need advice on selling home FSBO

P

papertrail

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May 5, 2009
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jacksonville, FL
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I have never tried to sell a home on my own. Anyone ever listed "for sale by owner?" Headache or worth the savings?
anyone have experience/advice?
 
Really depends on your personality and expectations. Also, the home value is an issue...

I've always bought and sold homes without a realtor. It was worth the saving to me. Further, I like dealing direct and don't typically care for middle men....Also, RE attorneys give legal advice (where Realtors will make you sign releases explaining that are not giving legal advice and covering themselves) and are less expensive. some people like the hand-holding. Others, like myself, don't want it...

I take professional style pictures and create a brochure similar to what you might find in a very high-end property. I set up a website so people can view the pictures and details thoroughly on their own...I list the property with a "Fee" listing agent to get in the MLS. Basically a guy that takes the listing for a flat $300 (around)... Then I do all the work...Answer the calls / emails and do open houses, meet prospects, etc....I've been pretty fortunate that the homes basically sold themselves. They were very move-in friendly and I priced them reasonably with the market.

You want to be in the MLS to get on sites like Redfin, Zillow, etc... That means you might end up paying the buyers agent portion of the fees. You can put in the MLS the percentage you want to pay. But, if you lower it from std, agents will tend to snub you and direct their clients to a home where they will get paid more. Further, I think they resent you not using an agent so they will not be in any hurry to help you. You will prob. get approached by agents that want to list your home. If you use a "fee" agent, you prob. won't be bothered. Hopefully you get a prospective buyer on their own. Then you can negotiate directly.

I also hired the realtor sign company to come and put in a professional sign post and had a real estate looking sign made with my phone number. Actually that prob. helped the most as people look at the listings online and then come drive the neighborhood and call from the sign.

Good luck
 
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I shopped for a new home for 18 months before finding the right one. I have to say that FSBO was a flag to me as a buyer. If the seller is reluctant to pay a commission, was he also reluctant to maintain the home....? Will it be a hassle to deal with an amateur in negotiations and closing? Will the seller bring emotions into viewings and inspections?

It's also worth mentioning that the home I bought was initially listed FSBO. I found it and made an offer on the day after it was listed by a realtor.
 
$100k home

Realtor commission between $4k-$6K

$1Mill home

Realtor commission between $40k-$60K

You get the idea...

=========================

RE attorney and misc expenses $2k-$4k


Might not be financially beneficial if it's a lower market home.

=========================

RC, Interesting that you had a perception that the home wouldn't be maintained if the owner went FSBO. While I would agree you need to be careful and you still need all the inspections done, I find people selling their own homes usually are very hands on and maintain a property very well... Though I do recognize the potential stigma and I know some people are not comfortable negotiating directly with the owner...

That's why "Fee" listing broker has it's advantages. It's not stigmatized by people concerned about FSBO.

Out of curiosity, did the homeowner take care of his/her home? Why did you even look at the house after it was listed? Did the agent provide value to you?
 
I noticed a trend that FSBO homes tended to be over-priced and under-maintained. That was by no means a guarantee, but a definite trend. When an owner was present during showings, I found it awkward and off-putting. Conversely, one seller insisted that the selling agent be present during showings. I didn't particularly enjoy that either, but it was perhaps the best-maintained home I've ever been in and the agent was able to point things out that we otherwise wouldn't have noticed. (it was also $250,000 overpriced and languished on the market for a year until they brought the price down to what I had offered and they had rejected...)

I found this home on Zillow as a "make me move" listing. I didn't take it seriously. When it re-appeared as officially listed on Zillow, I jumped on it. The seller neglected it to a degree that makes me grit my teeth everyday, but oh well - I knew (most of it) going in.

I appreciated my agent, but I found ALL of the homes I looked at. He arranged viewings and helped guide me on offers, inspections, tax issues, financing, closing etc.
 
We found our current home when it was listed with a realtor. The listing expired and a few months later we contacted the seller directly. He immediately removed the realtor commission from his asking price, which put the true price in a much more realistic range. We would not have purchased this home in his asking range, and the seller would not have sold it within our buying range. But once we removed the 6% middleman, it became a mutually beneficial arrangement for both of us. We both paid a few grand in attorney's fees to have the paperwork drafted, but it was still tens of thousands less than a realtor commission. The more expensive the home, the smarter it is to sell it on your own.

More and more buyers are increasingly doing their searching online. Just make sure you get on MLS and get on the big websites, and you'll have just as much exposure as any realtor. If you target buyer is under 40yo, don't waste time with an open house.
 
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What a plan! Every company and individual should never use professional sales people, think of all that wasted money that could be saved! No Realtors, no boat brokers, and most of all, no car sales people. Stuff just sells itself, no need for professional help.

If your agent or broker is not making you money, fire them and get one that will. Don't forget time is also money.

Z-W, If you saw it when it was listed the agent did produce a buyer, just not in the listing period. Many home listing contracts contain a clause obligating the seller to pay commissions if the home is sold to someone who saw it when it was listed for 6-12 months after it expires to stop what you suggested.

MM
 
I've always thought being a realtor was an easy gig, and an easy way to collect 3% (or maybe even 6%). Then 3 years ago I met my GF, who is a realtor. After seeing what she does, I've learned how hard a job it is, and that she is often underpaid.

A good realtor is a salesperson, a general contractor, a contract/procurement advisor, a marketer, a decorator, a counselor and does countless other tasks. If you think a realtors job is to simply get a listing on MLS so it will propagate to the websites like Zillow, etc. you've either got a crappy realtor or have no idea what's involved.

As an example, her and I were scheduled to attend a very nice birthday party for a close friend last night. She is the listing agent for a home that was scheduled to close today. At 4pm, the buyer did the final walkthrough and realized the air conditioner wasn't working. They said they would delay closing until it was fixed. The seller is scheduled to leave the country today after closing. My GF spent an hour on the phone trying to find an HVAC company who would come out immediately to fix the problem. Luckily because she works hard to build strong relationships with contractors for situations like this, she found one and they said they'd be there at 7pm. She went to the house and waited for them. They arrived at 9pm, tried until almost 11 to fix it and couldn't it. My GF met them onsite at 6am this morning and they are replacing the system.

Needless to say, we missed the birthday party and a nice evening with friends. The seller (my GF's client) enjoyed their evening at a bon voyage party being thrown for them. Without a realtor, most likely the seller would have had to delay closing, change their travel schedule, etc. etc. etc. Realtors have value if you get a good one, especially if the transaction has any issues or irregularities, and it seems they all do!
 
I sold real estate full time for 8 years from 1990-1998. My wife has been a loan officer in a real estate office for 20 years.

All of the above comments are spot on. Take the anecdotal advice from above and decide for yourself if you think selling it yourself is a good idea.
 
I think you limit your market as a buyer or seller when you eliminate the broker.
Most FSBO homes I've seen over the years were overpriced, and showed poorly. Honestly, when I was shopping for houses, I stopped looking at FSBO homes for that reason. I'm sure there are exceptions, but not worth the effort to try to sort through them. Much better to let a realtor do it for you.
A good realtor is hard to find too, but I've found that if you are straight with them and stick to your limits, most get it and will work with you. They're motivated to close a deal for you because if there is no deal, they don't get paid. Once they know you're serious, they'll work pretty hard to put a deal together.
I'm having the same experience shopping for a boat. The ones that I've looked at that were listed by owners were overpriced for the most part, and turned out to be not represented accurately in pictures and descriptions once I saw them. Most owners say "this is what they are going for on yachtworld, and mine is much nicer", but they either fail to realize that most of the listings on yachtworld have been there for a very long time, usually because they are listed for too much, and the ones that actually sell often go for less than their listing price. They often have learned to live with their boat's flaws, and will justify or dismiss them as more trivial than they actually are.
Boat brokers are a pain to deal with too, I've found them to be less honest than home realtors, but at least you can usually get to the point with them about what a particular boats strengths and weaknesses are before investing too much time, and they are more realistic about value.
Absent any extenuating circumstances, I'm more reluctant to invest any time to travel to see a boat listed by an owner than I am one listed by a broker.
 
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This, 100%. My wife is a realtor and she works her butt off. When we first met, I thought "pfft, how hard could it be". She works long days, takes calls, emails and txts at all hours, has to be friendly to even the most belligerent clients (she has also "fired" a few over the years that thought they knew better). Last week we were out on the boat on our weeks vacation and had to come back Wednesday for the day so she could sort out some stuff, comes with the package. Find a GOOD realtor and you'll be happy.


Steve195 said:
I've always thought being a realtor was an easy gig, and an easy way to collect 3% (or maybe even 6%). Then 3 years ago I met my GF, who is a realtor. After seeing what she does, I've learned how hard a job it is, and that she is often underpaid.

A good realtor is a salesperson, a general contractor, a contract/procurement advisor, a marketer, a decorator, a counselor and does countless other tasks. If you think a realtors job is to simply get a listing on MLS so it will propagate to the websites like Zillow, etc. you've either got a crappy realtor or have no idea what's involved.

As an example, her and I were scheduled to attend a very nice birthday party for a close friend last night. She is the listing agent for a home that was scheduled to close today. At 4pm, the buyer did the final walkthrough and realized the air conditioner wasn't working. They said they would delay closing until it was fixed. The seller is scheduled to leave the country today after closing. My GF spent an hour on the phone trying to find an HVAC company who would come out immediately to fix the problem. Luckily because she works hard to build strong relationships with contractors for situations like this, she found one and they said they'd be there at 7pm. She went to the house and waited for them. They arrived at 9pm, tried until almost 11 to fix it and couldn't it. My GF met them onsite at 6am this morning and they are replacing the system.

Needless to say, we missed the birthday party and a nice evening with friends. The seller (my GF's client) enjoyed their evening at a bon voyage party being thrown for them. Without a realtor, most likely the seller would have had to delay closing, change their travel schedule, etc. etc. etc. Realtors have value if you get a good one, especially if the transaction has any issues or irregularities, and it seems they all do!
Click to expand...
 
I hired my realtor by accident. He was the listing agent at the first home I viewed. We "clicked" well enough that I hired him to sell my home at the time and worked together for a total of 18 months and toured 38 home before we found "the one".

We didn't agree on the selling price when we listed my house, but I wasn't in a hurry so I thought we could try his "inflated" number. A few weeks later I received an offer near full-price. (as far as I know, that sale holds the per-sq ft price record in the area) The difference between my price and his didn't cover his commission, but it came close, and who knows what would've happened if I had tried on my own.

btw, this is how I wound-up living on the boat for almost a year.
 
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