How to sell and buy a house: use a Realtor
The selling or buying of a home is, for most people, the largest financial transaction of their lives. Finding a potentially suitable home or deciding to sell your own are only the starting point on what can be a smooth trip or, if handled poorly, a nightmare. Stress can cause people to make poor decisions and prime them to take poor advice. Therefore in stressful decision making times it is vital to have an advisor that you can trust. So here's an answer to the question how to sell and buy a house? Always use a Realtor. 
Just like a person who says “but I'll be careful” as they try unicycling or Jaegermeister for the first time. The simple act of going alone into a real estate transaction indicates that you are not being careful. In 2012 89% of buyers used a real estate agent. Here's the reason. Even with the explosion of available real estate info online through sites like Zillow and Trulia at the end of the day somebody with experience in the current market needs to analyze the raw data and point the way toward a pricing and negotiation plan. You might be a Wharton MBA with an accounting background working as a negotiator with Irish horse traders. But, I guarantee, you do not sit in front of the MLS and Courthouse Retrieval Data system reports for the hours that we do every day. And you do not involve yourself in a constant and ongoing conversation about all facets of the local real estate market.
Here are the numbers, and they don’t lie. “FSBOs accounted for 9% of home sales in 2012. The typical FSBO home sold for $174,900 compared to $215,000 for agent-assisted homes.” It seems that in the case of FSBOs the use of a realtor was better than free! It made you money even after commissions are factored in. In the case of the buyers side of a purchase, it almost always costs nothing to have a Realtor represent you. The commission for both agents is embedded in the cost of the home. Go it alone if you wish but you’re not doing yourself any favors.
I know where Chicago is and can with the help of my phone can get there and back safely if I am willing to drive for 24 hours and pay $272 for gas while stressing out about the reasonable chance of being murdered by an 18 wheeler on I 74 North. Alternately I can sit on my ass and eat peanuts and let South West get me there and back for $173. What realtors and pilots do is not rocket science but but both require current knowledge and competence. Secondly, why do something yourself which you can get done professionally for less?
The emotionally charged process of preparing your home for sale can cloud ones judgement. I occasionally hear the argument, “But my house is worth $x and I'm sticking to my guns on this one.” Get this in your head. Your house is worth what a willing and able buyer offers to pay. The sad fact is that just like babies, houses are sometimes uglier than the owners think.
Now I’m not saying you are crazy if you try and sell or buy without representation What I am saying is that stepping aside and recognizing what you don’t know is vital. There are many programs out in the world that are part of the ongoing realtor conversation that might be news to you. For instance say you have a home for sale that needs some work that you are either unwilling or unable to complete. An interested buyer with no spare cash lying around for repairs is not a candidate for the purchase. However, if you know about the FHA 203k loan that buyer might be perfect.
Similarly If your home is in a USDA loan permissible area you just opened yourself up to 100% loans which may turn an impossible deal into a happy sale.
Did you know that there is a first time homebuyers assistance program for Greenville County that will provide up to $4,000 in down payment assistance?
Did you know that NACA provides 30 year fixed 3.25% loans with no down payment and no closing costs?
As Mrs. Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” At the end of the day you are the one who will be pulling the trigger to sign that contract and live with the consequences. Realtors don’t make deals happen, buyers and sellers do. Realtors, however, are better positioned professionally and emotionally than you are to help avoid the pitfalls and lessen the frustrations of the biggest transaction of your life.
Hug a Realtor: They make a living saving you money and lessening stress.
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