Are you looking to sell your house or investment property in Seattle 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.
In reality, paying 6% of the sale of a property as a commission is a lot of cash. In certain situations, Seattle brokers and real estate agents can be very useful and earn their commission, but not in many cases.
How Do I Sell My House Without An Agent in Seattle?
There are a few ways to avoid paying high commissions and fees in your Washington sale.
First, there’s an interesting procedure that you’ve gotta know about.
In most sales in Seattle, roughly half of the commission you pay as the seller goes to pay for the buyer’s broker.
Seems a bit far out, right?
Why should you pay for the agent way across the other side of the table?
Truthfully, it doesn’t make a lot of sense – it’s just what’s routinely done.
You can use this knowledge to your advantage in a few ways.
Start by factoring in the commissions paid when you’re looking at the comparable sales. When properties similar to yours sold for prices that included commissions, account that into your equation.
Don’t undervalue your property – be aware that a savvy buyer may expect a discount. When you’ve done the work of one agent, you can expect to save that money.
Often in Seattle, buyers who aren’t working with an agent won’t even factor this amount into their negotiations. If you aren’t too keen on paying them, don’t remind them. Just don’t be surprised if it comes up during the negotiation.
Now, if you really desired to, then you could offer 2.5% to the buyer’s agents who bring their clients in to consider purchasing your property. Yes, that does seem like a lot of money. If your asking price already has that commission built it, then you will have the option to negotiate a better deal for any purchaser without an agent.
The other side of the coin is that if you don’t leave room for the buyer’s agent’s commission, you may pass over many of the Seattle buyers in the market.
Over 90% of transactions happen through the MLS – Multiple Listing Service – which is the major database for brokers in Seattle to access for information. They pass on this data to their clients regarding houses, condos, land and investment properties for sale, along with sold prices.
Not so long ago, you had to pay a full commission to get your property on the MLS. Modern day in Seattle, there are some brokers who will charge you a fee just to list your property on the MLS. You’d likely spend a few hundred dollars and you only pay a commission if the sale closes.
Compared to the cost of a newspaper ad, the MLS is an inexpensive way to market your property to a large number of people.
Every major real estate search site like Realtor.com, Zillow, Yahoo Homes, etc. pull data from the MLS. Chances are good that when you submit your listing in Seattle to the MLS, information on your property will end up on most of the major sites within a few days.
Each major site above sells ads. They package things up to allow you pay to improve your listing, feature it at the top of the search, and a lot of other dressings that may or may not get a captivated buyer to buy your property.
Advertising is a gamble. It could be that open houses in Seattle, WA are a way to sell a property, and sometimes they just aren’t. Same with newspaper ads, craigslist postings, extravagant signs – hit and miss.
To efficiently sell your property on your own, you must market it well.
Fliers and signs in your neighborhood might generate some calls, and there are free websites aplenty where you can post data. But just putting up flyers and a grand open house just isn’t enough when your house doesn’t charm the average home buyer.
Theoretically, real estate agents charge big commissions as they must spend a lot up front to promote your property. They desire to get a lot of phone calls as the result of advertising a lot of properties – and obviously they make good profits by selling more houses.
Thousands of dollars in advertising expenses are required for certain properties before the correct buyer happens to see the ad and get in touch.
Should you want to avoid paying any commissions, you can also sell your house to investors like us for CASH
We consistently give YOU fair prices for properties and are able to close fast (in as little as 3-5 days if you need to).
At times we’ll purchase Seattle houses, fix them up, then rent them out… at other times we’ll fix them up and sell them to other people looking for great homes in the area, and a good many reasons besides – but we love to hear from people like you who are thinking of selling anywhere in Washington.
We’re investors who care a lot about Seattle.
We close fast and pay cash in as little as just 3-5 days. Give us a call now at (206) 372-9010 or fill out the short form over here.
Sell Your Seattle House Fast – Get A Cash Offer Today