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Dear Mr. FSBO, is your buyer qualified to buy???

OK, so you bought a $4.95 sign at Wal-Mart, stuck it in the front yard, and right away the nicest young couple stop by and say your house is perfect for them.

"We want to buy it", they say.

"Wow, that was easy", you're no doubt thinking. You get out your Office Depot contract form, you all sign it, and now all you have to do is wait for the check to get here.

A couple of weeks later your 'buyers' strangely become incommunicado after numerous trips to your house to measure for new blinds, show it to friends and relatives, and talking about what they're going to do after.....................

Could trouble be brewing on the horizon???

Chapter IV of my "Knoxville FSBO Handbook" covers this situation and how to prevent it.

In case you missed them here's Chapters I, II & III.

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Jim Lee, CRS, ABR, GRI, ACRE, NAR Certified e-PRO Trainer
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Posted by Jim Lee, Knoxville Tennessee Realtor® on 12/20/2006 06:39 AM

Comments (27)

fsbo, qualified, buyers, knoxville, tn, tennessee

Originally posted at: Knoxville Tennessee real estate: Dear Mr. FSBO, is your buyer qualified to buy???

This post has been included in Tennessee Information Knox County, TN Information Knoxville, TN Information

27 Comments on Dear Mr. FSBO, is your buyer qualified to buy???

DEC

2006

Absolutely one of the most common scenarios!

Jim,

Thanks for the post. Scary enough far too many seller have this preconceived notion. We should only have it so easy

Unfortunately, I don't think the real estate community is doing a good job expressing to the public why it is we get paid. Lot's of people think there is nothing to it and if something happens they can handle it. I have a relative who sold her own house. She placed an ad and eventually found a buyer. Now says look how easy. She doesn't understand the difference an experienced broker negotiating for her would have made. In the end she sold it herself. It is amzing!

Part of the National Association of Realtors Public Awareness Campaign is directed at FSBO's, here is a link to the FSBO portion of the campaign where some very valid points are made:

http://www.realtor.org/pac.nsf/pages/fsbo

Here is the Pubic Awareness Campagn Home page link:

http://www.realtor.org/pac.nsf/pages/pachome?opendocument

Good one Jim Lee! One may get lucky but most of the time we do know that sellers will list with Realtors. Mirian underlines it so well.Many think we just show a property and boom we just have to sit back and cash in. If done properly our list of things to do is so long and complex that many sellers/buyers would be surprised how much we do and we deserve every dollar we make. And that does not stop after a closing!

I have heard that story a few times! If only other FSBO's heard it too.

I was just at a Hardware store that sells yard signs. There was a box located near the signs...It is a For Sale By Owner Kit. I didn't buy it....I didn't want to waste the money. I was thinking "Wow...why didn't I come up with this??"

I love the handbook idea. Did you write it? How do you use the info to get to FSBO..Postcard campaign, website?

Just one of the many reasons why I wouldn't sell a house without the assistance of a real estate agent. Jim, you have some great content on your blog.

Good information, Jim. I recently wrote a series on the FBSO and a major issue is determining IF someone is qualified, and then dealing with the transaction itself. I doubt most know how to do this (thanks for your link) nor are they even thinking about the ramificationsif the buyer is NOT qualified. In my FBSO First Aid Kit I suggested that all FSBOs have a qualified mortgage professional on their team to help with determing pre-approval of any buyers, among other financial matters. Could be ugly stuff for the naive FBSO.

This is a great post. I have incorporated a dialogue like this into my presentation when I meet with a FSBO. I've found the toughest thing is just getting in the door.

Janet, the handbook is a work in progress and is just sections on my blog now.

Thanks for the compliment Jeff.

Sean I've found you don't really need a dialogue for FSBOs what you need is persistance. Most of them will list with someone eventually, you just need to keep in touch until then. Offer to do things for them; make a picture, set up a flyer and e mail it to them; most of their material looks pretty amateurish.

Sold a home not to long ago that had been "under contract" 12 times. The sellers had even gotten pre-approval letters from the buyers, but they still kept falling apart. We got it sold before even listing it and got them $18k more then they had been trying to get fsbo AFTER commissions.

The poor sellers had been so emotionally drained at this point they wouldn't believe it was sold until they walked out of the title comapny with their check. Was very happy to help them and they have told many of their friends and family about there "By Owner" experience in there holiday newsletter and gave me a amazing referral.

Jim - Great stuff on the FSBO book - is it copyrighted to you - or is it OK to excerpt with attribution and link back to your site? Tony in Arizona.

I'm flattered Tony, of course you may use it. I will appreciate a linkback.

Thank you very much,

Jim

i deal with quite a few fsbo deals each year.

there always seems to be little problems.

i stress to my clients that i am NOT a realtor.... and try to stay out of it.... but it seems like i am always correcting contracts.

maybe there needs to be a surgeons general warning on the fsbo kit

Good advice, Jim. Any nibbles on your offer to post FSBOs on KnoxvilleMLS.com?

Let me start by saying that I'm a mortgage banker who reaches out to FSBO'S...

A greater challenge than Pre-Approval/Mortgage Commitment is the contract.
Most FSBO's have no clue about disclosures or other contractual obligations.

Sorry to say many Realtors also do not understand the difference between:
Pre-Qualification (Broker), Pre-Approval (Lender) and Mortgage Commitment.

I send about 1 in 4 FSBO contacts to a local Realtor after explaining the challenges.
I have a section on my personal website entitled "FSBO Pitfalls" to help educate.

But as long as someone thinks they can save a few bucks...

Jim - Thanks for you being so gracious - much appreciated! There will be several links back to you. Happy Holidays! Tony

Stefan that FSBO offer is good for 1-4 listings a year. Every now and then one of them lucks out and sells their own house but the cost to me is almost nothing to put them up there.

I've also sold a few from the ads.

I really like your FSBO Handbook !! I might implement some of your ideas into my marketing strategies because my current one sure hasn't worked...

Here in California, we have Invasion Robberies. Crooks make contact with unsuspecting homeowners as door to door sales, free inspection, etc. FSBO's are a likely target with easy access. They come back later in a gang, kick in the door, whether the homeowner is there or not, clean it out and sometimes beat the homeowner. That's alot worse than the deal falling apart. I don't try to scare them into listing, but facts are facts.

Jim - looked over the previous chapters and your site - good info - mind if I adapt some of it?

DEC

2006

Please adapt away.

Jim - Tony pointed out this post to me - great content. We have been doing something similar for FSBOs the last couple of months that has resulted in a listing - so I think there is merit in this approach.

This is great. The key is to be able to have a dialogue with the FSBO. If you can have the dialogue and educate them, then you are all but in. The proverbial foot in the door....

Your posts are right on. I also love FSBOs. I'm new to the business (1 year) but have so much fun stopping at a house with that red and white sign outside the door. It's all about relationship building. Do I get some rejection when I knock on that door? you bet. Do I take it personally? Absolutely not. They want to sell so badly and I find if I develop that relationship with them, I will be the person they will come to when they find they need some help. I love it. Your posts tell it all. I love reading them.

Ken

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