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"bunty" <u29772@uwe> writes:
> Does anyone have any experience in selling your home on FSBO sites?
I do. I sold my home myself, with the exposure benefits of a
flat-fee listing agreement with a realtor. I think it was a whopping
$350.
Now, on the other side of the coin, buyowner.com will come out with a
lovely marketing package and tell you wonderful things, and they do
excellent photography, I will grant em that. But, they do not get you
into MLS as they're not realtors. I ruled them out based on this.
Plus their flat fee was very expensive, to my view. I actually put an
offer in on a home listed with them, though, and the seller was kinda
disappointed at how lousy their attorney referral service was. They
hooked the seller up with some idiot that wasn't even using the board
approved offer letter that is ubiquitous in this part of Chicagoland.
I ended up tendering the offer using my own form with my attorney.
And, being with these folks doesn't give you that "go away, hungry
realtor card of 'I am already under a listing agreement with an agent'"
Browsing realtor.com however, I came upon these flat fee realtor types
who'd list your home in MLS for a flat fee, and you set the commission
you're willing to pay to a buyer's agent realtor if your home sells to
someone being represented by an agent. If I wanted the flat fee
realtor to come to my home and do a CMA, or have a lockbox, or sign,
or take photos, there were flat fee adders for that, but I opted to do
all these myself. I provided the realtor with my photos, and all the
info for the MLS listings. It worked very well. I also created
fliers posted at local grocery stores, posted on craigslist, posted in
ohter places as well.
The other benefit to this for me was that I still had the flexibility
to sell without any realtor commission if I sold to an unrepresented
person who came in the door. This saved both the buyer and myself a
good deal of money. I was forthright with such unrepresented folks as
I showed the home "I will be honest, since you dont' have a buyers
agent, you will achieve a better price if you want to move on this
home than an equally strong buyer who has an agent -- I am willing to
split that." It was ultimately that which got my buyer to bite and
made the deal happen.
So, I would recommend finding a good licensed realtor in your metropolitan
area who does flat-fee MLS, set your price so that you can afford to
pay 2.5-3% or whatever is considered typical in your area to a buyer's
agent, and then if you lure in unrepresented buyers, do not be shy to
tell them that if they are unrepresented that there is some fat in
that list price and that thye should bring their offer. Then you're
in the driver's seat as to what you'll accept. I personally set a
% that was half a percent higher than the normal because I wanted
buyers agents to get folks in there and overlook that I was listed
with an "exclusive agency" realtor. Some realtors who are in
traditional commission based practices will avoid showing your home,
but then again these are also the folks who'll avoid straight FSBO's
too, so no market is lost there.
This isn't a route for the meek though. You have to have good sales
skills. You have to be ready to work your butt off and be able to
show your home effectively. Folks with these skills aren't as common
as you might think.
Good luck! Report back with how it turns out.
Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/
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Re: FSBO help
