Many private sellers don’t plan how long to promote their home when listing their house for sale by owner. Those who list privately don’t usually understand how to set realistic time lines as to how long to continue their selling process. The result usually ends up in frustration and turning to a real estate agent in failure.

First, let’s have a look at how the selling time table works. Many top real estate agents counsel and prepare their clients to bring their house for sale into show-home ready condition. This process usually returns a higher price and a quicker offer but; the down side is that there is a cost associated in terms of both money and and time if this is done properly. It is not unusual to take 2-4 weeks of preparing the home for the marketplace.

The honeymoon period of your house for sale listing is approximately 21 days. In these 3 weeks, the excitement of managing this process, dealing with home buyers, neighbors and of course real estate agents, is quite an adrenaline rush. But excitement fades quickly when the amount of effort and timing takes its toll on your emotional state. This 21 day cycle is same for those homeowners listed through a homes by owner service, or with a real estate agent. Selling your home is an evasive process, careful planning and family cooperation is a must.

Within the first 60 days or the length of an average MLS listing, the private home seller tires of the workload required to sell their home. Along with the workload could be the expense of advertising, which depending on your neighbourhood, could be thousands of dollars in no-return marketing.

Selling your home privately is an increasing option. Currently 1 in 8 homes are being marketed for sale through “Houses for Sale by Owner” services in North America. This 12% is rising year after year due to homeowners wanting to not contribute to the 30 billion commission dollars paid annually to real estate agents. Many a homeowner is prepared to roll up their sleeves and list their property for sale by owner to save some money.