When the time comes to sell your house in Portland, you’ll have some choices to make. For some sellers, a traditional process of fixing up the property and selling it through a realtor will be best. This process is expensive and time-consuming, so for others there may be a better option depending on your circumstances. You can get an understanding of your best option by taking an honest look at your property analyzing what is going on in your local real estate market. You may find that avoiding the MLS will save you thousands of dollars and months of your time. Below are a few of the reasons many homeowners decide to sell to a direct buyer.
Save Money
Listing your house on the MLS in Portland comes with several costs that you could otherwise avoid by selling to a direct buyer. When you add up all of the costs, you may find that it doesn’t make sense to list your house with a Portland real estate agent. Some of the costs you’ll face when selling your house in Portland in the traditional way:
- Repairs – Homes sold on the MLS can fetch top dollar largely because they have been repaired into like-new condition. This means you’ll likely be faced with repair costs both before and after the inspection process. If you choose to repair your property, make sure the returns make the repair costs worth it!
- Cleaning – Whether you clean the house or hire a professional, getting it ready for the market will take time and money. Many people will have the carpets cleaned, and the outside power-washed in addition to the standard cleaning that must be done.
- Advertising – In most cases, home sellers will need to pay for the marketing of their property when working with a Portland real estate agent. Photography, staging, premium listings, and marketing materials can all add up quickly.
- Holding – Simply owning a home costs a significant amount of money. Between your mortgage, utility costs, maintenance, repairs, taxes, insurance, and everything else an owner has to pay for, you can quickly eat up any future profits of selling by simply being the one paying the bills while you wait for it to sell.
- Commissions – When working with a real estate agent in Portland, you can expect to spend about 6% of your final sale price in agent commissions. This can be worth while for some, but in other circumstances you can save thousands of dollars by avoiding that 6% (which is $30,000 on a $500k home).
- Closing Costs – You, the seller, can expect to pay 1-3% in closing costs for the sale of your Portland property. On the $500k house mentioned above, that can be upwards of $15,000.
All of these costs can be avoided by selling direct to a buyer like PDX Home Buyers. We buy your house as-is, no repairs needed. You won’t have to pay commissions, closing costs, or cleaning fees, or marketing, and you can stop paying the holding costs on your property in a matter of days.
Keep people out of your house
Listing your house on the MLS means that there will (hopefully) be a lot of people coming to view it. If constantly letting strangers walk through your house sounds burdensome, a direct sale can avoid this. You’ll also avoid the need to keep your property clean and be ready to leave the house at any given moment if someone wanted to come and see it.
Sell Your House Fast
Selling a house fast in Portland can make a huge difference in your overall profits. We’ve already gone over how expensive holding costs can be while you wait for your house to sell. Everything from the monthly utilities to the property taxes to the routine maintenance costs will all add up. Plus, there are inevitably repairs and other things that come up that aren’t always considered. Add these costs to a mortgage (if you have one,) and you could be looking at thousands of dollars per month. Now if your property sits on the market for a long time, you can see how these numbers will really jump over time.
Avoiding the MLS in Portland can be beneficial for many reasons. Get in touch with our team to find out if a direct sale of your Portland house is right for you!