There is so much discussion today about selling your home with or without an agent and for good reason. The commission runs in the thousands and with the stock market and job market, saving that money is necessary. But are you making a decision that will help or hurt your finances?

Selling your home with an agent is necessary in certain situations. If you are not able to be objective about the sell of your home trying to selling your home yourself may actually cost you time and money.

If you are relocating and the home will be vacant even if family lives close by, that is risky business. With an agent they are responsible for the property and a good agent will go through the home on a regular bases to make sure everything is ok. The agent will be present during the inspections for the buyer and can give you informed feedback about the status. In cases that you can't get back to the state for the settlement (closing) you can sign a limited power of attorney and the agent will sit in your place at the closing and send you the check.

So as you see an agent may be worth the money depending on your situation when you are ready to sell. Now if you are willing to trade some of your time for the commission then you are in business. In order to save money on anything you have to be willing to go an extra step, but the rewards are great. Don't be fooled. There is some work involved and putting your home on a web site is only step one. You have to be willing to market your home and market it consistently. Develop a marketing plan for your home so as time goes on you are still keeping your home in front of potential buyers.

Marketing your home is the key to selling it and if you have to think about it, that is how many things are sold. There are a few things you must decide on before you move forward with selling your home yourself. The first thing you want to ask yourself is, you willing to put in the time? Time is required to make the flyers, set up your web site, take the pictures, and return calls from buyers and agents. We are not talking about hours but you need to set a side a few minutes daily to follow up.

Next you have to decide what times you will make the house available for showing, if you are or are not having an open house and what (if any) commission you are going to pay. When someone puts an offer in on your home you have to accept or counter the offer. If there is a problem with any of the inspections you will have to decide how to handle it with the buyers. Oh wait; these are things you need to decide on with an agent any way.

The truth is there isn't a right answer. It depends on you and your situation but if you are willing to put some effort into it. Can you sell your home yourself and save thousands? Yes. Is it worth the little extra work? Yes. Will the attorney or Title Company handling settlement for a small fee handle the seller side also which is mostly tax and mortgage payoffs information? Yes.