You’ve decided on your selling price. Next step is to find a buyer, and prepare yourself for the many screenings and negotiations before you officially turn over the house keys.

Of course, you can always do this yourself. You can make flyers, run an ad in the papers, post pictures of your home on the Internet, run an open house. But we’ll be totally frank with you—that’s the easiest part of the process. Once the buyers come trickling in, and you have to make appointments and talk to each and every one (plus the follow-up visits and calls), you might start to feel that your schedule is under hostage. This is not the best option for people who are busy, generally not keen on talking to strangers (selling a home requires some PR skills), or have an unusual or erratic schedule.

You can also use real estate agent or realtor. The advantage is that you have a professional taking care of all the details, and since she’ll be bringing in her own network of buyers, you may be able to sell your house much faster (great if you’re under time pressure to sell). However, you have to pay commission, typically 6% to 7% of the purchase price. That’s a lot of money, and considering you’ll already be shelling out a lot of cash to process the sale—attorney fees, title search, recording fees, buyers’ mortgage costs—entertaining prospective buyers may not seem like such a bad thing. Make sure you read our article How to Choose a Realtor.

So it’s really up to you: are you prepared for the nitty-gritty of selling your home, or would you rather pay someone else to do it? If you’re ready to take the plunge and hack it on your own, an Offer to Purchase Form, and the other downloadable documents you’ll find on this site, can help you screen potential buyers and protect your interest during negotiations. At least that’s one less thing to worry about.

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