Why Should You Be Cautious About Hiring a Friend to Sell Your Home?

Cedar Valley Real Estate Podcast with Amy Wienands

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Today we are going to talk about the pitfalls of hiring a friend or family member as your Realtor. Most people’s homes are one of their biggest assets, and one that must be protected.

We recently had a situation where a home had been sitting on the market for the past 6 months without selling. We took a look at the listing online and the first thing we saw were some truly awful photographs of the home. When I met with the sellers, I told them their pictures and marketing materials weren’t up to par, and it was no wonder their home hadn’t sold.

The big mistake they made was feeling like they owed it to their friend to hire them to sell their home. The lack of knowledge and experience demonstrated by that friend ended up costing them about $20,000 on the value of their home because it sat on the market for so long.
After we got this listing, we had to spend a lot of time repositioning the home at a time of year when homes don’t sell as easily as they do in the spring and summer. Homes still sell, but the colder temperatures bring fewer buyers to the market.

If they had to start over, they told me they wouldn’t have made the decision to hire their friend. When you hire a friend, you can’t have those honest conversations about how you want them to sell your home because you don’t want to ruin that relationship, and that’s understandable.

So do yourself a favor and hire a full-time Realtor with a full-time team. You owe it to yourself to hire someone who is going to do the best possible job selling your home. If you have any questions, or are looking to sell your home quickly and for top dollar, give us a call. We would love to help you out!