You’re ready to put your place up for sale… but you don’t want to pay out a huge commission. Can you sell a house without a Realtor? Yes! In fact, if you’re looking to sell your house or investment property in Sacramento without using a real estate agent, we can help.
Although we do cooperate with brokers, sometimes it’s best to avoid paying someone to be in the middle.
Paying your agent 5-6% of the sale as a commission amounts to a huge loss in your net gain. Now, we’re not saying it’s never worth it. In certain situations, California brokers and real estate agents can earn their commission. If you want to sell a niche property and have time to wait while you find the right buyer, an agent can be a huge help. Likewise, fielding multiple offers is easier with help from a Realtor. But sometimes going another route makes sense.
Selling to an investor means eliminating commissions and contingencies. You won’t even have to hold an open house! Here are a few ways to avoid paying high commissions on your California sale.
First, there’s a tricky custom that you’ve should consider. During most home sales in Sacramento, roughly half of the commission you pay as the seller goes to pay for the buyer’s broker. When you’re buying a place, it’s a sweet deal. When you’re on the other end of the equation… not so much.
Do the Math to See If an Agent Makes Sense
Now, how can you can use data about commissions to your advantage when you sell without an agent? First, factor in the commissions paid when you’re looking at comparable sales — or “comps” — in your neighborhood. Don’t underprice your property. Be aware that a savvy buyer may expect to take a discount. Even if you’re doing the work of the seller’s agent, you can still price as if you were paying a commission — and then pocket that cash.
You may want to consider offering 2.5% to buyer’s agents who will bring their clients to show your property. It’s a lot of money, but it could help you sell faster. If you’re pricing your property to include that commission, you can always negotiate a better deal for a purchaser who comes without an agent.
Over 90% of transactions happen through the MLS – that’s the Multiple Listing Service. It’s the main database that brokers in Sacramento use to access information for their clients on the houses, condos, land and investment properties for sale, along with data on the sold prices.
Once upon a time, you had to pay a full commission to get your property on the MLS. Now, there are some brokers in in Sacramento who will only charge a fee just to list your property on the MLS. Often, you spend a few hundred bucks and you only pay commission if the sale closes.
Compared to the cost of a newspaper ad, the MLS is a cheap way to market your property to a very wide audience.
All the major real estate search sites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Yahoo Homes, etc. get data from the MLS. Chances are good that when you submit your listing in Sacramento to the MLS, information on your property will end up on most of the major sites within a few days.
Each of those sites sells ads. They’ve got packages that let you pay to enhance your listing, feature it at the top of the search, and a lot of other bells and whistles that might or might not get an interested buyer to buy your property.
Advertising is a gamble. Sometimes open houses in Sacramento California can be a great way to sell property, and sometimes they’re a waste of time. Same with newspaper ads, craigslist postings, fancy signs – sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t.
Marketing Tips for Selling Your Home Fast
Putting up fliers and signs around your neighborhood can generate some calls, and you can also post a sale ad on digital neighborhood boards. But putting up flyers for an open house may not be enough if your house doesn’t appeal to the average home buyer.
Certain properties might require thousands of dollars in advertising expenses before the right buyer happens to see the ad and call.
Consider Selling to an Investor for Cash
We fair prices for properties – and we can close fast (in as little as 3-5 days if you need to).
Sometimes we’ll purchase Sacramento houses, fix them up, then rent them out… sometimes we’ll fix them up and sell them to other people looking for great homes in the area, and a lot of other reasons, too – but we love to hear from people like you who are thinking of selling anywhere in California.
We’re investors who care a lot about Sacramento.
We close fast and pay cash in as little as just 3-5 days. Give us a call now at (916) 907-6116 or fill out the short form over here.