It might be tempting to sell your home on your own – no commission, right? Well, not so fast: there are many reasons why it’s a good idea to have a broker on your side during this complex and detail-oriented journey.

First, let’s start off with the most basic reason: buyers get emotional about their homes. Even if you’re ready to take this big leap, you will inevitably have memories tied to this property, and that tends to make people emotional. 

You’re going to see a lot more value in the staircase where your children took their first steps than a buyer who comes in with a much more objective lens. A broker will help you keep two feet on the ground and make decisions that are sound from a financial perspective.

Second: you probably have little to no experience selling a home. Chances are that this is your first time trying to sell a property. Because of that, you’re not going to understand the process as well as a seasoned professional.

A broker will know exactly which steps to take and when. They will also be able to identify who is a qualified buyer, which can be very hard to pin down if you’ve never done this before.

Next up, selling a home is a very time-consuming process. This is literally our full-time job – it’s what we do every single day! As somebody trying to sell your property on your own, you’re going to have to make yourself available at all hours of the day, including weekends, to conduct showings. If you have another job and a family, you’re probably going to find it very difficult to balance the three.

Another key reason is that the average person doesn’t know how to market a home properly. When you’re not exposing yourself to enough buyers, you won’t be getting enough people through the door to actually make the sale. This will inevitably lead to you becoming a target for somebody searching for a bargain. Deal hunters typically look for things off-market because they know the seller is not being advised by a professional.

If you sell on your own, you also don’t have access to the latest sales data. In Quebec, due to our privacy laws, real estate brokers are not allowed to publish a property’s “sold” price. If you don’t have that information it’s going to become very, very difficult to price your home properly. And if you’re listing at the wrong price, then you’re going to be sitting on the market for a long time.

Once that happens, your listing will be considered “stale” – and once a listing goes stale, it’s very, very difficult to get a buyer to pay top dollar.

Reason six: you’re probably not a lawyer, and if you’re not, then you probably don’t have much

contract law experience. The foundation of a strong real estate contract is the basis of any successful transaction. 

You’d be surprised how many important clauses we use in all of our contracts to make sure that the buyer and seller are protected. You want to make sure that you’re doing the right thing to avoid legal issues down the road, and an airtight contract will help you do exactly that.

So in essence, by trying to save money along the way, chances are it’s going to end up

costing you a lot more money – whether that’s through a lower sale price or by having to outsource different parts of the transaction.

Want to learn more about what a broker can do for you? Reach out to our team! Our in-house experts will be happy to walk you through the process and help you understand why going with us is the best choice for your home.