If you’re looking to sell your house or investment property in Wilmington without using a real estate agent, we can help.
Although we do cooperate with brokers, sometimes it’s best to avoid paying someone to be in the middle.
After all, paying 5-6% of the sale of a property in a commission is a lot of money. In certain situations, NC brokers and real estate agents can be very useful and earn their commission. Not always.
How Do I Sell My House Without An Agent in Wilmington?
There are a few ways to avoid paying high commissions in your NC sale.
First, there’s a tricky custom that you’ve gotta know about.
In most sales in Wilmington, roughly half of the commission you pay as the seller goes to pay for the buyer’s broker.
Doesn’t make much sense, right?
Why should you pay for the agent on the other side of the table?
Truthfully, it defies logic – it’s just what’s typically done.
You can use that to your advantage in a few ways.
First, factor in the commissions paid when you’re looking at the comparable sales. If the properties similar to yours sold for prices that included commissions, take that into account.
Don’t underprice your property – be aware that a savvy buyer may expect to take a discount too. If you’re doing the work of one agent, you can expect to save that money.
Sometimes in Wilmington, buyers who aren’t represented by an agent won’t remember to negotiate the buyer’s side commission out of the price for themselves, so don’t remind them if you don’t want to pay them. Just don’t be surprised if it comes up during the negotiation.
Strategies to Reduce High Commission Fees in Your NC Sale
When selling property in Wilmington, understanding commission structures can save you thousands. Here’s a key insight: in most transactions, sellers typically cover both their own and the buyer’s agent’s commission—usually splitting it in half. It may seem counterintuitive, but it’s a standard practice that you can turn to your advantage.
1) Understand Commission Impact on Pricing
When reviewing comparable sales, remember that those prices likely include agent commissions. If similar properties in Wilmington were sold with commissions factored in, you need to account for that in your pricing strategy. While you shouldn’t underprice your property, be mindful that savvy buyers may expect a discount if they know you’re bypassing an agent.
2) Leverage Buyer’s Lack of Representation
In some cases, buyers without representation might not think to negotiate the buyer’s side commission. This can be a potential saving for you—though be prepared for it to come up during negotiations.
3) Consider Offering a Buyer’s Agent Commission
Offering a 2.5% commission to buyer’s agents can attract more interest to your property. While this may seem like a large sum, pricing your property to include this commission leaves room for negotiation, particularly if a buyer comes without an agent. However, omitting this commission may exclude a significant portion of the market, as over 90% of transactions in Wilmington occur through the MLS.
4) Utilize the MLS for Broad Exposure
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the primary tool brokers use to list and find properties in Wilmington. It feeds data to major real estate platforms like Realtor.com, Zillow, and Yahoo Homes, significantly widening your property’s exposure. Listing on the MLS used to require a full commission, but now, many brokers in Wilmington offer flat-fee listings. For a few hundred dollars, you can get your property on the MLS and only pay a commission if the sale closes.
5) Explore Advertising Options
While the MLS is a powerful tool, additional advertising can also help. Platforms like Realtor.com and Zillow offer paid enhancements to feature your listing prominently. However, advertising can be hit or miss—what works in one market or for one property might not work for another. Open houses, newspaper ads, and online postings on Craigslist or other platforms can be effective, but results vary.
You may want to consider offering 2.5% to buyer’s agents who will bring their clients to show your property. Sure, it’s a lot of money. If you’re pricing your property including that commission, you can always negotiate a better deal for a purchaser who comes without an agent.
On the other hand, if you don’t leave room for the buyer’s agent’s commission, you’ll be excluding most of the buyers in the market in Wilmington.
Over 90% of transactions happen through the MLS – that’s the Multiple Listing Service. It’s the main database that all the brokers in Wilmington use to access information for their clients on the houses, condos, land and investment properties for sale, along with data on the sold prices.
Once upon a time, you had to pay a full commission to get your property on the MLS. Now in Wilmington, there are a few brokers who will charge you a fee just to list your property on the MLS. Often, you spend a few hundred bucks and you only pay a commission if the sale closes.
Compared to the cost of a newspaper ad, the MLS is a cheap way to market your property to a very wide audience.
All the major real estate search sites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Yahoo Homes, etc. get data from the MLS. Chances are good that when you submit your listing in Wilmington to the MLS, information on your property will end up on most of the major sites within a few days.
Each of those sites sells ads. They’ve got packages that let you pay to enhance your listing, feature it at the top of the search, and a lot of other bells and whistles that might or might not get an interested buyer to buy your property.
Advertising is a gamble. Sometimes open houses in Wilmington NC can be a great way to sell a property, and sometimes they’re a waste of time. Same with newspaper ads, craigslist postings, fancy signs – sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t.
To effectively sell your property on your own, you have to market it well.
Putting up fliers and signs around your neighborhood can generate some calls, and t
Maximizing Exposure: Are Fliers and Signs Enough?
Putting up fliers and signs around your neighborhood can generate some interest and calls, and there are plenty of free websites where you can post your property’s details. However, these efforts alone may not be enough, especially if your home doesn’t appeal to the average buyer.
Understanding the Value of Professional Advertising
Real estate agents often justify their high commissions by citing the significant upfront costs they incur to market your property. By advertising multiple properties simultaneously, they aim to generate more leads and ultimately profit from selling several homes.
However, certain properties may require substantial advertising investments—sometimes thousands of dollars—before the right buyer sees the ad and takes action. This is where professional marketing strategies, beyond simple fliers and open houses, can make a crucial difference.
here’s a lot of free websites where you can post information. But often just putting up flyers and an open house isn’t enough if your house doesn’t appeal to the average home buyer.
In theory, real estate agents charge big commissions because they have to spend a lot of money up front to advertise your property. By advertising lots of properties at once, they expect to get more phone calls – and obviously, they’ll make good profits by selling lots of houses.
Certain properties might require thousands of dollars in advertising expenses before the right buyer happens to see the ad and call.
If you want to avoid paying any commissions, you can also sell your house to investors like us for CASH
We fair prices for properties – and we can close fast (in as little as 3-5 days if you need to).
Sometimes we’ll purchase Wilmington houses, fix them up, then rent them out… sometimes we’ll fix them up and sell them to other people looking for great homes in the area, and a lot of other reasons, too – but we love to hear from people like you who are thinking of selling anywhere in NC.
We’re investors who care a lot about Wilmington.
We close fast and pay cash in as little as just 3-5 days. Give us a call now at 1-866-591-5507 or fill out the short form over here.