YOUR CREDIT RESOURCE: Selling your house yourself online comes with pitfalls

Q. My friends want to sell their house by listing it on a
national site where people buy and sell all kinds of items. I’d
like to sell my house, and this sounds like an easy way to do it.
Should I try this?

A. It’s amazing how fast business is changing because of the
Internet. I see all kinds of red flags in this type of transaction.
It’s one thing to spend $20 for a purchase at an online site, but
it’s another thing to make a $100,000 or more purchase with a
30-year contract over the Internet. While I don’t like to risk $20,
I can survive if I do. Risking a home is a different story.

When you are involved in a large monetary transaction that spans
a number of years, you need professional advice. When you are
buying or selling real estate, the professional you want working
for you is a Realtor.

When homes are for sale by owner, sellers and buyers each think
they will get a better deal because they won’t be paying a
commission to a Realtor. 

In fact, studies have shown the opposite to be true; buyers and
sellers both benefit, and get a better deal, from working with a
Realtor. I watched this play out when my son wanted to purchase a
home. 

His co-worker had a home for sale and wanted to sell it without
a Realtor. The seller was firm on his price and wouldn’t budge,
even after the home inspection revealed items that needed to be
fixed.

My son, the buyer, paid an attorney once for advice. He wasn’t
willing to pay again when he felt the seller was unreasonable about
the price.

Without a Realtor or attorney, there was no one to help
negotiate the deal, so the sale never happened. The seller’s home
remained on the market, and the seller ended up reducing the price
of the home below what my son had offered him. The seller’s family
moved and was stuck making two house payments because the home
didn’t sell.  Meanwhile, my son purchased a different home with the
help of a Realtor and felt he got a better home for a better
price. 

Buying or selling a home is a complicated process; things can
and do go wrong. Without a Realtor, there’s no mediator to help the
buyer and seller negotiate, so the buyer and seller will need an
attorney. Each person needs a  professional who will look out for
his or her interests in this legal transaction.  Personally, I’d be
uncomfortable buying a home from a national sales site.

I’d wonder if something is wrong with the house, and therefore,
the seller couldn’t use a Realtor to list the home. Is there a
problem with the title? Boundaries? Foundation?

I’m not willing to risk getting stuck in a 30-year loan for
thousands of dollars by buying a home without guidance. I’d want
the help of an experienced Realtor who handles real estate
transactions every day.

 is the executive director of Consumer Credit Counseling Service
of the Black Hills, a United Way member agency. For more
information, email credit@cccsbh.com.