Selling your house in Atlanta can be a long, complicated process. You have to deal with finding the right real estate agent to help you list it, getting things repaired and staged to show it keeping it clean enough that people can walk through it, and going back and forth with potential buyers.
Because of this time-consuming process, many sellers are turning to working with iBuyers, a relatively new phenomenon in the housing market.
An iBuyer is a group that purchases homes directly from the sellers, typically for a little less than they’d sell on the open market, and then does all the repairs, staging, and selling for them. In some cases, sellers receive an advance on the sale price of their home, allowing them to move into a new home while their old home sells.
Working with an iBuyer isn’t all fun and games, though. Here are 4 risks of selling your house in Atlanta to an iBuyer:
OFFERS WILL BE LOWER
Like any other person in the real estate market, iBuyers are in the business to make money. That means they’re likely to offer you less than your home is worth, hoping you will view the ability to move into a new home and the convenience of not having to deal with the sales process as a reason to take the lower offer.
In some cases, though, these offers are tens of thousands of dollars less than many homeowners find out their homes are worth, meaning they leave lots of potential money on the table.
When selling your house in Atlanta to an iBuyer, you need to carefully do your homework about what you believe your home is worth, advocate for yourself with the iBuyer, and thoroughly weigh the quick sale with the potential for a higher price.
OFFERS ARE CONTINGENT ON INSPECTIONS
Just as a sale from seller to buyer is contingent on what’s found in a home inspection, your contract with an iBuyer is contingent on a home inspection.
However, many sellers who have worked with iBuyers have found that these inspections seem to be far pickier than they would be otherwise, with the iBuyer requiring even small things be repaired before the sale.
One seller interviewed by Market Watch said he felt “nickel and dimed” by the iBuyer he used for his home sale, with them requiring very tiny, inconsequential repairs prior to the transfer of the property.
THERE ARE FEES
The convenience of having someone else sell your home – and help you purchase a new home in some cases – comes at a price.
All iBuyers charge fees for selling your house in Atlanta, though the actual percentages in fees they charge vary from company to company. These fees easily can eat into an already lower initial offering than you’d find on the open market.
In some cases, an investigation by Market Watch found, sellers netted 11 percent less on their home sales than they could have gotten selling the homes themselves or with the help of a real estate agent. When you’re talking a home that costs $300,000, for example, that’s $33,000 in losses.
YOU HAVE LESS CONTROL
When selling your house in Atlanta to an iBuyer, you have less control over the process than you would if you were working with a real estate agent or selling on your own.
You are at the mercy of the offers the iBuyer makes, the things they require you repair from an inspection, and the fees they charge.
For many home sellers, this lack of control is frustrating and keeps them from working with iBuyers.
Professional Help Selling Your House in Atlanta
You don’t have to go through the home sales process alone. Our team of professionals can help you with every aspect of selling your house in Atlanta, making it less frustrating for you. Contact us today at (404) 977-5054!