Bgip Union

Selling your home is serious business. If your home is not adequately marketed it can cost you a bundle, thousands of dollars. There may be other consequences depending on your reason for selling. Before hiring a family member or friend, the first question you need to ask yourself is “will I be able to fire this person if the job doesn’t get done?” Furthermore, if you do have to fire them how will that affect your relationship with them? Is it going to create a problem at the Thanksgiving table each year and other family events?

Conversely, it may be difficult for your real estate friend to have a frank discussion with you about aspects of your home sale. Selling a home can be an emotional experience. One of the advantages to hiring a professional is that they provide third-party objectivity. For example, if I get comments from prospective buyers that my client’s home has an unpleasant odor or is priced too high then I need to have a conversation with my client that a relation or friend may be reluctant to undertake.

Some people don’t give a second thought to hiring a family member to sell their home because they assume that there is really no difference between real estate agents. They reason that all real estate agents do the same thing to sell a home. Or, they reason that putting a sign on the lawn and placing a listing on the MLS is enough to get their home sold. This is a mistake. There is a very big difference amongst real estate agents in the kind of services offered and the amount of attention given to a home. This being the case, you would be well served to ensure that your cousin or in-law, or whoever you know, is actually prepared to provide you the kind of services you need to get your home sold.

If that relation you know is a true professional working full-time earning their living in real estate and provides the services you require, then go ahead and hire them if you want. On the other hand, if it’s just somebody who got a real estate license they keep in their drawer to “make some extra money,” I would think twice. In either case, ask yourself if you’ll be able to fire them in the event the job doesn’t get done. If you hesitate or feel you couldn’t fire them, then you’re better served hiring someone else that you’re not emotionally or genetically tied to.