FSBO: The risk factor
Recently I wrote an article about for sale by owner basics that I include in an easy-to-read booklet that I have designed over the years to present to homeowners who are trying to sell their home as Unrepresented Sellers (also known as FSBO). Non-threatening and informative, the idea of this 25 page bound handout is to present advice and different aspects to homeowners that they may not have previously considered concerning the choice that they have made to list their own home.
Many of you have asked me what I include in this booklet. Over the next few weeks I will relay the verbiage that I use in this handout when I stop to meet homeowners who have their homes listed FSBO.
One of the biggest concerns that I have for Unrepresented Sellers is the risk factor – letting strangers into your home when you have no idea what their ultimate purpose might be. Here is the wording of what I include on one of the pages of my FSBO guidebook:
The Risk Factor
It is hard for perspective Buyers to look at your home objectively and to share thoughts as they please if you follow them from room to room. But do you really want to leave them alone to wander through your 
home? People might come through your home not to buy, but to relieve you of valuable items. There have been recent instances where ‘prospective Buyers’ have raided medicine cabinets for drugs, and where Sellers have been attacked in their home. Ads and signs by Unrepresented Sellers are an open invitation for anyone to see your house. With casual questions, they can find out what hours you might be gone, and if there is a security system.
When a Buyer is working with a Licensed Real Estate Agent, they view houses with their Agent. The Agent makes an appointment with YOUR Agent, and the lockbox is specially coded with the Agent’s key and number. Information can be easily obtained from the lockbox about who has shown your home.
FSBO: The risk factor was written by Mimi Foster
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