FSBO Sellers-|Relax and Let a Realtor Help You!!!
Everybody wants to save a dime these days. But selling your house yourself is causing yourself nothing but headaches and continual downward spiral of losing value in your house each month. We are still waiting for the market to recover. How long do YOU think it's going to take? Our Keller Williams brokers tell us it could be 2-3 years. Just hire me, Jill Watts, and I can help you avoid those headaches and spiraling towards more loss of value.
As a For Sale By Owner...here is what I know you are trying to do: Save yourself the commission to the listing realtor...and maybe the buyer's agent too. Yes?
Save yourself the commission to the listing realtor? Ah, you have no idea all the legal snafu's that the listing realtor protects you from when your house gets an offer. There are so many purchase and sale "timelines" that you have no clue about. If those timelines are not met, you lose out on the opportunity to protect yourself. The listing agent also helps you fill out your paperwork such as the disclosures that are due three days after you receive an offer. Every page and every document you sign with a future buyer has legal implications. The timelines will get ya.
The listing agent helps you stay protected and legal by being very careful about what is advertised about your home. For instance, if you had put your house on the RMLS here in Clark County...there are over 135 fields that you can search by, so I'm guessing there are probably 135 fields of information that YOU the seller could get sued by if you happened to represent yourself wrong on your flyer out in your front yard or when you get an offer.
The listing agent KNOWS other buyers. You, on the other hand, only get to know the people who see your sign or finds you on craigslist. The listing agent works with buyers every week that he/she will speak with and think..."ah, I have a home EXACTLY like that listed on 123 Street". And a good listing agent prospects for buyers daily, on the phone, in meetings, through their agent friends, through advertising. The listing agent WANTS to sell houses. That's their living and their profession. (Listing agents take about 30 hours every year in training such as "legal ethics," "law of real estate," "financing real estate" and many other core classes. How many do you take? Now that I'm a realtor...I would never sell my house without a realtor. Scary!
Most For Sale By Owners don't know until the agents begin their barage of phone calls trying to get you to list that you will need to pay SOMEBODY to help you sell your home. Very often it is another agent. They will ask you, "will you give a courtesy to brokers if I bring you a buyer?" And if you won't...do you think they'll give your house another thought? Nope.
For Sale By Owners, (we call them unrepresented sellers) do you have a clue what you will NET when you are all done??A good listing agent can sit down with you and tell you pretty close what you will have left over after all the expenses are done. Do you know how much your title and escrow will cost you? Do you have a full-on legal description of your house to give to the purchaser? There are so many things that are law now that you, as an unrepresented seller cannot know. Our brokers tell us new stuff almost monthly. It's kinda like working for the IRS...look out!
In closing, when I drive by a For Sale By Owner these days....my first thought is...are they underwater on value and payments on their home? And it makes me sad to see the dismal little For Sale By Owner sign in the yard. Because, they are wasting precious months when they could just hire me, Jill Watts and I can help them sell before they become a short sale or worse.
Here are some other For Sale By Owner articles that I have written that might help you:
For Sale By Owner Tip #1
For Sale By Owner Tip # 2 Selling with a Realtor
Showings, No Offers
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