Poppy girl

Does anyone have any thoughts or have they ever dealt with FSBO or better still just sold their House entirely by themselves.

Any tips would be appreciated the reason I am asking is that we are going to put the house on the market next week and before we go and get a Real Estate agent I am gonna have a stab at it myself for a month or 2.

Thanks for any tips.

Elvira

I can't answer your question specifically, but may have some food for thought:

Several people on our subdivision tried to sell their houses without a realtor. They all in the end got a realtor.

I don't know what the housing market is like in your area, but where we are, May and June are the chief selling/buying months, and any houses not sold by summer seem to stick around for quite a while.

danfan

There are several pros and cons, the main con being marketing exposure. Real estate agents tend to look on the MLS listings and bring buyers to you, rather than relying on drive-by viewers.
You will still have to pay the buyer's agents fees though & you can negotiate that.

There are several websites that you can sign up to for FSBO - you get a lock box so realtors can let themselves in when you are not home, get your house on the MLS listings and get free signs etc. Fees (when I looked last year) are around $500. Far cheaper than the realtor fee!

Also, as an aside - my last move I used a realtor but also added a great ad to Craigslist. I had 5 real leads from it - people moving to our area from around the country & searching our local Craigslist for houses. One went as far as contract but then he got turned down by his mortgage company.
I was still going to have to pay realtor fees - buyer & seller because my realtor was representing the buyer - but I was able to negatiate the rate down by 1.5%

The difficult part about doing it all yourself is the legal side - disclosures, the 1001 pages of forms etc. Get a good lawyer to help.

Tracym

My friend who is a realtor told me - the realtor's job isn't to sell the house; the realtor's job is to make sure it closes.

Also, I've heard of realtors conspiring to not show FSBO houses and etc.

Plus, buyers know you don't have a realtor, and then expect you to discount the price since you don't have to pay the realtor's fee.

Personally, I'd get a realtor and negotiate the best deal you can.

RoadWarriorFromLP

The primary reason to use a real estate agent is for the marketing. The MLS won't include your listing (by design, of course), and the MLS is critical here. And agents won't show your place to their clients, because you won't pay them for selling it. (Can't blame them for that, really -- they work on commission, they don't do it out of the goodness of their hearts.)

These two factors make it hard to sell a home on your own. Most of the US is currently a "buyer's market", which also works against you. Right now, you need all of the marketing help that you can get.

As time goes on, agents will approach you...in an effort to list your property. But they won't bring buyers to you otherwise.

Poppy girl

You will still have to pay the buyer's agents fees though & you can negotiate that.

Thanks all that was some interesting reading, it made me think a bit differently not quiet sure which road to take? we are in a nice area of the main road Doctor 1 side and Lawyer the other it's a sort after area, safe and quiet umm I am going to discuss this further with the OH see what he thinks.

Whats with the paying the buyers agents fee's

Tracym

The buyor does not pay any percentage to the realtors, not even his own realtor.

There is a general percentage that the seller pays to his agent - say 6% for example. That amount is then split with the buyer's agent, so each realtor gets 3%.

So if you don't have a realtor, but the buyor does - his agent still wants to get paid.

Poppy girl

I see, Thanks, see I am going inot this venture blind.

Tracym

Here's a suggestion:

Call a realtor, for example Caldwell Banker. For free, they will come out and appraise your house and give you a market analysis comparing your house to others in the area. They can explain fees, and what they could do for you.

Then... you do not HAVE to list your house with them. You could even have a couple of different agents out. Then you either choose one, or decide to do it yourself.

But you really have nothing to lose by getting some info from the realtors to start with.

g1ant

My friend who is a realtor told me that FSBO is only a good idea if you put your house on the market at a knock down price. That MIGHT attaract buyers but it might not. Not having your house on MLS is a big disadvantage.

meauxna

Hey Poppy, I'm the Voice of Different, as usual..

I sold a house last year, myself, on craigslist + sign on the lawn. I sold it within 48 hours, for cash, and didn't pay a buyer's agent (they'll ask, but so what--you do not have to pay).
I did not sell it for a knock down price but I studied my market carefully beforehand and priced it right. Four buyers got in a bidding war for it and I got 15K over asking. I ran both my purchase and my sale through my real estate lawyer just to be sure. This was the first time I'd sold a house.

I agree with the marketing comments--that is the primary job of a Realtor but in fact too many of them think that just getting you listed on the MLS is their gift from the gods. And, it totally depends on your market. I sold this house this past fall, when all the gloom and doom and 'bubble is burst!' hand wringing had already started but I held firm for what I knew about that specific neighborhood.

There are good resources at clarkhoward.com and he recommends that you have a complete marketing plan (including financials) before you list the house. I had a very clear picture of who my buyer would be (I could even see him in my head) and my four bidding war customers fit the picture almost perfectly--be very clear WHO your customer is and market to them.

There are ways to buy yourself on to the MLS/Multiple Listing for less than a Realtor's commission.

caveat: I'm in sales and marketing and was comfortable with selling. I'll PM over to you some tips I found very helpful before I put the sign out. Seeing your comment about going in blind--don't do that! It is well worth it to study up on this and make a planned, educated attack at it yourself first.

Poppy girl

Once again Thanks to the posters on this thread and also to the emails that I have recieved.
I as you pointed out also have Marketing Experiance I am a Marketing and Business Development Manager by profession so that is going to be a plus but I am going to read up on the facts and chat to a few folk also, as you can never know 2 much.
This has turned out to be a very interesting thread cheers all.

Poppy

BritGuyTN

no conspiracy - why on earth would someone waste their time on something that they won't get a return from?

although some buyers agents have in their contracts that if they find a fsbo that is suitable, the buyer has to pay a fee or comission out of pocket so they don;t end up with jack shit

Tracym

Ovbiously you didn't see it, but there was a big news scandal about that a while ago.

They do get a return on it - they're protecting their future income and their whole profession. Up to now, you practically needed a realtor to sell your house - if everyone starts listing on FSBO or just doing it themselves, the realtors lose at least half their business. Or potentially all of it if the buyers just look online.

That's why.

dunroving

I sold both my houses (TN and NC) FSBO, and bought my TN house FSBO. Each time it went very smoothly. Some pieces of advice:

Althugh selling FSBO saves you money in realtor fees, you should not skimp on spending money on exposure. As others have said, one advantage of selling via realtor is being on the MLS listing. Both times, I put a photo ad in the local paper and held an Open House (if you've been to a realtor open house you will realize it's not exactly rocket science).

You are not under any legal obligation as a FSBO to pay any fees to any realtor. However, if a realtor brings you a buyer they may be looking for a finder's fee. That is entirely between the buyer and his/her realtor.

I look at selling/buying FSBO as a way for the seller AND buyer to save on realtor fees. Consequently, both times I sold at a price slightly lower than market value (I could afford to; I was saving $6,000 on realtor fees). When I bought FSBO, the woman selling had the same philosophy - I paid my agent a finder's fee from the money I saved by buying cheaper.

You should be able to download an offer/sale contract form online (I think they are different for each state). Get a good property attorney before you put your house on the market so they can look over the offer/sale contract and give you advice.

I recommend FSBO if your home is in good shape, in a good location, and reasonably priced. Otherwise, use a good realtor as they will have the professional skills to help you in this situation.

I think when a house is eminently sellable in a seller's market, it's madness to pay a realtor for doing a job that anyone could do (unless the realtor is willing to negotiate on fees in recognition of how easy the sale is).