If youāre looking to sell your house or investment property in Santa Barbara without using aĀ real estate agent, we can help.
Although we do cooperate with brokers, sometimes itās best to avoid payingĀ someone to be in the middle.
After all, paying 5-6% of the sale of a property in a commission is a lot of money. InĀ certain situations, California brokers and real estate agents can be very useful and earnĀ their commission. Not always.
How Do I Sell My House Without An Agent in Santa Barbara?
There are a few ways to avoid paying high commissions in your California sale.
First, thereās a tricky custom that youāve gotta know about.
In most sales in Santa Barbara, roughly half of the commission you pay as the seller goes toĀ pay for the buyerās broker.
Doesnāt make much sense, right?
Why should you pay for the agent on the other side of the table?
Truthfully, it defies logic ā itās just whatās typically done.
You can use that to your advantage in a few ways.
First, factor in the commissions paid when youāre looking at the comparable sales. IfĀ the properties similar to yours sold for prices that included commissions, take thatĀ into account.
Donāt underprice your property ā be aware that a savvy buyer may expect to takeĀ a discount too. If youāre doing the work of one agent, you can expect to save thatĀ money.
Sometimes in Santa Barbara, buyers who arenāt represented by an agent wonāt rememberĀ to negotiate the buyerās side commission out of the price for themselves, so donātĀ remind them if you donāt want to pay them. Just donāt be surprised if it comes upĀ during the negotiation.
You may want to consider offering 2.5% to buyerās agents who will bring theirĀ clients to show your property. Sure, itās a lot of money. If youāre pricing yourĀ property including that commission, you can always negotiate a better deal for aĀ purchaser who comes without an agent.
On the other hand, if you donāt leave room for the buyerās agentās commission, youāllĀ be excluding most of the buyers in the market in Santa Barbara.
Over 90% of transactions happen through the MLS ā thatās the Multiple ListingĀ Service. Itās the main database that all the brokers in Santa Barbara use to access informationĀ for their clients on the houses, condos, land and investment properties for sale,Ā along with data on the sold prices.
Once upon a time, you had to pay a full commission to get your property on theĀ MLS. Now in Santa Barbara, there are a few brokers who will charge you a fee just to listĀ your property on the MLS. Often, you spend a few hundred bucks and you only payĀ a commission if the sale closes.
Compared to the cost of a newspaper ad, the MLS is a cheap way to market yourĀ property to a very wide audience.
All the major real estate search sites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Yahoo Homes, etc. getĀ data from the MLS. Chances are good that when you submit your listing in Santa Barbara toĀ the MLS, information on your property will end up on most of the major sites withinĀ a few days.
Each of those sites sells ads. Theyāve got packages that let you pay to enhance yourĀ listing, feature it at the top of the search, and a lot of other bells and whistles thatĀ might or might not get an interested buyer to buy your property.
Advertising is a gamble. Sometimes open houses in Santa Barbara California can be a great way toĀ sell a property, and sometimes theyāre a waste of time. Same with newspaper ads,Ā craigslist postings, fancy signs ā sometimes they work, and sometimes they donāt.
To effectively sell your property on your own, you have to market it well.
Putting upĀ fliers and signs around your neighborhood can generate some calls, and thereās a lotĀ of free websites where you can post information. But often just putting up flyers and an open house isn’t enough if your house doesn’t appeal to the average home buyer.
In theory, real estate agents charge big commissions because they have to spend aĀ lot of money up front to advertise your property. By advertising lots of properties atĀ once, they expect to get more phone calls ā and obviously, theyāll make good profitsĀ by selling lots of houses.
Certain properties might require thousands of dollars in advertising expensesĀ before the right buyer happens to see the ad and call.
If you want to avoid paying any commissions, you can also sell your house to investors like us for CASH
We fair prices for properties ā and we can close fast (in as little as 3-5 days if you need to).
Sometimes weāll purchase Santa Barbara houses, fix them up, then rent them out… sometimes weāllĀ fix them up and sell them to other people looking for great homes in the area, and a lot of other reasons, too ā but we love to hear fromĀ people like you who are thinking of selling anywhere in California.
Weāre investors who care a lot about Santa Barbara.
We close fast and pay cash in as little as just 3-5 days. Give us a call now at (805)505-7373 or fill out the short form over here.