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A typical real estate agent’s commission is in the range of 5% to 7% and it is paid by the home seller; so, if you are looking to sell your property should you list it as for sale by owner or should you use the services of an estate agent? After all, if you do it yourself, you are likely to save a pretty large amount of money; well, are you really?

Let’s take a look into the pros and cons of the for sale by owner house vs. using a real estate agent; yes, it is true that you can sell your home without paying a hefty commission, but keep in mind that in the US less than 20% of the houses are sold that way. And there is a pretty good reason for that: an experienced and knowledgeable estate agent will make the process much less painful and in many cases even less costly. Just take a second and consider the very basics: how would you price your house? Is your asking price too low or too high? Are you selling at the right moment?

These are questions that aren’t that easy to answer; an estate agent, on the other hand, has more likely sold quite a few properties in the past year and has a pretty good idea of what the value of your home is. He or she most likely has access to a large database of properties sold in the area and can always make a well-informed decision.

And then there is the whole process of marketing your for sale by owner home – how can you do that effectively? This isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially if you are working full-time; sure, you can place an ad in the local paper, Craigslist, or any of the other online classifieds, but is this enough?

This article isn’t meant to discourage you or influence you in any way; after all, this is your personal decision, but keep in mind that most people that market their houses as for sale by owner give up within a month or two and turn to an estate agent. In fact, it is a pretty good idea to consult an estate agent in advance, regardless of the fact that you won’t engage his or her services; this way you will get at least some professional help and a few useful tips. And even if you actually manage to find the right buyer that has agreed to pay your asking price and you have signed the contract, your job is still not done; buyers can and quite often do get cold feet and might start looking for ways to go back on the deal.

In conclusion we would like to say that you should carefully evaluate your own abilities, free time, and all the costs involved before deciding if you want to list your home as for sale by owner or let an agent handle the sale for you. At the end of the day, the 6% or so commission might be something that your agent will rightfully earn by helping you get the best price for your house and making the process hassle-free.

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If you are on the hunt for a new home and looking at some houses for sale in your chosen vicinity, make sure that you know what you are getting into; first-time and even experienced buyers often miscalculate all the costs that are involved in the buying process and in the ownership of a house.

Buying a house in the US is quite a complex process and there are quite a bit of fees and expenses involved; you should familiarize yourself with all of them and find out which are paid by the seller and which by the buyer. Even though you might think that purchasing a house without an agent might save you some money, this isn’t necessarily true; an experienced estate agent will successfully guide you through the process and help you make the best decision.

Let’s take a brief look at all the costs involved – there are government fees, stamp duty, mortgage insurance, loan costs, legal fees, inspection fees, credit report fees and this is by far not a complete list. On average, purchasing a new house will cost you anywhere from 5% to 8% of the house price; keep that in mind before you start looking at the houses for sale and make sure that you know exactly what price range you can afford.

The first expense that you should carefully look into is the home loan costs – familiarize yourself with the home loan features, make sure that you know what redraw facilities and offset accounts stand for and decide if you really need a loan with many extra features, which loan will probably cost you more. When choosing between fix and variable interest rate, make your choice depending on the number of years you intend to live in your new house; if you think that you will occupy your new home for anywhere between seven to ten years, then you most probably would have to choose a fixed interest home loan.

Government fees and taxes are a mixed bag of flat and percentage fees that you also have to take into consideration; and just to add to the confusion you should keep in mind that the houses for sale in the different states carry different fees.

And when it comes to calculating all the costs of taking a mortgage, you will have to pay title fees, bank fees, mortgage insurance premium and pre-paid items and at the time of this writing a $150 000 FHA loan will cost you more than $7 500 in fees alone.

Even though the real estate market is still fragile and what will happen to the house prices is everybody’s guess, now is a good time to look at some of the houses for sale and purchase a new home as ever; however, this is a step that you should take only if you are absolutely ready to become a homeowner. Purchasing a home that you cannot afford or overlooking some of the costs involved will be a disastrous move that you don’t want to make.

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