I've noticed a mini-trend in blog land to skip the realtor and sell your own home. First I read that Sherry and John from Young House Love were doing it and now the lovely Leah from House Obsession has put hers on the market. I guess it makes sense when you've put so much of yourself physically, emotionally and creatively into renovating, decorating and blogging to want to control the sales process too.
When we were searching for our house we visited three homes that were "for sale by owner". As a buyer it was a very different experience to be shown around the home by the current owner. I'd have to say it was a positive one.
While none of them ended up being "the one" for us, we really enjoyed hearing how loved the homes were. How well they functioned for the families that lived there and their own unfulfilled dreams of how it could be improved upon. It made the homes more personal and easier to imagine ourselves in. In one case it almost convinced us to buy despite the home missing a feature on our "must-have" list.
Yet despite the fact we liked the idea of buying without an agent and had a positive experience at viewings, these homes were always less visited than others we saw either by appointment or at open homes. In two out of three cases we saw them re-listed a month later with agents. I hope these two bloggers have greater success with their sales because they've both created stunning homes.
I suppose I can't personally recommend buying or selling without an agent as we didn't end up doing it ourselves, but I really think its worth considering.
All photos of Leah's house in Atlanta... you know in case you want to relocate and give it some love.
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