Are you planning to sell your home or investment property in Edmonton without using a real estate agent? Good! Because Sunrise Home Buyers can help.
Don’t get us wrong. There are many instances when we used the help of an Edmonton real estate agent when buying and selling homes. And that is how most people will buy and sell an Edmonton property as well. But everyone’s circumstances in life are unique. And there are situations when it’s best to avoid paying someone to be in the middle of a transaction.
No question, paying 5-6% for the sale of a property in commissions is a fair bit of cash. And there are many instances when it’s worth it. Many Edmonton real estate agents we know can be very helpful and earn that commission. But that is not true in every case.
How Do I Sell My House Without An Edmonton Real Estate Agent?
There are many ways you can avoid that costly commission with the sale of your Alberta home.
First, a little about the home buying and selling real estate commission structure.
What Are The Alberta Real Estate Commissions?
In Alberta, the typical combined real estate commission for both the buyer and the seller agents is 7% for the first $100K of the home’s sale price and 3% of the remaining balance above $100K. Typically, the commission is split 50/50 between the buyer’s and seller’s agents.
With most property sales in Edmonton, roughly half of the commission you pay as the seller will go to the buyer’s broker. Does that make sense to you? Why should you pay for the agent on the other side of the table? Truthfully, it defies logic – it’s just what’s typically done.
But you can use that to your advantage in a few ways.
To start, when you’re looking at comparable sales, make sure you factor in the commissions paid. It is quite likely the properties similar to your own sold for prices that included commissions. So take that into account.
Don’t underprice your property – be aware that an experienced buyer may expect to buy your Edmonton home for a discount too. If you, as the for sale by owner, are doing the work of essentially one agent, you should expect to save that side of the sales commission.
Occasionally in Edmonton, buyers who aren’t represented by an agent fail to remember to negotiate the buyer’s side commission out of the price for themselves. So if it does not come up in negotiations, don’t remind them….unless you are feeling generous and you don’t want to pay them. But don’t be shocked if it comes up during the negotiation process.
You should decide ahead of time if you’ll consider offering a commission to Edmonton agents who bring their clients to view your property. Yes, it is a decent chunk of cash, but it can be worth it to broaden the number of potential buyers. Keep in mind, if you are pricing your Edmonton property including that commission, you can negotiate a better deal for a purchaser who comes without an agent.
On the flip side, if you don’t leave room for any real estate agent’s commission, you’ll be excluding many would-be buyers in the Edmonton real estate market. Its a trade-off you will need to decide.
Over 90% of transactions happen with agents listing properties on the market. It’s the primary resource that all the real estate agents in Edmonton use to access information for their clients on any house, condo, land, or investment property for sale. In addition to historical pricing of Edmonton, and Alberta homes, there is much more property and price data available.
Back in the day, you had to pay a full commission to get your property listed. Now in Edmonton, there are a few brokers who will charge you a flat fee for simply listing your property. Often, you spend only a few hundred bucks and then only pay a commission if the sale closes.
All things considered, the MLS is a relatively inexpensive way to market your Edmonton property to a very wide audience.
All the major real estate search sites like Realtor.ca, Redfin, Zolo, etc. get data from the MLS. Chances are very good that when you submit your listing in Edmonton to the MLS, your property information will end up on most of the major listing sites within a few days.
Each of those sites mentioned above sells advertising. They have tiered pricing that lets you pay to enhance your listing. Options include featuring your listing at the top of the search, and a lot of other bells and whistles that may or may not get a buyer interested in buying your property.
Advertising is a gamble. Sometimes open houses in Edmonton, Alberta can be a great way to sell a property. But sometimes they are a waste of your valuable time. The same goes for newspaper ads, Kijiji postings, and fancy signs; sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t!
To sell your Edmonton property by owner, you MUST market it well.
Delivering flyers and putting up signs around your neighborhood can certainly generate some interested home buyers. And there are several free websites where you can post your FSBO listing. It could be all you need to do, but typically, handing out flyers and holding your very own open house isn’t enough if your home doesn’t appeal to the average home buyer. And with Covid-19 and all its ancillary effects, the last thing you want to be doing is holding an Edmonton open house!
In theory, Edmonton real estate agents charge sizable commissions because they have to spend a lot of marketing money upfront to advertise their clients’ properties. And by advertising several properties at once, they expect to get more phone calls and leads. The goal here is to obviously, generate more sales and more commissions by selling more Edmonton houses.
Depending on the listing, advertising expenses to attract the right buyer might require thousands of dollars in up-front costs.
In order to avoid paying commissions, you can sell your house for cash to Sunrise Home Buyers
We make quick and fair offers on Edmonton properties. And we can close fast (in as little as 3-5 days if you need to).
Sometimes when we purchase “As-Is” Edmonton houses, we fix them up and then rent them out. Then other times, we’ll renovate them and sell them to other Edmonton families looking for great homes in the neighborhood. Regardless of the reason for selling your home, we love to hear from people like you who are thinking of selling anywhere in Alberta.
We are local real estate entrepreneurs who live and work in Edmonton and we care a lot about our city and province.
We can close fast and pay cash in as little as 3-5 days. Give us a call now at (587) 982-7576 or fill out the short form over here.
Sell Your House In Edmonton Without A Realtor
We’ll know very quickly if we can help you, and unlike selling through an agent, you don’t have to wait to see if the buyer can get financing… we’re ready to buy ASAP because we are solution-based cash home buyers.
All that hassle can add stress and months to the process. And in the end, after paying the agent’s expensive fees, you may or may not be any further ahead than if you’d just sold your Edmonton home to a local Edmonton home buyer like SUNRISE HOME BUYERS in the first place! Here’s how selling your property in Edmonton to SUNRISE HOME BUYERS compares to listing your home with an Edmonton real estate agent…
| Selling With An Edmonton Agent | SOLD To Sunrise Home Buyers | |
| Commissions / Fees: | ~5% on average is paid by you, the seller | NONE |
| Who Pays Closing Costs?: | 1-2% on average is paid by you, the seller | NONE – We pay all costs |
| Inspection & Financing Contingency: | Yes, sales can fall through | NONE |
| Appraisal Needed: | Yes, the sale is often subject to appraisal | NONE |
| Average Days Until Sold: | +/- 64 Days | Varies- Closing from 2 weeks to 2 months |
| Number of Showings: | It Varies | ONE (Just us!) |
| Closing Date: | 30-60 +/- days after accepting the buyer’s offer | The Date Of YOUR CHOICE |
| Who Pays For Repairs?: | Negotiated During Inspection Period | NONE – We pay for all repairs |