If you are seriously considering selling your residence, you might have heard that selling your place on your own is becoming a more and more popular. However tempting it sounds to skip the mediation of an estate agency and the accompanying commissions, there are some reasonable arguments against that initiative. Read below a list of the major disadvantages of selling a residence by oneself

Not enough free time
The decision to sell by yourself is a serious engagement, a task that is both time consuming and intensive. Most likely your main problem will be the lack of free time at your disposal. First, you need many hours in preliminary research of the real estate market, prices, similar residences for sale in the area, and promotion tactics. Then you should be prepared for nearly around-the-clock calls and e-mails from potential buyers asking for more information, negotiating conditions and arranging them to visit your home. Add to that the time spent walking the Potential Buyers through the place and the yard, and only then come the final price negotiations and paperwork. Imaging repeating those last actions several times in a row, often during normal working hours. Now imagine the reaction of your boss dealing with you having long telephone conversations, writing non-job-related e-mails and missing work entirely!  

Not enough access to the market
Unfortunately the property market is still pretty closed to outsiders. Agencies have lists of prospective Potential Buyers "in stock" and sometimes even "trade" these potential buyers between them. Everyone trying to sell by oneself has to find a way to make Potential Buyers hear one's offer. But don't get desperate just yet; the good news is that according to recent researches up to 70 per cent of Potential Buyers use the Internet as a starting ground for their residential search, and luckily everyone has equal access to the Web.

No experience
Having no previous experience you might fall into the trap of the estate agent of the Potential Buyer, if they have one, or in some other way wind up selling at a price much lower than expected. Unless you have excellent negotiating skills and/or experience in sales.

No expert knowledge
You surely don't have wide knowledge in the area of the financial and legal matters concerning the sale of property. So you have to use the services of a lawyer familiar with the issue, and pay him or her respectively in order to handle things for you.

Emotional connection to the residence
If you are trying to sell your home, you most likely will demonstrate a certain level of emotional connection to the place. Those feelings affect your objectivity and stand in your way of making the best deal, possible only if no personal affection is present.

Not exact estimation of the selling price
This will be a big concern for you, because you eventually want to make the highest possible profit after the sale. The estimation of the highest possible price is what most people selling by themselves fail to achieve. The price evaluation of property prices is a really complicated matter, so either prepare to spend lots of money for an expert evaluation or deal with the fact that you will never know how much more you could get for it. But even if you have the exact price of the residence determined, there is no guarantee you could get it, so don't worry too much.

Full responsibility for the legal and financial issues
The seller is obligated to prepare all the documents for the sale. All the buyer has to do is consult with his or her estate agent or lawyer and sign the papers. It's your concern to make the deal legal and financially binding. Enjoy it!

Advertising costs
These costs are often overlooked by eager candidate sellers. But you really have to pay for the advertising in the newspapers, the sign in the yard, the cleaning and painting of the residence to make it look better, and so on.