When the market was hot, many people sold their homes without realtors. Is it still a good idea?

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You may be able to save, but you may need to reconsider.

The benefit of selling your home to a real estate agent is that you can oversee the process from start to finish with the help of an expert. A real estate agent can help you sell your home, buy land at the right list price, and negotiate on your behalf with the buyer and their real estate agent.

Plus, there’s something to be said for not having to go through the process of selling a home alone. (Even a smooth home sale process can introduce some disruption to your daily life).

However, hiring a real estate agent has a distinct downside. that you have to pay a fee. The real estate agent is not free and often he will pay a commission equal to 5% or 6% of the sale price of the house.

So if you sell your house for $400,000, you can easily lose $20,000 to $24,000 because you have to pay the real estate agent. It’s money that can’t be put into a savings account or used to buy a new home.

Meanwhile, many home sellers have made the decision to let realtors go in 2021 and even early 2022 as the housing market has shown a clear edge. But is that a good bet for him in 2023?

The housing market is not so hot

The housing market still doesn’t have enough inventory to fully satisfy buyer demand, and today’s sellers generally have the upper hand.But let me be clear – sellers do No As of 2021 and even early 2022, they have a distinct advantage over buyers. And it’s important to take that into account when deciding whether to hire a real estate agent.

Home price gains have slowed significantly over the past few months. Buyer demand has not gone away, but is weakening. Thanks to that, you can be grateful that mortgage interest rates have increased.

On the other hand, as fears of a recession loom over people’s minds, buyer demand is likely to decline further this year. And with all that said, it could be costly enough to hire a real estate agent this year — even if the housing inventory doesn’t increase much.

a fee that can be paid for itself

The only real downside to hiring a realtor is the fees you have to pay. And the fee can be substantial. But if you hire realtors who are really good at what they do, the fees may pay for themselves.

Going back to our example, let’s say you lost $20,000 in realtor fees in the course of selling your home. But let’s say that by using an agent, he gets $30,000 more than if he sold the house himself. After all, you’re on your way to a financial advantage – and you’ve likely saved yourself some stress along the way.

Remember, selling a home is not only a difficult process, it is also a time-consuming one. Also, if you have a job or other responsibilities, you may need help to see through it. Skipping realtors in 2021 might have made sense, but today’s market conditions were bleak when mortgage rates and home inventories were so low and buyers were actually begging for homes. are very different. So hiring a real estate agent can really be in your interest.