Greetings to everyone on Charcha.

This may be a topic that was discussed before. I have not gone through the archives. That said, situations change, so do attitudes and opinions - and these are based on one's experiences.


The cup is either half full or half empty. To someone who is a realtor, it is very difficult to sell a house without their help. To someone who hosts a \" sale by the the owner\" website, that is not true- and their listings and number of houses sold through them would be evidence enough.

Rather than go to these polarized segments, I have come here. I plan on selling my house without a realtor. Opinions are welcome, but I would also like to hear from my good friends here, who have sold a house.

I might add that I do not intend to start a debate of which is better, but use this platform to share experiences.

I know that one size does not fit all, and one's experience is unique. That said, your experiences could be insightful, and allow me to be prepared for the trials and tribulations, and the joy of selling my house without a realtor.


Thanks in advance for your inputs.

I thought like you once and did an analysis; came to the conclusion that in the end I make more money / sell my home quicker if I do it through a [professional] Realtor. Reason being the number of transactions through realtors are way more than private transactions, the Canadian market is structured this way.. [very high number of buyers through realtor, increases chance of sale]

Tip: A [professional] realtor knows the strategies how to put up your house for a bidding war..

I still believe the commissions involved in the sale are ridiculously high...

Good luck with your private sale. Make sure you keep a track of who is visiting too see your house - there is a bleak chance of burglars doing a site survey..

I also suggest visiting homes for sale through their realtors, you will get ideas how to prepare brochures and what facts to mention, how to stage your house and lots more.

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We have sold one house in the past and are in the process of selling another and I think that the experience and strategies of the realtor really make them worthwhile or not. For our first house sale our realtor misled us about what we could expect on the market, which led us to overprice our property and then face dissapointment.

I agree with G13 about the reach of a professional Realtor versus doing it on our own. On day one of listing our current property we had 18 physical viewings of our home. This was largely due to the Realtors networks in getting the listing into the hands of other Realtors who had interested clients. Our current Realtor had a very systematic method of arriving at a price for the property and provided us with logical arguments as to how we should finalise a price. I was personally more fixed on quoting a slightly higher price than market in order to allow for bargaining while the strategy he suggested was to price at market so as to draw in the maximum number of potential buyers. His strategy has generated a significant interest in our home and we are hoping for a really quick offer and closing. Fingers crossed.

Hope this helps,

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