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Do We Need A New Term for "FSBO"?

By Eric Kodner

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes

September 29, 2007 06:50 AM

An attorney friend of mine (who is also a REALTOR® in a neighboring state) told a story last week about his appearance before the State Legislature to discuss proposed changes in real estate contracts.

As he spoke, he referenced "FSBOs" a number of times. Midway through his presentation, he was interrupted by a disapproving legislator who inquired, "Sir, why do you insist on calling these people names merely because they choose to sell their own property"?

My attorney friend was dumbfounded. He replied to the frowning legislator that FSBO is an acronym, like "NASA" or "HUD" and is not meant to be derogatory. Later, after the hearing ended, the legislator made the comment in private that he had assumed the term "FSBO" was name-calling on the part of disgruntled real estate agents. He thought the use of the term and its pronunciation ("Fizz Bo"), meant something like "Fuzzball", or somehow implies that all For Sale By Owner transactions tend to fizzle out!!

So my questions to you all would be:

Do we need to find another term to describe folks who sell By Owner? Is the term "FSBO" insulting?
Do you think agents tend to take an adversarial stance towards For Sale By Owner sellers, simply because they want to try to market and sell their own property?
Are we upset because these sellers believe they may not require our services?

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Eric Kodner

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes - Minnetonka, MN

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Twin Cities, Madeline Island

David -- Hmm.."unlicensed agent" sounds to me like a contradiction in terms. The definition of agency notwithstanding, when we talk about an agent, it implies to me that the agent is a licensee who acts as an agent on behalf of another in a transaction.

But you make a good point that the individual is serving as his/her own agent. That's a shortcoming of the term "unrepresented seller", which implies that one cannot represent oneself.

Sep 29, 2007 10:14 AM

Jeff Dowler, CRS

eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA

The Southern California Relocation Dude

Eric:

I like "unrepresented sellers." Straight and to the point.

Jeff

Sep 29, 2007 03:33 PM

Kevin J. May

Florida Supreme Realty - Hobe Sound, FL

Serving the Treasure & Paradise Coasts of Florida

Representative of today's market we could try BOSS. By Owner Short Seller, at least temporarily. I think most would appreciate that.

Sep 29, 2007 10:40 PM

Eric Kodner

Madeline Island Realty - La Pointe, WI

CRS, Madeline Island Realty, LaPointe, WI 54850 -

Jeff -- I wonder what NAR's specific recommendation would be? I'll have to do some research on that question.

Kevin -- The "By Owner" part is okay. I'd be nervous about presuming that it's a short sale.

Sep 30, 2007 04:39 AM

Anonymous

Liz Provo, Editor/Publisher - Picket Fence Preview

As the publisher of a regional for sale by owner magazine, we generally do not use the term FSBO alone, because, believe it or not, the general public doesn't really know what it is. Spelling out For-Sale-By-Owner is our preferred way. When you really think about it, ALL homes are sold "by owner" -- it's just that some use a real estate agent to market them and some don't. That said, the term FSBO has always been more of an "inside" term used by real estate agents and not necessarily by the home sellers themselves. An acronym needs to be short to work well. It's hard to write unrepresented seller in a classified ad you know, although some of our advertisers have received solicitations with this terminology. One of our successful sellers sent me a copy of a brochure and letter she received the day after accepting a full price offer on her home. We used it in the next issue of our magazine, referring to the agent as a "full commission agent".

One of the publishers in our national organization (fsbopublishers.org) was about to open a new store and did a lot of market research on using the term The FSBO Store vs. the For Sale By Owner Store. The FSBO store didn't cut it with the public. I can see why the legislator may have deemed the term unflattering. It could be that the legislator sold his own home successfully "by owner" and may have not appreciated the calls he got from agents who did belittle his efforts. Years ago when we became a sponsor on a local PBS station, we were not encouraged to use the term FSBO, as they felt it cheapened their message to the radio audience....they did approve the following: Picket Fence Preview, showcasing homes and other real estate offered exclusively by owner". How's that for snob appeal?

Oct 01, 2007 01:10 AM

#14

Kevin J. May

Florida Supreme Realty - Hobe Sound, FL

Serving the Treasure & Paradise Coasts of Florida

Eric, that's what came to mind quickly. The acronym seems good but what it really represents will need more thought. B O S S - Big Old Self Seller, any better?

Oct 01, 2007 01:33 AM

Eric Kodner

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes - Minnetonka, MN

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Twin Cities, Madeline Island

Liz -- I think many on Active Rain might have troub;e with the use of "full commission agent". What is "full'? Since Federal Anti-trust laws forbid open discussion/comparison among industry professionals and therefore it is illegal to imply or state that there is a uniform commission rate among agents, commissions are negotiable. That would make "full" a very vague and misleading term.

I agree that the term FSBO is misunderstood, but why is it seen as demeaning or insulting? "Offered by owner" is not bad. How does everyone feel about OBOs? Or OBOE (Offered by Owner Exclusively)?

Kevin -- "Self-Seller" sounds pretty good!

Oct 01, 2007 02:25 AM

Mike Arnao

Madeline Island Realty - La Pointe, WI

Eric,

Would OBOE players be insulted if the name of their instrument became an acronym? Ha, ha, just kidding!

Oct 01, 2007 10:45 AM

Eric Kodner

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes - Minnetonka, MN

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Twin Cities, Madeline Island

The oboe players I know would probably be delighted..double reed folks love attention!

Oct 01, 2007 12:47 PM

Linda Scanlan

A Fan of AR - Burleson, TX

Eric - this is funny! I guess I never thought about them being offended! I loved reading the responses - they were great!

Oct 04, 2007 12:54 AM

Eric Kodner

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes - Minnetonka, MN

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Twin Cities, Madeline Island

Linda, the best thing about this post was all the contributions and well thought-out ideas for substitute terms. If it helps us to soften our approach towards people who sell "by owner" that is a good thing!

Oct 04, 2007 01:03 AM

Karen Anne Stone

New Home Hunters of Fort Worth and Tarrant County - Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth Real Estate

Hi Eric: How bout calling it SABO ? Selling Attempted By Owner ? Whaddya think ? At least it isn't FIZZZZ... bo.

Oct 04, 2007 05:02 AM

Eric Kodner

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes - Minnetonka, MN

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Twin Cities, Madeline Island

Karen Anne --

"SABO" does have a nice ring to it..

Oct 04, 2007 11:51 AM

Christopher Walker

Mission Grove Realty Inc. - Hemet, CA

Local Broker and Realtor - Hemet & San Jacinto, CA

Another Silly Seller may be more derogatory than FSBO.....Unrepresented seller is very Vanilla but, would be interesting to poll the public o this one. I have never heard of anyone that had a problem with FSBO. Maybe folks encountering the term outside of our industry really do have a problem with the acronym. For now, I think FSBO works just fine. Thought provoking post.

Oct 04, 2007 03:16 PM

Dwight Wolfe

Emerald Coast Realty, Inc. - Panama City Beach, FL

While all the various terms have been interesting, I especially liked BOSS because of the double entende, but I think the term Unrepresented Seller, presents the most 'market worthy' sense. It was not my term, I read it in REALTOR magazine. But I like that the word 'unrepresented' draws attention to the fact that the Seller is on their own and that it reminds the Seller that they will be up against a party that has professional representation / advice.

Liz - I liked your post. But I think you should 'Feel the Power of the Force". Step away from the 'Dark Side'. ;-) I agree with you, that FSBO is a little disrespecting. We may not mean it to be when we say it but does the other party understand that. The truth is that FSBO 'shrinks down' who they are ! And then it includes them into a 'predfined group', i.e. they lose their individuality. NO ONE likes either of those two things. Especially from a stranger. Well, actually they may not mind if from a stranger but they probably feel offended when it comes from a REALTOR(c). "Luke, let go, feel the Force . . ."

Oct 04, 2007 06:08 PM

Eric Kodner

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes - Minnetonka, MN

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Twin Cities, Madeline Island

Christopher -- This has been a worthwhile discussion about considering the sensitivity of the public when we use industry jargon. Some might call it political correctness, but we have to try to be aware of public perceptions about what we do and who we are.

Dwight -- Of all the proposed terms that have been tossed about so far, I'm liking "unrepresented seller" best.

I think people in general dislike being pigeonholed or lumped into categories. Personally, I'm getting very tired of being herded into the "baby boomer" category!!

Oct 05, 2007 12:11 AM

Laurie Mindnich

Centennial, CO

This is hilarious- thanks for the laugh! Guess we could call them "homes that are marketed exclusively by the diligent homeowner who is capable enough to go it without the professional assistance of the real estate community"- htamebtdhwicetgiwtpaotrec's. FSBO seems better.

Oct 09, 2007 08:14 AM

Eric Kodner

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Eric Kodner Sells Twin Cities Homes - Minnetonka, MN

Wayzata Lakes Realty: Twin Cities, Madeline Island

Laurie, could you help me out with the pronunciation of that acronym??

Oct 09, 2007 08:24 AM

Prudential Preferred Realty Butler PA

Prudential Preferred Realty - Butler, PA

How about

"homeowner who hasn't yet met a super Realtor like myself?"

haha

Oct 14, 2007 01:40 PM

Eric Kodner

Madeline Island Realty - La Pointe, WI

CRS, Madeline Island Realty, LaPointe, WI 54850 -

I think we all secretly wish that people selling "by owner" would meet a nice Realtor like ourselves and settle down!

Oct 14, 2007 01:42 PM

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