Why Are You Selling a Home Without a Realtor - Huntington Beach

So we took a listing this morning. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? Not exactly. The people who are selling their home just bought it 5 days ago. They are poised to make $50,000 to $75,000 profit on that purchase within the next 30 days. How did they do it? They bought a FOR SALE BY OWNER home. Hooray for the buyer on this one. Not so good for the previous owner. Why didn't the previous owner hire a Realtor?

As a guy who has bought and sold vehicles, furniture, tires, appliances, etc...directly from an owner I understand the mentality that comes along with the person who wants to sell their home without a Realtor. Realtors who list homes don't work for FREE and Realtors who sell homes expect to be paid when they bring a qualified buyer. A real estate transaction in our area will normally cost a seller 4% to 7% of the sales price. Logic says, "Sell it yourself and save on the commission." Everyone likes to save money. In this case the individual who wanted to "save money" has done so by selling the home quickly. Let's examine what the "save money" argument has actually cost the previous owner.

Sales price $400,000. Deduct 5% for real estate commissions. Net profit is $380,000. This seller just saved $20,000. WOO HOO!!!

What the seller didn't know is the market value of the home is actually $485,000. Again, estimate 5% for real estate commissions.

Net profit is now $460,750. The seller had to pay almost $25,000 in real estate commissions to gain $60,000 more in profit.

Do you think there would have been value for this seller to speak with a Realtor?