When most people think about selling a home they think about listing it with a real estate agent, but that’s not the only way to sell. Besides putting your home on the open market, you can also sell via an auction or by selling privately.
What is a private sale?
A private sale is any kind of sale that does not require a solicitor or auction house to facilitate. For example, if you decided to sell your house to your sister, that would be a private sale. It’s also a private sale if you are approached by someone and offered money for your property, or if you approach someone willing to buy from you.
A private sale still requires an attorney to ensure everything is done legally, but you don’t need to worry about any realtor or auctioneer’s fees. It’s a much cheaper way to sell, but it also has other advantages.
What are the advantages of selling privately?
1) You call the shots
A good real estate agent can be well worth their fees if you’ve decided to sell on the open market and you know your home will be in demand. That said, working with one does mean you have to do things on their time frame.
When you sell a home privately, you can do things on your terms. You get to work directly with your buyer to negotiate a rate and time frame that works for both of you – there are no third parties to worry about, and you don’t have to wait for a photographer to come before your home goes on the market.
When you sell privately, there’s no waiting.
2) Timeframes are more flexible
In most cases, selling privately will give you more flexibility on how quickly or slowly things move for you. The housing market has been hot in many areas over the past few years, and for many people selling through an agent, that has meant they’ve had to get out of their house before they’re ready to leave – putting them into a position where they have to stay with family and put their belongings into storage or rent temporarily.
When you sell privately, you can often negotiate to move on your time frame, especially if you’re selling to family or a house buying company like us. If you need an extra week to move or if you want to have sold your house and moved on in just a couple of weeks, you can.
3) You won’t pay fees
With no agent, there is no commission fee. Real estate agents, realtors, and auctioneers charge a percentage of the selling price, sometimes up to three percent or more, and that money is saved.
That might not sound like a big deal, but the median house price across the U.S. in 2021 was $374,900. Three percent of that is over $11,000 – a sum that is better in your pocket than an agent’s and can make all the difference when you move on to another property or a new phase of your life.
4) Direct communication
Selling a house can be a long-drawn-out process. Often a price needs to be negotiated, ln most private sales, there won’t be mortgage lenders to be dealt with, appraisals arranged, or home inspections. Because you’re in direct contact with your buyer, you’re less likely to experience miscommunication or wonder what’s going on on their end.
5) You don’t have to tell the whole world you are selling your home
Not everyone wants to trumpet to the world that they are selling their house. Many people like their lives to remain private for all sorts of reasons, particularly if you suffer from nosey neighbors or need to move due to an issue you’d rather keep private.
When you sell privately, you don’t need to tell anyone you’re selling. You don’t need to put signs in the yard and, in most cases, you don’t need to give your home a serious tidy. When it comes to selling privately, your buyer is usually interested in purchasing your home in as-is condition, so they don’t care if the lawn is a little overgrown.
If life has gotten away from you for any reason, you may not relish the idea of suddenly doing up your home and alerting the whole neighborhood that something’s going on at your house. When you sell privately, you can just pack up and move on.
6) “Days on market” is not important
If a house doesn’t sell quickly once listed, potential buyers can think that there is something wrong with the property. This may mean them offering a lower amount than the seller wants or putting them off from considering the house at all. When you sell privately, your house is not listed on the MLS, there is no “Days on Market” metric putting off buyers.
The Pros and Cons of Selling Privately
Obviously, all of these advantages are great if you’ve got a private buyer lined up. However, if you’ve got no offers and no friend, family member, or acquaintance who wants to buy from you, you’ve only got two options:
- Try selling as FSBO (for sale by owner)
- Sell to a home buying company
FSBO comes with a lot more cons that often outweigh these advantages – namely because you have so much more work to do and there is a smaller pool of buyers willing to buy a home directly from an owner.
There is no doubt that the easiest way to sell your home is by accepting an offer from a company that specializes in buying houses for cash. If you live in Massachusetts, consider reaching out to a reputable cash home buying company. We make the whole process of selling your house simple, quick, and anxiety-free. You can benefit from all the advantages listed above, and none of the cons.
All you have to do is fill in a simple online form. We will then call you to get some details about your property and then make an offer based on market analysis. It couldn’t be easier. There’s no obligation to accept our offer, but if you do, the cash will be in your bank account in a matter of days. To find out more about the process or to get a no-obligation best offer from us, click here.