if it isnt, make sure the market pricing sincerely reflects the condition.
While many agents are very good at pricing homes, if you genuinely feel the agent is overpricing your home for any reason, question where they came up with that price.
Your House May Not Sell
Just because you list your house and ask for a certain amount, does not mean that you will get it. Many sellers get frustrated when they find themselves spending money to list their homes for sale, only to hear crickets. Just because you fix things up and spend money making the house look as good as possible, does not ensure you will get an offer. If you decide to list and spend money getting your house ready for the MLS, make sure that you won’t be devastated if you do not see the returns you are after. When working with a real estate agent in New Port Richey, there is no guarantee if or when you will receive an offer. And if you do get an offer, they may try to negotiate for a lower price. Occasionally, an agent will want to list the home higher to see what happens and then 2 weeks later ask you to drop the price by a substantial amount. We have seen homes listed at one price, and then 2 weeks later the price drops by $10,000.
You may have missed your buyer in those first 2 weeks. The agent you are using may have just been looking for a higher commission, but instead it cost you time, and no sale.
You Have Other Options
The good news is that hiring a real estate agent in New Port Richey is not the only way to sell your house. For certain houses and situations, investing money into the property before selling it can be a huge waste. Factor in the commissions, holding costs, and closing expenses, and you could be looking at thousands of dollars down the drain. Another approach is to sell your house to a direct buyer such as OurCashForYourHome. Working with a direct buyer will allow you to sell your house in just a few short days without any fees deducted from the offer or money spent out of pocket. You’ll know exactly what to expect and when the closing will take place.
If you need to sell your house in New Port Richey, be sure that you are aware of all of your available options and how they will affect you. People aren’t always aware of the costs, time, and frustrations a listing can entail. Homeowners have been known to brush off the idea of a direct sale because of the lower prices associated with them. However, once you factor in the time, money, and energy that goes into listing your New Port Richey house, you will see that the selling methods will produce similar results. We encourage you to run the numbers for your property so you can choose the option that makes the most sense. Please reach out to us if you have any questions about what we do and how we can help you sell your house fast in New Port Richey!
We have been buying homes in this area for a long time, we do know the markets well in our area.
While doing this we have made offers on homes only to be turned down by the sellers agent, and when the home finally sells, sometimes we see that it sold for a lower price than we offered.