I completely understand why homeowners often want to try selling their home without the help of a Realtor. I'm living in Sacramento California and we have had some incredible home appreciation over the last few years. This has made the appearance of selling homes seem simpler then it is. For a while it seemed you could simply put a home on the MLS and it would sell. The key word here is "seemed". Unfortunately this was far from the Truth in Real Estate.
The fact is that Realtors Sell Houses, not the MLS. Often people think they can simply get their home listed on the MLS an the offers will come rolling in. Sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. Often what the homeowner fails to understand is that it's more then just getting some offers. The job of the Realtor is far beyond simply generating offers. Let's not forget about the negotiation of those offers. The back and forth of the contractual negotiation is best left to a professional.
If you think about it then it make sense. How often does a homeowner really sell a house? Some things really are best left to a professional. According to NAR for 2013 stats The typical FSBO home sold for $184,000 compared to $230,000 for agent-assisted home sales. That's a HUGE difference! Just think about how many homeowners saved the 6% agent fee but didn't negotiate the price well enough. This is how homeowners are hurting themselves rather then helping themselves.
What's the solution? Well first education for the homeowner who is considering this undertaking of being a FSBO. I'm not talking about trying to convince them to sign with a Realtor but rather truly educate them into making a more informed decision.
Homeowners often think a successful "Open House" with lots of traffic is what they want. However less then 1% of homes sell because of an "open house". It's the broker to broker relationships that often get homes sold. It's the marketing to the professionals in the industry that really finds buyers for homes not open houses.
Open Houses aren't about the home seller. They're about the Realtor generating "Buyer Leads". Homeowners need to realize this. The fact is that open houses aren't even really about the homeseller. Sure it comes across as trying to find a buyer to sell the home to, but really it's about finding a buyer to buy ANY home. Don't get me wrong. Realtors do try to sell the houses but rarely is that sale due to an open house.
The bottom line is if a homeowner wants to FSBO they they need to do the job of the Realtor. Reach out to all actively listed homes inside of a 1/4 mile to start. Talk to the Real Estate Agents / Realtors/ Brokers who have homes listed that are similar. Contact the agents for all homes that went "Pending" in a 1/2 mile radius. Circle call the neighborhood letting everyone know the home is available. Door knock and distribute flyers to the 250 homes surrounding the subject property.
I am a Realtor and still I hire other Realtors to sell my personal homes. I'm perfectly able to do the work and I appreciate the leverage I get from hiring a professional. It's nice to not be responsible for every single task associated with getting my homes sold. My own experience has shown for me that hiring a Realtor has paid off bigtime.
I'm not against FSBO (For Sale By Owner) transactions. I would like to encourage everyone to understand the risks involved. Know that even if you are able to generate the traffic of visitors to view your home the job of selling it has just begun.
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