Ready to Sell

“Sell Your House. Pay Yourself” The No-Commission For Sale By Owner approach

Life’s expensive… Lazy Millionaires are the only breed of human that doesn’t want to save a few bucks where possible. So of course the promise made by local For Sale By Owner (FSBO) programs to save tens-of-thousands of dollars is an attractive one. Even I tried this approach in my pre-Realtor® years.

Taping a ‘For Sale’ sign in your front window and hosting open houses is free; the local news paper offers space in the classifieds for package rates; and several FSBO programs are available offering a lawn sign, internet exposure, 5-digit real estate service savings, and the assurance that selling your property is easy; generally for under $1,000. Awesome Deal!

If I told you that a Licensed Realtor® could earn you 10% more on the sale price of your property, would you be willing to pay the commission???

According to national statistics, 80% of all FSBO properties eventually sell using a Realtor®. Don’t be deceived by the number of listings on FSBO web sites… most of them stay posted after they have been listed and even after they have been sold through the Multiple Listing Service. The 20% that successfully sell take an average 10% loss of the potential sale price.

Buyer’s that surf FSBO web sites are looking for “No Commission” prices. It’s not that they don’t want professional representation; they’re looking for a good deal.

Consider this

From a Buyer’s perspective, you have two options:

  1. Hire a Realtor® who will organize your pre-requisites; search properties that suit your needs; show you everything within your criteria; deal with all the paperwork; negotiate a fair market price; organize home inspections, financials, title searches, disclosures, solicitors, etc.; and be available at possession to deal with any post-contract items. As a Buyer, your job is to pick a house, sign on the dotted line, and attend appointments.

  2. Shop FSBOs by driving around looking for signs, reading newspapers, searching the internet; then making all the phone calls before knowing if the house fits your criteria, booking viewings with numerous different Sellers on numerous different schedules, and feel the discomfort of wanting to be polite in another’s home; then deal with drafting contracts, and the fear of drafting them incorrectly or incompletely. Basically… a lot of work and a lot of liability.

Extra risks and expenses to the Seller may be:

financially unqualified Buyer’s making offers, dangerous people entering your property, the liability of a viewer getting injured on the property and a possible fee to increase your insurance, warranties demanded by the Buyer, representations made, not obtaining a proper contract that will be legally binding, not constructing a complete contract with all the necessary attachments to protect all parties, additional legal fees to cover the Realtor’s job, etc.

If you do opt for the FSBO route my advise for success to you is keep in mind that not all websites are created equal; investigate from a Buyer’s perspective how well known and how user-friendly a site is before choosing a package; make sure your Lawyer reviews all the contracts before any signatures go on paper; and discount price. As far as risks and liabilities go, you’re still Self Representing package or not.