Do people really want to sell their OWN house?

Today I met a passionate lady who is launching a private sale company that, she believes, is going to take the market by storm.  And because it’s a private sale this will require the clients to sell their own house.  I’m not convinced that it will work.

In my experience many Sellers do not have the skills to successfully sell their own property.  Firstly they are not able to assess the true market value of their home and seem to always advertise it at a premium to fair value.  Secondly, they don’t have the marketing skills to present it professionally.  And thirdly, they cannot negotiate successfully to a conclusion which means they end up losing by either giving it away too cheaply or not finalising the deal.

And on the other side of the equation we have the Buyers.  It is also my opinion that buyers would prefer not to deal with private sellers because of all the reasons listed above.  And, they are also worried that they may not have the skills to negotiate strongly and could therefore be beaten by a stronger player.  For this reason they avoid negotiating directly.

But what do you think?