As a homeowner, you’re probably familiar with the traditional home selling methods — using a real estate agent or choosing to go the FSBO route.
Homebuyers have the same options as sellers. They can buy with the help of an agent or choose to make a private offer. If someone wants to buy your house privately, should you consider the offer or wait to sell with an agent?
As a homeowner, you have plenty of options for how you could proceed. You could simply ignore the offers. But even if your home received an offer without being on the market, there may be some unexpected benefits for you to cash in on.
Understanding the ins and outs of selling a house privately can help you make the right financial choice.
What is a Private Buyer?
A private buyer is an individual who is interested in purchasing a home without using the services of a real estate agent. There are several reasons that someone might want to purchase a home privately including:
- Reduced fees and cost savings by not using a real estate agent.
- By law, there are certain questions that real estate agents can’t answer. Fortunately, private buyers gain direct access to the home’s owner who can answer all of their questions.
- Buyers can gain additional insights into the home and the surrounding neighborhood by approaching the seller directly.
While buyers have several reasons for cutting out the real estate agent, homeowners need to think carefully about selling their homes to private buyers.
As with any buyer, there are good and bad aspects of this selling method. With this in mind, if someone wants to buy your house privately, then you need to carefully consider the following pros and cons.
Pros:
- Selling privately can save you in commissions. As a general rule of thumb, real estate commissions can range between five and six percent of the home’s purchase price.
- Private buyers typically are ready to make an offer, which can lead to a faster home sale.
- Sellers will remain in control of the selling process. Of course, as seen in the below cons list, you will have to be incredibly knowledgeable of the legality and entire sales process otherwise you could find yourself at a legal and financial loss.
Cons:
- Without an agent, the sale may not go smoothly which could result in both legal and financial frustrations.
- No middleman to help sellers negotiate the price.
- If your buyer is private, and you do not have experience selling homes to private buyers, sellers will typically want to hire a real estate agent to represent their best interests and help with the complicated closing procedures.
Can I Sell My House Privately After Listing With a Realtor?
If you have already listed your home with a real estate agent, then you will need to carefully review your listing agreement before you agree to sell your home privately. For example, an open listing and exclusive agency listing agreement give sellers a certain amount of leverage that can help you to sell your home to a private buyer without paying additional fees.
However, if you have an exclusive right to sell listing agreement, then you might still owe your real estate agent a commission even if you sell your home to a private buyer.
The Final Verdict on Someone Wanting to Buy Your House Privately
If someone wants to purchase your home privately, then you will have a few courses of action. You can hire an agent or lawyer to help you navigate the complicated negotiation and closing procedures.
Alternatively, you can simply decline the offer if you don’t want to sell to the private buyer.
If the private buyer’s offer has shown you how much your home has appreciated, then you might begin to research other sale options. As an alternative, you could choose to sell your home to HomeGo for a cash offer.
HomeGo offers the speed and security of selling with an agent without paying the commissions that are typically required. To learn more, contact HomeGo to receive your no-obligation cash offer today.
