Direct Sale: Avoid Realtor Fees and the Hassle of Listing

If you’re a Georgia homeowner trying to sell your house, we don’t need to tell you that the selling process can be long an difficult. From finding the right listing agent to getting your house market-ready to waiting for the best offer, getting to closing can be a months-long endeavor. However, if you can’t or don’t want to invest your time and money into the traditional home selling process, you can always sell your house without a realtor and without listing, which means that you can avoid searching for a realtor, paying their commission, and putting your house on the market. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to commit to a direct sale. If you’re looking to sell without a realtor and without listing your property, here are a few things you should know about a direct sale.

What is a direct sale?

When selling your Georgia house through a direct sale instead of listing, you, the seller, can close on your property without ever needing to commission an agent or list your home. Instead, you cut out all the “middle men” of the sale and go directly to the buyer. Assuming you don’t already have a potential buyer lined up, you will likely seek out a reputable homebuying company or real estate investor in your Georgia area to see if they would be interesting in buying your property. These companies operate by making direct cash offers on properties for clients, which eliminates any need for you find a real estate agent to list and market your property to potential buyers.

Save Time

One of the best parts of a direct sale is that it saves time. The traditional house-selling method of listing with a real estate agent can often be a months-long process. First, it’s smart to interview several different agents to review their rates, experience, and marketing plan for your property, which can add more time to the process. You also have to consider how much time you may need to invest in your property to get it market-ready; this delay can be anywhere from a week of deep cleaning to months of professional labor. Next, once you are ready to list, you then have to wait for an offer. Again, this can take anywhere from a week to several months depending on the condition of your property and the climate of your local market. After you receive an offer, or several, you also have to worry about potential financing or inspection contingencies that can stall closing. All of these variables have the potential to delay closing when you list your property.

However, these uncertainties are all eliminated in a direct sale situation. When choosing to bypass listing with a realtor, you don’t have to worry about finding the right agent or waiting for an offer. Instead, you approach the buyer directly for a cash offer on your property. If you accept the offer, the process then only has to involve you, the buyer, and an attorney (all Georgia real estate closings are required by law to be overseen by a legal professional): no banks, agents, or fickle buyers. You won’t have as many uncertainties to worry about during the selling process, which means that the sale can be finished in much less time, typically within a week for many professional homebuyers.

Save Money

A direct sale without a realtor and without listing also significantly reduces the amount of money you need to invest into getting your property sold. The traditional method of listing usually involves paying for repairs and updates on the home in order to make it market-ready, and you also have to factor in closing costs and your agent’s commission, which is a fee of about 2-3% of your home’s final selling cost in Georgia.

With a direct sale, you as the seller don’t have to make any additional investments. You can completely bypass paying agent commissions by directly approaching a professional homebuyer, and you also avoid closing costs because most professional homebuyers handle all additional fees. Additionally, because the process of a direct sale is so much faster that the traditional house-selling method, you will be able to avoid the ongoing costs of holding your property. Things like utility bills, taxes, and mortgage payments are expenses that you can more quickly move on from when using a direct sale to avoid listing.

Less Hassle

Listing a property is a hassle. Aside from major repairs and updates, you have to deep clean, declutter, and depersonalize your property to make it as marketable as possible. You’ll also have to keep the house tidy for weeks of showings and open houses while you wait for the right offer. Even after you accept an offer, you might find that there is still a lot of hassle left before closing, such as contingencies, renegotiations, or sales that completely fall through.

A direct sale allows you to avoid all of these issues. You don’t have to clean or declutter for a showing with a professional homebuyer: these buyers know that they are buying as-is properties, and they don’t shy away from fixer-uppers. You also don’t have to worry about the sale falling through because professional homebuyers don’t have contingencies or use bank financing. As long as you make sure to select a reputable company to do business with, you can count on a fast closing and a cash payment in your hand.

More Flexibility

The house-selling process of listing with an agent doesn’t usually give you a lot of flexibility. You work on your agent’s schedule and terms, and you have to wait on things like appraisals, inspections, and offers from buyers. In other words, the process is controlled by the schedules of other people. A direct sale situation is different: you approach the buyer that you choose, and you can work with the buyer to set your own terms and schedule to ensure that the process goes smoothly for your situation.

Are there drawbacks to a direct sale?

Usually, the biggest drawback of a direct sale is that your house will likely sell for less than it would on the market. This is because cash homebuyers purchase as-is properties, so you won’t be investing in the repairs that are necessary to bring your house to its highest market value, and the offer you receive from a cash buyer will reflect your property’s condition.

One other thing to be aware of are scams. If you are looking to complete a direct sale with a local real estate investor or homebuying company, it’s important that you ensure they are reputable. Look at reviews from the buyer’s past clients, examine their policies, contact them directly to ask questions about their process, and see if they are an accredited business. This will help ensure that you aren’t scammed by an illegitimate business.

Summary

Overall, selling your Georgia property through a direct sale has many benefits. By directly approaching a local cash homebuyer, you can save time and money by avoiding listing with a realtor, give yourself more control and flexibility in the selling process, and bypass the additional hassles of contingencies and negotiations. If you are looking to quickly sell your property without a realtor and without listing, these factors can be invaluable.