For Sale By Owner

FSBO or Hire Jason

     You're saying "Right, this Realtor is really going to be tell me to sell my house on my own."  Well, yes and no. I'm going to educate you on the ins and outs of a FSBO and then you decide. Recently, I made fliers for a home that was on the market FSBO just to help the guy out because he was kind enough to hear me out on why he should list with me. Turned out he was an old real estate agent and actually knew what he was doing which is very rare when I encounter a FSBO.  Back in the day I was naive enough to think I could sell my home yet I had no knowledge base, experience or time to do it. Knowing what I know now and having a wife and daughter I would never sell on my own if I were not an agent.
     There are a lot of reasons to NOT sell FSBO and then there are some good reasons to try so keep reading.

1. As a husband and father of a teen girl I would never want strangers looking through my home - especially if I were not there.  Safety is my number one concern and it's becoming a more dangerous world out there. I don't want my girls in our home with strangers touring it and putting themselves at risk. 
2. Did you know Realtors are required to have with a background checks to practice?  You know buyers in your home are in trustworthy hands when a Realtor is present and not having strangers peering through your windows wondering what you have and looking to see what type of floors you have. 
3. Most people have no idea what a good agent does and trust me - it's very time consuming. If you work and are not home to take care of these things you will not sell your home. Here are a few of the tasks you'd have to do with any chance at selling your home

•  Find and schedule an appraisal - you don't know how to read the market, know your comps, compare your property to others and your emotions will not allow you to be unbiased in your home.  I just heard yesterday, "My neighbor sold for $xxxxxx.00 and my home is much nicer. Wrong! Everyone thinks their home is worth more than it is.  I do not value your home - the comps do!!!! You need an unbiased opinion and skin thick to hear the truth.  
• Find and contact an attorney that works in real estate. You need to protect yourself but do you have the time to go out and interview multiple attorneys?
• Keeping your home show ready!  You have to do this anyways but when you do FSBO you will have strangers knock on your door at any given moment. With an agent you can schedule electronically in a program called Showtime when you are not available or don't want the house shown. No random door knockers or strangers peering in your windows. 
• Do you know all the documents you need and contracts required to buy and sell? If not - use an agent because you don't want to get sued. 
• Usually a buyer will get a home inspector but it's always good to get your own and make the appropriate fixes ahead of time. Please hire a professional to do these repairs and keep the receipts. Recently a seller made his own repairs because he thought he was the tool man and the deal almost fell through because of it. 
• You'll end up paying a buyer's commission anyways so you might as well get a listing agent.  All commissions are negotiable but many buyer's agents want 3% and if you are not willing to pay this you cut your showings by about 90%.That other 3% (if that is the price negotiated) for a listing agent definitely pays itself off in liability, time saved, less stress, more time to go fishing or shopping and more money.  Often times when a buyer sees a FSBO they will either forgo even talking to you because you are not represented or give you a low-ball offer because they feel they can automatically offer you at least 6-10% under the listing price. 
• How good are your negotiation skills?  If you are not confident in your skills and you are up against an experienced agent you better have your A-game on.  You are going to negotiate price, repairs, closing costs, time-frame, closing date and more. 
• If you don't put your home on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) you are losing opportunities by the minute. You can pay a company to put your home on our local MLS but many of those don't look professional because you used your cell phone for the pics and took a picture of your toilet instead of your backyard (I saw this on the MLS). I just saw a home listed FSBO and they marketed berber carpet.  I'm sorry but berber carpet has not been popular in a long time.
• Do you have time to host open houses and properly market your home. A good agent will use 1% of the sales price to market your home. A good agent (me) has an internet strategy, email strategy, communications strategy and a good mail campaign as part of their marketing. Are you willing to do all this or do you even know how?

In our market we have about 9% of homes FSBO.  Statistics say only 10% of FSBO homes will sell on their own. So, you list your home in March as a FSBO and then in August you decide to use an agent.  Ooooops - you just missed the hottest season of the year and now you will make less money because buyers will come and see it's been on the market for 5 months so they offer you less.  Are you willing to take less money and more time to sell your property? If so - by all means then try FSBO but if you want to get the most money in the least amount of time call me so we can set a plan. If you are experienced in real estate, understand the contracts, have the time to market yourself and know an appraiser, attorney and inspector then I say give it a shot and see if you can't save yourself a few percent on the sale.   

If you need help, want more information, or want to see what your home is worth give me a call.

-Jason Gregg

843.696.8627

Jason.Gregg@kw.com

www.palmettodreamhomes.com