When you want to sell your home, particularly selling without an agent, you’ll want to take advantage of every option available. One way to get your home sold is by using eBay. It’s true that eBay is an auction site but you can use the platform to get your property in front of a lot of people and generate leads. Here’s what you’ll need to consider when taking this route.
Listing a home
Listing your home on eBay is similar to listing on other sites. You will include pictures and a description for the ad as well as your contact information. You can list your property as a classified ad or as an auction item. Listing as a classified ad means that you can post the asking price there and there won’t be any bidding. This will also simplify your costs. With auction items, there are final value fees that you’ll pay based on the amount you were able to sell the item for. When you decide to list an auction item, however, you will be able to see who is genuinely interested and the selling process becomes more interactive.
eBay is not binding
Real estate auctions on eBay are non-binding. This means that there are no legal obligations for the bid winners. However, if the buyer does not follow through they will have consequences, for instance, eBay suspending their account. The reason that these transactions are non-binding is that there are too many real estate laws in various locations and eBay is a global platform. When a seller and a buyer reach an agreement, they will typically get together and finalize the deal as in a traditional real estate deal.
Cost to sell a home on eBay
If you list your home as a classified ad it will cost a flat fee of 9.95 for 30 days. If however, you list your home as an auction, the price structure is different. There is a listing fee as well as a final value fee. Dummies website has a detailed fee schedule for listings but in general, “the listing fee is based on the dollar amount of your minimum opening bid.” The final value fee is 9% of the final sale price up to $50.” If your item (house) doesn’t sell there are no final value fees, but the listing fee is non-refundable.
Final Thoughts
Closing the deal would take place in person like all other real estate sales. eBay is just used as another channel to find a buyer. These listings are becoming more popular even though this is not a the typical method of selling and buying homes. Keep in mind that you cannot list a property for anyone else unless you are a licensed real estate agent. Additionally, you may not sell a partial interest in a property. Lastly, there are certain instances when you may advertise a mortgage note for sale. Please refer to the eBay real estate policy for more information.
