Hiring your best buddy or favourite cousin to sell your home might sound like a no brainer. But you really need to examine your relationship and your own personality before signing on the dotted line.

When it comes to close friends and family members who are professional realtors versus engaging an agent you haven’t worked with you really have to know yourself,  what you’re willing to tolerate, whether you’re comfortable sharing your financial information with a friend or relative and how truly honest can you be.

Whether you hire your friend or decide to go with a realtor you don’t know, you run the risk of hurting your relationship.  Not selecting them is likely to hurt feelings and that may have a lasting impact on your relationship. Hiring them and finding fault with their conduct and ways can have the same impact. It’s kind of a no-win situation so you have to know yourself well and know what scenario you can most endure.

Clearly, there are definite advantages to taking on someone you know. The level of trust you already share is understood and established. There’s no need for awkward small talk and cliché platitudes allowing you to get straight down to business. Appreciation and compassion also come into play as your realtor/relative/friend will likely be extra grateful that you selected them and will hopefully return their appreciation with above-and-beyond service. Hiring a friend or family member could also benefit you financially if that person is willing to give you a break on their fees.

But there are definite drawbacks to hiring someone you know. Your friend or relative begins their relationship with you with a bias and that can lead to problems. Will your close friend tell you the colour of your front door is hideous and may possibly be a turn-off for prospective buyers? Will your cousin point out off-putting food smells that lingered during the open house? There’s a good chance that because these people love you, they don’t want to hurt your feelings so they overlook certain faults or justify them as trivial or unimportant. You want an agent who can be brutally honest with you and whose main goal is getting you the top dollar for your property.

That close friend or relative may also think they know what you need better than you do. They’ve heard you long complain about your noisy neighbours and they know the ideal property on a quiet street. The catch? The house is $50,000 over your budget. A professional realtor wouldn’t likely assume they know what’s best for you by throwing financial caution to the wind.

There are plenty of hot-button situations that can arise when buying and selling real estate and some lead to awkward, uncomfortable and sometimes heated conversations. Otherwise simple matters turn into emotional issues and dealing with a friend or relative can exacerbate the issue. A professional realtor can cut through the feelings and is more apt to focus on the business at hand: selling or buying your home.