Every day you're going to get calls from people who want to have a look at the house, and if you're selling on you're own, it will have to be you. You don't know who these people are, but you'll be meeting with them and taking them into your home out of the public eye, putting yourself into a potentially more dangerous situation then you might realize.
It's not like something bad happens every day, but because we are regularly meeting complete strangers in non-public settings, personal safety is enough of a concern in this business that the real estate associations have member guides specifically for personal safety. Many real estate professionals have strict policies in place for personal safety, such as insisting on meeting new buyers at their office before showing them any properties.
For-sale-by-owner companies might prefer you to believe that this is just self-interested fear-mongering. But you better consider some of the personal risks as well as the strictly monetary side of things. Don't take my word for it, though, look at some real stories that have happened.
There is the recent kidnapping and killing of Beverly Carter that has left her family and community devastated; Lindsay Buziak's still-unsolved murder; and the brutal slaying of Devinder Kumar that traumatized police involved with the case. And although it is not real estate related, we have a local example of tragic results from the private selling process with the Tim Bosma case. All he did was advertise g a truck for sale on Kijiji (something many private real estate sellers might do as well!), and his life was ended by complete strangers.
If you'd like to talk more about personal safety in the real estate business, or any other aspect of the home-selling process, give me a call or email and let's have a chat.
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