The Drawbacks of Selling Your Own House

Dont pay a Desk Fee Idiot

Realtor complain about their expenses.

BullSh**t

There are companies now that offer you 100% for a small monthly fee and you work from home. These new "micro Brokers" are the future.

why should the homeowner pay for you to have a fancy remax logo on your 3000 post cards you are spamming homes with.

give owners an option to choose what they want. Thats the essense of a Free Market.

Freeltor.com

Freeltor of NY @ Nov 19, 2009 16:41:16 PM

case in point:

"People think we're rich, not. We are in business for ourselves and bear all those expenses. Many Realtor's that work at an office pay desk fees of over a $1000 a month plus MLS fees, License fees, GAS riding buyers around, buying lockboxes $150 a pop, signs, advertising, website maintenance,continuing education, a % of our commission to the office..usually almost half..because you have to be under a broker. Bob, let me tell you, being a Realtor is expensive..."

THAT's what you're paying an agent for. Putting in other people's lock-boxes, cont. ed, mileage, maintaining great big website... etc.

poobah of NY @ Oct 31, 2009 11:27:25 AM

Baloney

I've sold three of my houses over the past twenty years with no realtor, and it was not at all difficult, or complicated. I'm just a regular, honest and straightforward person with no particular business acumen.

In EACH case I sold higher than the agents I first consulted expected, very quickly, and with none of the miserable game-playing and negotiating and general BS that selling through agencies entails. You do need to do some of the legwork that a realtor does, but good grief, it's cake. Anyone can go online and find out what one needs to do to sell a house; it's not rocket science and is not worth anything like what agents charge. Realtors DO work hard; they have to play this whole dumb game. Basically they get you involved in a whole back-and-forth endless, white knuckle, deal-making circus that can honestly be avoided. Ugh.

It's EASY to get local comps (for one thing, you'll probably talk to a realtor somewhere in the process of trying to decide whether to sell it yourself, and they come to conference with comps. Oo it yourself online. Or spend $75 on a comparative market analysis. It takes agents about 20 minutes online to round those up.) It's not awfully hard to get an idea of what your house is worth (obviously there are nuances - but again, doh, this is worth thousands of dollars to have someone else make an educated guess on?).

Of COURSE you need to know if there are safety issues or other important things to deal with or fix - so you have the house inspected yourself. About $350. And etc. You need a real estate lawyer - again, really cheap comparatively. And if you don't know how to get clutter out and make a house look bright and spacious I dunno - do you really need to pay someone to tell you that? There are checklists online that can help you remember details. Then you just use internet and bulletin boards and word of mouth and local papers and sell the thing. Nowadays virtually everyone looking for a house will find FSBO houses - they are searching for a bargain and would also like to cut out the middleman.

Sold my Dad's house thru a realtor when he died as it was out of town. Horrible, crazy, expensive and stupid way to go.

poobah of NY @ Oct 31, 2009 11:16:26 AM

To Bob in STL About Cutting A Realtor's Commission

Dear Bob, The next time your employer falls on "hard times" (but he's got money tied up somewhere) and is having a hard time making payroll, show some integrity and offer him a cut in your salary.:-0 People think we're rich, not. We are in business for ourselves and bear all those expenses. Many Realtor's that work at an office pay desk fees of over a $1000 a month plus MLS fees, License fees, GAS riding buyers around, buying lockboxes $150 a pop, signs, advertising, website maintenance,continuing education, a % of our commission to the office..usually almost half..because you have to be under a broker. Bob, let me tell you, being a Realtor is expensive. People think being a Realtor is simple. It's not. It's a very complicated business that requires a wealth of knowledge not gathered in a week of internet reading. Getting a RE license these days isn't as easy as it use to be and there are many more rules and regulations to contend with. Having a Realtor to work for you is like having a lawyer that can get you out of trouble when the need arises. And hey Bob,it's all the things that happen AFTER the phone rings where the Realtor earns their pay. ;-) As a Realtor, I have to say that most people have no idea about we do. Truth: Statistically, many sellers who attempt to sell their homes on their own cannot consummate the sale without the service of a real estate agent. Homeowners who succeed in selling their home by themselves usually net less than if they had a real estate agent working for them. The National Assoc. of REALTORS surveys consumers every year, including homeowners who succeeded in selling their home without a real estate agent. Over 70% of these homeowners say that they would never do it again. A Realtor brings everyone together to make the deal happen. We help you objectively evaluate and negotiate every buyer’s offer without compromising your position. We iron out the details and craft addendums which spell out how the deal will take place and protect the buyer or seller. An offer is just the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing – a lot of possible pitfalls. I help you write a legally binding win-win contract that is more likely to make it through the process. Using a Realtor will typically net you more money in the process. FSBO's usually get beat up by the buyer wanting a really great deal and the seller usually has no solid idea if they have the funds to buy the house. Having the Realtor on the buyer's side would make things work if FSBOs would cooperate...AND pay a commission. With no agent in the mix to orchestrate things, it is a recipe for a predictable outcome. Believe it or not, many houses get sold by Realtors that network with agents they know and know they will make the deal happen and do it ethically. And Bob, the bottom line is to get the house sold. Pricing is determined BY THE MARKET. In summary, what you don't know can hurt you so use a Realtor. We know. www.TheStPeteHomeFinder.com

Barry Smith, St Petersburg of FL @ Sep 13, 2008 02:32:48 AM

Realtors

I think the opinion that Realtors are only in it for the commission is simply absurd. It is a career and we all have to make a living. The truth is we do not have a lot of control over the seller's or the market. We are a service based industry and most all of us put a lot of time and effort into doing the best we can for our buyer or seller clients. Our job is to advertise in the proper places to make the phone ring and to get the call when it comes in. Our main goal is to sell your home at the highest price for you as well as find the best home for your family at the best price possible. What I am really trying to say is that this job is mostly about PEOPLE not their homes. The commission is just what pays the bills.

of SC @ Aug 27, 2008 14:17:47 PM

FSbO bottom line

The use of the mls is comparable to putting your product in a high volume chopping are where thousands of people will see your product. Why do shoe makers sell retail rather than sell out of the factory....exposure and for these product the mark up is alot higher than 6 percent. Also most FSBO base there price on homes that have sold across the mls because they usually mislead the agents into coming in to do a market analysis then they think they can get the same price. a very small percent can but usually they end up giving more than 6 percent back to the buyer and then screw disclosure items up and get into somekind of trouble. The biggest problem is they end up hurting their neighbors because now appraisser will consider their lowered valued when appraissing the home...sure everyone fsbos and your home loses ever more value.

jon of UT @ Aug 10, 2008 09:30:42 AM

Realtors

"You wouldn't go to an amateur to perform an operation on someone," she says. "It just doesn't make sense."

True...but you wouldn't pay for a high dollar surgeon to doctor a mosquito bites.

The fact of the matter is that most Realtors do nothing but sit in there office and wait for the phone to ring. Many are part-time. Also, despite all their talk of ethics, the bottom line is that Realtors are out to make a commission. In my experience, they try and convince clients to lower the listing price, thus creating a quick sale. That technique only costs the Realtor a few hundred bucks in commission, but it costs the seller thousands. If Realtors had integrity, they would drop their commission rate whenever they advised that a sale price be lowered.

Try selling your property yourself. Most of the advice of Realtors is to the detriment of a seller.

Bob in STL of MO @ Jul 28, 2008 16:03:17 PM

save the money, use the agent

A GOOD realtor, and I will admit there are more bad than good in my opinion, will get your home sold. They will eliminate your liability, they will get you money to move on in life, and that is why you want an agent.

Do you pull your own teeth? Do your own eye exams?

Could we all save money doing everything ourself? Sometimes, yes. But some things require a serious pro..You COULD pull your own tooth, but do you really want to?

Max of NJ @ Jul 19, 2008 12:57:40 PM