Just because you can sell your house by yourself doesn't mean you should.

Selling a house is big deal, possibly one of the biggest deals you will undertake since you bought the house, so wanting to maintain complete control over every aspect of the sale of your home is completely understandable. With the rise of popular property classified websites, you could be forgiven for thinking that selling a property is selling as simple as uploading photos and waiting for the offers to roll in, but in reality, selling a house is a complex process and one best left to the professionals. In this article we will outline why selling a property without engaging the services of a real estate agency can become a massive headache. 

Your home is a place you have a deep financial and emotional connection with. You may have spent years there, raised children there, and made happy memories there. When it comes to moving on, it is easy to assume that you're best positioned to sell this prized asset, with an added bonus of avoiding the need to pay commission to an agent. True, but do you have the know-how and time to make the sale a smooth process? 

Before your house even hits the market, you have to decide on a price. Without insider knowledge of the market, this is not an easy task. If you choose to use a real estate agent, they already know the current state of the market, as well as the other variables like the desirability of the area. When you sell your property yourself, doing all the research is up to you, and landing on the correct price is incredibly important. A property that is priced incorrectly can linger on the market for months longer than a house that it goes to market at the correct price. 

Once your house is for sale, marketing plays a massive role. Did you know around 80% of all property searches start online? This means that your listing needs to be impeccable and placed correctly in order to attract attention.  An attention grabbing listing on a website needs stunning photos, and in order to get those perfect pictures, the house needs to be staged well. Staging is absolutely crucial as well presented houses are more appealing and therefore sell quicker. An experienced agent will know how to stage photos that highlight the best parts of the home. Posting your property online and making sure the posts will be seen by prospective buyers takes time and experience. Time you may not have, but an agency like Maxprop, with a dedicated marketing department, has to spare. 

Having prospective buyers view the house is another potential issue for a private seller. Will you have viewings by appointment only or will you have an open house? Who provides the street boards and shows people around the house? Utilising an agency takes all of this work off of your shoulder. You can disappear to your favourite coffee shop while an agent shows your house for you. 

Not having to deal with buyers directly has one major advantage - the agent acts as a buffer. Agents see your property as a business deal. They don't have the emotional connection to the property that you do. While a private seller may over-price a property or reject lower counter offers because they feel insulted at being offered less than what they feel they deserve, an agent can take a more pragmatic approach and ensure that the home is sold as fast as possible. 

Agents can honestly evaluate flaws and suggest fixes, and come equipped with the negotiating skills necessary to negotiate the best deal for you. Most agents will have even pre-qualified buyers looking for the perfect property. They're also able to weed out the unqualified buyers, something you would need to do yourself if you chose to sell privately. 

The paperwork associated with selling a home can be overwhelming. The correct forms have to be filled in correctly, and simple, unintentional mistakes can have serious legal implications. A good agent knows the ins and outs of these forms and has a team of administrative and legal assistants backing them. Not to mention Maxprop's 60 years of industry experience. 

At the end of the day, selling a house is a full time job, a job that a good estate agent has dedicated their life to. While you would be rushing home from your day job to deal with house sales, this is an agent's raison d'etre, and their income depends on the successful sale of your home. A good agent from a respectable agency (like Maxprop, obviously) has intimate knowledge of the property market unique to your area and know how to streamline the process, from the moment you decide to sell your house until the ink has dried on the final paperwork. 

Selling a property is a complex process, one that can take months of hard work, and while it is possible to do it yourself, this journey will be much easier with a reputable agency such as Maxprop by your side.