Housing Rumble Polls Open

To FSBO or Not to FSBO

To consumers who have had lousy results with Realtors, yes, there are Reators who are incompetent about value, marketing, and service.

Getting 'average' or 'below average' is what usually happens if a consuumer does not take the time and make the effort to find'above average'. To most sellers and buyers any Realtor is as good as the next. Big mistake!

Yes, the 'average' Realtor is in and out of the business (3 years or less) before they become fully trained and well seasoned in their trade. However, there are many veteran Realtors with great track records from whom to choose, too.

The fees charged by most Realtors are fair competitive and value worthy if their services are robust and fairly equivalent - however, seller programs do vary greatly in quality and content. Moreover, Realtors' experience and abilities differ even more.

So, it's foolish to make one-size fits all statements about the value or effectiveness of Realtors. Expecting and obtaining professional level service and results is always a good choice for smart consumers.

Steve Wiley of NE @ Aug 04, 2008 15:14:27 PM

Former FOR SALE BY OWNER MEMBER

Hello,

I had three real estate agents try and sell my homw. One realtor tried to convince me that my home should just be let go at $299K.

I knew he was anxious to get a comission and did not have my best interest at heart.

I simply reduced the clutter, painted the kitchen and replaced a carpet. Then I put a REALISTIC price on my home based on a home appraisel.

I sold the home in less than three weeks at $334K and never looked back.

Find a realestate lawyer and SAVE$$$$$

Kevin McGrath

Formerly from Rhode Island

Kevin McGrath of VT @ Jul 27, 2008 05:38:13 AM

FSBO

I have sold my past three houses by myself. This past year we used FSBO as an Internet listing tool. We had a real estate atty to check over all our paper work. (final bill: $214) Our local title company did most of the rest of the paper work.

Our total cost including signing up with FSBO was around $750.

This included about $150 in our own ads for open houses.

We had our home sold 2-3 times early on, but these buyers could not sell their homes. We finally found a first time buyer and an FHA Loan. We did face to face negotiations, etc. found common agreement on almost all issues. The home sold in 8 months. Not bad for the current market.

FSBO did all the good work for us. The pictures and the narrative on the web site I feel sold our home. It was in "move-in" condition.

I will say that of the over 3,000 "hits" we had on the web site, 10% were interested in more info. We also had numerous realtors wanting to sell our home. Their commissions ranged from 3 1/2 to 5%.

A local business man states that paying the commissions on homes has inflated (over the years)the housing market in our last location.

I will say that the FSBO is best to sell a property. Most realtors don't have most of the answers.. The big thing I noticed was that prospective buyers for us were unhappy about their treatment by some realtors. Knowing this, we scheduled their visit to our property the last on their list. Realtors in this manner help us sell our property.

I can't really tell what a realtor can do that I cannot do for thousands less. Our current home was purchased from FSBO and saved thousands on the price. If and when we sell again, FSBO gets the nod.

Steve P. Fitzgerald of MI @ Jul 24, 2008 12:23:56 PM

ForSaleByOwner.com - our $.02

We have had the opportunity of using an agent and using ForSaleByOwner.com to buy and sale 3 properties. In our experience the four agents we have worked with (to buy all three and sale one property) have not worked in our best interest. Now that could just be saying something about us not demanding it, but for the last two properties we have sold we used ForSaleByOwner.com and I have to say it was worth every penny we saved and every minute of our time. WE WORK IN OUR BEST INTEREST and if I am going to be paying a 6% commission, then I want someone to work for that money, and why not let it be us?

The first time we used FSBO we sold the property the first weekend and for our asking price. The second time we used them we listed our home the first part of December 2007 and it sold the third week of January 2008. In this market that’s not bad - six weeks and only 3% less from our asking price.

I agree with previous comments though that you have to be committed and put in the time to research, research, research. We were prepared to show it and MARKET it (i.e. two open houses, flyers, listing it in every local paper and on online websites, signs in the neighborhood, taking a thousand pictures to get the best ones, etc.)That's why I say that for us it was worth every minute of our time - we got to keep the commission.

So, would I use them again - absolutely!

DJ of UT @ Jul 23, 2008 20:01:29 PM

Forsaleby owner

I too have just sold our home on forsalebyowner.com. Sold it in 4 days! You DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT need a realtor to suck 6% out of your homes sale value. You can do it. FIRST-have an appraisor come and appraise the value of your home. Ask the appraisor for a selling range from the least amount you should take and also the premium price. If you want to sell, start mid way so you have a cushion to come down. We decided to have our buyers present us with a contract and we would close with a real estate attorney. The contract they propsed was not even correct. We had to amend the contract and the realtor had our buyer write the amendment, for $525 total even though we had already decided on closing date, cost, and everything. All their realtor had to do was write it up and she couldn't even do that! Their realtor was usless and cost them alot of money. Start off right away with a real-estate attorney that can write the contract and also close and provide title insurance. We saved over $10,000 by going with a real-estate attorney. YOU CAN DO IT!

Sold in 4 DAYS on forsaleby owner.com of IL @ Jul 23, 2008 10:35:15 AM

Save Money

My uncle and his wife work in real estate, and even they have said that using an agent is best for people who don't want to take the time and do some simple market research and dedicate time to selling a home. It's a service industry, so of course people can pay for it if they want to. But it's something that can be done very easily, more easily than what agents want you to believe. Can't blame them, it's their income. But the truth is that they aren't needed anymore.

Lucy Zenstein of CT @ Jul 22, 2008 22:43:33 PM

Owners lose money

It' a proven fact that a good real estate broker can sell a home faster and for more money than a For Sale By Owner. We have proven this time and time again in the Bend Oregon real estate market.

Jim Johnson CRS of OR @ Jul 22, 2008 22:07:13 PM

Success!!

I used www.forsalebyowner.com and other listing services as well to see my townhome in Northern VA in a record five weeks total - three weeks on MLS using a flat fee broker - in total the entire deal costs less than $1K from start to finish. We got our price even with some buyers agents trying to get a ridiculous bargain for their clients. Our buyer lived in the islands and had her friends check out our place along with a buyers agent. It was a fun and quick experience we all enjoyed and with no hitches at all.

I think it is important to use the MLS to advertise your property as agents are interested in bringing buyers regardless of who "lists" it. If you know your market, your house is in good condition (ours was virtually perfect), and you are comfortable talking to people who come see your home you can be the "selling agent" with no problem. Know your bottom line and stick to it.

We had two previous homes that were listed with an agent and we ended up selling both of them ourselves...lightbulb moment...so with the third we went the FSBO route....it worked.

There are sellers who should never consider going the FSBO route - for those - find a good agent with a history of selling in your general area and interview 3-4 or as many as you need to in order to feel comfortable. You should never feel pressure from your agent. Hope this helps.

I think the real issue is when a FSBO seller is both the listing and selling "agent" which in that case I would recommend using an attorney to do the closing and ensure all the contracts are compliant with your state's laws. The website has copies of contracts for each state so this is no problem.

Life is changing...people are buying and selling any and everything on the internet so why not their home? Agents need to get real...people aren't going to continue paying that 2-3% "listing" agent side of the fee when they can get better results themselves. Agents are critical to the real estate business - educated, dedicated, and knowledgeable ones that is...the rest are useless.

Cindy Brockwell of VA @ Jul 22, 2008 17:14:00 PM