Going FSBO
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Thinking of selling it yourself? Going FSBO has always been common in any market. Right now, with home prices lower than they were a few years ago, many are considering this route as a way to save money. But consider long and hard before you go this route.
How are you going to price your home? Are you able to research the market activity around your neighborhood and beyond to discover the comparative sales in your area to be priced right? If you are, remember that most homes sold are probably facilitated by real estate agents so the prices you see must be adjusted to exclude whatever fees those homeowners paid so you are working apples to apples, not apples to oranges.
If you work full-time, consider that many buyers view homes during business hours. Who is going to show your home while you are at work? Who is going to field the calls that come in? Do you really want to spend your weekends holding open houses tying up your precious time with your family? Remember also that any marketing that is done is going to be out of your own pocket as well. What is your time worth?
Something else to consider is the actual showing itself. It is a proven fact that buyers are not comfortable looking at homes in which the owners are present. We urge our clients to vacate the premises during showings to give buyers the ability to feel comfortable poking around in someone else’s home. They must be able to see themselves in the house, not feel like they are intruding. They also are less likely to linger and really get a feel of the house while the homeowner is standing with them or nearby. As a FSBO, you are the one showing the house. Your presence could be a distraction and a deterrent. You are truly putting yourself at a disadvantage.
Then, if you find an interested buyer, who is going to draw up the contract to buy? If the buyer is working solo as well, you may have to spend money on an attorney to draw up a contract for you. Are you aware of the legal disclosures you are required to make? If the buyer is working with their own agent, they have a marked advantage over you since they have someone on their side, providing advice based on experience in the market, doing the legwork and looking out for their best interests. Do you have a ready list of reliable service providers to help you get ready for the closing? Are you comfortable negotiating your own contract?
Statistics show that most homes that start out as a FSBO eventually turn over to a real estate professional in the end. Don’t look simply at the bottom line of commission and get caught up in the perceived savings. Time and effort equal money – how much are you really putting into the sale of your home?
The Thing About FSBO’s…
My first residential listings was a FSBO in a very popular part of the Island near the beach. Because of it’s high-demand location, it’s owners decided to sell it themselves.
While they had a lot of curiosity lookers stop by and call on their home, after about 8 months, they grew weary of this cycle. One of them worked on the Island, but they lived up in McIntosh County, a good 40 minutes away so conducting showings during working hours or on weekends when they weren’t on the Island was a huge hassle. They decided to hire me to help them sell their home. After completing a comparative market analysis, I advised them that they could probably get more for their property than they had been asking. They were confused by this since the only offers they had received were extremely low and they had been thinking they were over-pricing their home. But they agreed and we listed the home.
About a week into the listing after much showing activity, the owners started getting nervous and thought perhaps they should have accepted one of their earlier FSBO offers which was about $40,000 less than our listing price. They called me wondering if we should lower the price by $10,000. Based on my market analysis and feedback from the public, I advised them to stay the course.
By the end of that second week, we got a solid offer close to asking price and went under contract. We closed within two weeks after that. When all was said and done, the owners of this home made far more on this sale after the commission was paid than what they could have made had they accepted the original offer as a FSBO without any real estate fees.
The new buyers were from out of town who had been working with a real estate agent they had found on-line. They were highly-qualified and got financing with no trouble. Without the involvement of REALTORS® this home would never have been exposed to these buyers.
This is really a true story and not just made up to blast FSBO’s! Serious, motivated and financially qualified buyers tend to work with real estate agents. Don’t get shut out from this pool of potential buyers because you think you can save money. Statistically, you’ll make more working with an agent than without.
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