People think; “how hard can it be to sell a home without a real estate agent in Nigeria? Take some pictures, get it online and buyers would come negotiating”.
Easy right? You don’t have to spend money on listing your house or pay a real estate agent to do the job for you. Frankly, selling a house in Nigeria is not as easy as it sounds. It can be tricky if you have never done it before. Keep reading to see the cons of selling your home yourself.
1. Difficulty in selling your house
Marketing a house is not that simple. There are real estate marketing strategies that realtors implement to get a house to the right buyer.
A real estate agent will have various channel to market your home. Realtors have their own platform, websites and networks of other real estate agents that can get word out faster. A real estate agent can get word out and reach the right audience faster than you ever could.
2. Time consuming
From taking perfect pictures and videos to getting the perfect description to marketing your home, you’ll be spending more time trying to get the perfect buyer. Even at that, you might spend time showing the property over and over again to time-wasters who won’t take you seriously. Unlike you, a real estate agent doesn’t need to spend many hours trying to sell a property because they are an expert at what they do.
3. Mistakes
You might end up making many mistakes when selling your home that’ll cost you greatly, like selling your house for a lesser price than the actual value. Selling your house yourself exposes you to legal risks. Unlike you, real estate agents have errors and omissions insurance which can cover up for them when mistakes are made in contracts.
4. Incorrect pricing
This is one of the worst mistakes that can happen when selling your home yourself, and this can affect the sales of the property. Pricing too high is equivalent to fewer buying offers, and pricing too low can send a wrong message that something is wrong with your property.
There’s a higher chance of you selling your home for a lesser price than the value without hiring a real estate agent. It is the duty of a real estate agent to make sure that you have the best deal. With the services of a real estate agent, you get the best deal for selling your house, your buyer gets the best deal for buying the house and everyone is satisfied.
5. Real estate agent skills
The truth is that you do not have the skills that are required in real estate marketing. Not only that, you’re also inexperienced. This will directly or indirectly affect the whole home selling process in the long run. While you might be oblivious of the changes you need to make, a real estate expert will tell you what to do to make your house sell fast.
6. Emotions
Because it’s your home, you are very likely to get emotional and impartial about selling your home unlike a real estate agent. For example, a real estate agent can not get emotional about criticism from potential home buyers because it’s their profession and they know better to keep emotions out of business.
Another example is that a realtor can point out the renovations that need to be done in the house to make it more attractive without any sentiments. You might unknowingly turn a blind eye to this because it’s your home and you don’t find anything wrong with it.
These reasons should be considered before you decide to sell your home without a real estate agent. At the end of the day, whatever choices you make will determine the value you get from selling your home.
