Simple Answer – No, you do not have to use a real estate agent to sell a house

Many homeowners believe that they have to sell a house using a real estate agent, but you can, in fact, sell your house yourself. There are a few different options for selling your house this way. Here are the best ways.

FSBO

You have multiple choices as to how to sell your house yourself. One common method is for you to go the FSBO route. That stands for “For Sale By Owner”. In this way, you list your house on the different FSBO websites, sometimes on the MLS, Zillow, and Craigslist, to name a few. You put a FOR SALE sign in your yard and you are in business. By doing this, you will get a lot of phone calls and inquiries about your house. Unfortunately, many of the people calling are not the most qualified buyers. 

This is the hard part. You should absolutely try to qualify each call, but you will soon find that is hard to do. There are tire-kickers, people who are interested but not qualified and therefore looking for some concessions on the sale, such as seller-financing. So, you need to know the right questions to ask a potential buyer so that you can quickly and effectively weed out the wrong people.

Finding qualified buyers

Why is so hard to find qualified buyers? It seems, for some reason, when a seller does FSBO, the potential buyers think they can write their own rules. These buyers are often not pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage. They often have not owned a house before and they are looking for a really great deal. Some of the potential buyers who contact you will be real estate investors. They are professional buyers and would be able to buy your house without any issues or problems. 

Selling to a real estate investor

If that is the case, they will be buying your house in “AS-IS” condition, so there is no need to make repairs. They are guaranteed buyers who won’t back out of escrow. There are no contingencies, no negotiations, and no hidden fees. They pay cash, so you don’t have to worry about qualifying for a loan. Also, you can leave any old furniture, junk, or unwanted items after you move out. Note: some real estate investors do business like this, but many do not, so make sure you read the contract, ask lots of questions and listen to your gut.

We’ve worked very hard to make selling your house fast and easy.

We use a two-page purchase agreement and a streamlined escrow process that is as short as you want it to be. I also pay all of YOUR escrow fees so you don’t have to.

So, how does selling to a real estate investor work?

After you contact an investor, like me, we will call you to set-up an appointment to see your house. Within 24 hours, you should receive a cash offer to you. If you accept the cash offer, escrow is opened. The escrow company sends your documents to you. You sign and return them. Then you wait for escrow to close. You will receive your check or wire at (COE) close of escrow. That’s it, you are finished!