Selling a home by owner in Madison WI, not the bargain you wanted!

Have you ever tried to do some home improvement and found in the end you had to get a professional to repair the mess you made?  Did you ever try to buy something cheap, only to have it fall apart and had to go get the higher quality item in the end?   our original post

False economies?  You bet, but how does one tell which "cheap fix" will work and which will end up costing more? 

Selling your home is like this too, only there is much more at stake. 

In Madison Wisconsin, the "cheap" companies encourage you to save by going it alone.  It sounds all to tempting to "save 6%" right? (not meaning what companies actually charge, but this is actually what consumers say to me all the time)  

Of course, i would not be in this business if i didn't believe that my team is worth what we charge.   We provide every bit of knowledge and experience, advice, handholding etc. a client requires.  In the past we have discussed this. Real Estate Professional to sell your home. 

Now, Thanks to my Office Broker we have some solid proof!  (or at least Statistics Pulled From the Madison MLS), how much trying to sell by owner actually costs. 

Actually we are comparing a step up from "by owner".   It is when you pay a company an upfront sum to place on the Realtors' MLS.   Sounds like a neat idea?  Yes but it is still FSBO, this time what i refer to Expensive FSBO and i believe the worst thing a potential seller can do. 

Let's look at the home sale statistics from Madison Wi.  This graph shows the sales price as a percentage of listing (asking) price for our Keller Williams Madison Crossroads office (left column at 96.6%)  the other companies range from 95.6 to the largest company (Madcity) by far, 92.3%.  (7.7% from list)

The stats also show your chance of selling will be lower and you also will take far longer to sell. Keller Williams Madison Crossroads average days on market over this time period was 46 days Madcity's was 113 days on market.  That means longer holding costs too. lets say 2-3 months mortgage, taxes, insurance.  Real Estate Guy's real estate home sale stats for 2009 are here

So let's look at it.  If you were to hire one of these FSBO MLS companies, first you have an upfront fee, (for example $400) and the company has nothing more to gain if you don't sell your home.   Then you sell for 7.7% less, and likely you will end up paying a buyers broker commission of say 3%. You end up doing all the work and paying 10.7% and $400. And holding costs of $3000?  Doesn't sound like a savings to me!  

Lack of guidance, a third party negotiator and experience to get deals done, means if you try to sell your home by owner, your chance of selling is far lower and you may eventually need get to have a professional do it all over again.  Just like your fix it job above.  But this time you may be in a different situation financially!

It is a tough market in which you do want the best, you don't just want average.  Read the difference a seasoned Real Estate professional with the correct training to keep current with the market can make.

Find out more on our website about short sales 

The Real Estate Guy Sells Homes in Madison Wi and can be found on the web at www.RealEstateGuy.Net, on twitter, as RealEstateGuyWi, Facebook as RealEstateGuy and on Linked-in.