Why You Shouldn't Hire A Friend to Sell Your Home

Selling your home is a huge decision. If you have a friend or family member that is a real estate agent, you may be tempted to work with them instead of an agent you don’t know. After all, they know you better and have your best interests in mind, right? Actually, there are several reasons why working with a friend as your real estate agent might not be the wisest move.

Reasons You Shouldn’t Hire Your Friend as Your Real Estate Agent

Your friend may not be as experienced as you think.
We always want to support our friends. We think our friends are the best at what they do. But your friend may be playing up their experience or success to impress you. Hiring an outside real estate agent means you can objectively compare their expertise and choose the right real estate agent for you.

Your friend may not be as motivated as you need them to be.
Hiring a friend may tempt you if they offer to reduce their commission or fees out of friendship. That’s great, but it may make them less motivated to sell your home. Why would they put their energy into a sale that will earn them less money, especially when this is their livelihood?

Likewise, your friend knows that you already like and trust them. They know you’ll recommend them to others. So, they don’t need to put as much effort into impressing you as their newer clients. This may cause them to deprioritize your sale in favor of impressing strangers who may or may not hire them again or recommend them to their own friends.

You could lose money.
Any or all of these factors could lead to you losing money on your sale. If your friend is inexperienced or unmotivated, they may not know how to market your home adequately, or they may not be seeking out the kind of offers you could be getting. 

Hiring a professional real estate agent means they’ll be motivated to maximize the value of your home. This will help them get better commission and get you to rehire them or recommend them to others.

Your friendship could be ruined.
So many things can go wrong when mixing business and friendship. If anything goes wrong, either of you may blame the other or feel taken advantage of. If you value the friendship at all, it’s best to keep your business affairs separate from personal ones for the sake of the relationship.

It’s Better to Be Safe Than Sorry
Friendships are best maintained when they are kept friendships. Business is business, and Pam and Dave Jones at Extraordinary Transitions are business professionals, maximizing the value of your home and protecting your equity. Contact us to see how a professional can get the best value out of your home.