FSBO- To Do or Not To Do…

SO a big question I get a lot as an agent is “what do you think about FSBO’s?”

For Sale By Owner

Honestly, my answer really depends on who you are.

If you are someone who invests in in real estate often, actively involves themselves with current matters with the real estate market, has in depth experience with the current legal requirements for mandatory documents and disclosures needed to complete the sale, not to mention has great negotiation skills… then maybe doing a FSBO is right for you.

I know, I said it.

But let’s talk about the pros and cons involved here, because to be very honest, I truly would not recommend going FSBO instead of hiring an experienced agent. Here are the reason’s why:

1. Access to MLS and Accurate Pricing In order to list your home on the local area’s Multiple Listing Service you will need a relationship of some kind with a local licensed Real Estate Agent who is a member. Listing your home on the MLS broadens your audience for your listing by thousands. There are over 4,000 local agents here in Colorado Springs, each with their own database of buyers. The minute your listing goes live in the MLS these agents (and their buyers) have access to the listing. Not to mention systems and programs that I personally use as a listing agent to also blast the listing out to even more buyers and agents in the market. A lot of Sellers will under price themselves because they don’t accurately understand the current market value of their home. I offer Free Home Market Analysis for anyone interested in seeing that their home could sell for in our current market. You might be surprised by my answer. 90% of my client’s I have sat down with for a listing consultation underbid what they thought they could sell their home for. I do the research, find the comps, measure and note the details of your home that make it especially marketable and work out the math for the pricing accordingly. Pricing your home in a fast paced hot market is also very strategic as well, so having someone experienced help you price your home just right will make or break the success of your listing.
2. Internet Marketing Over 50% of buyers start looking on the internet. Yes that means Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia and so on. You can pay a fee as a homeowner to list your home on those individual platforms on your own, but with the listing plugged in on the MLS by a licensed agent, the listing will automatically be blasted out to many of these websites without you having to pay a thing. Talk to your listing agent (or me) about which websites your listing will be sent to. I promise you will be pleasantly surprised at how many places on on the internet we market your listing to as a standard procedure each and every time.
3. Professional Photos & Staging It has been said that homes that are listed with photos from a professional photographer on average sell $11,000 over market value and sell 50% faster than homes with standard photos (aka done by seller themselves or listing agent). Studies have shown that 98% of buyers judge whether or not to schedule a showing for a property by first seeing the listing photos online. Now we all know one major aspect besides a gorgeous home that can help professional photos look amazing is staging. Staging is yet another lovely service paid for and provided by your listing agent. Staging a home can dramatically save you from a costly price reduction of your home. A staged home statistically will sell for 17% more, on average, than a non-staged home, and 95% of staged homes (depending on your local market) will be under contract in 11 days or less! That is about 87% faster than non-staged homes. So if you are a factual, numbers kind of person… dig into these facts deeper, talk to me if you have questions, but these numbers don’t lie. Professional Photos and Staging arranged and paid for by the listing agent can make a huge difference in the amount of profit, and time frame for selling for you as the Seller.
4. Negotiations One major aspect of buying and selling in the real estate industry is negotiations. Sometimes you don’t realize exactly how much back and forth happens between your agent and other parties involved in the sale so let me lay it out for ya. I negotiate with Buyers Agents who think they can strong arm the listing side into accepting a low ball offer, or accepting a contract written specifically to give the Buyer unfair protection in the transaction. My job is to advocate and protect you as the seller and your interests. I sometimes negotiate with buyers themselves who have no agent representing them and think they understand the market and don’t need any help closing the deal. In many cases I will also weed out unqualified buyers who are window shopping but have had zero interaction with a lender and would ultimately just be a waste of your time. I negotiate with Inspection Companies or contracted professionals to either complete work needed at a fair and approved cost or to decide what work needs to be done. It is incredibly important that I meet with appraisers that come to look over the listing and I prepare not only my Market Analysis with comps for the property but also a list of all the improvements and details for the home that helped us determine our list price. This is so incredibly important because the home needs to appraise for the listed/sale price in order to progress to the closing table. I am your hired negotiation expert to fight for you or get you the best deal possible so you can focus on packing or just relaxing during this process and not worry. Sometimes peace of mind is a very invaluable asset.
5. Legal Paperwork The state and national Government are constantly publishing new rules and regulations for the documents, disclosures and addendums needed for various real estate transactions. It can be a very costly mistake, one where you would need to hire an attorney or have to pay for a specific mistake in the paperwork, if something is done incorrectly or for instance not filed at all. It is required for us as active, licensed Real Estate Professionals to be up to date with all contract guidelines for the current year. We have access to all the required documents and extensive training on how to correctly fill them out and it is our responsibility to make sure they get signed by all parties and submitted properly.
6. Buyer Agents May Not Show Your Listing It is sucky to say that, but the reality is a FSBO is not an attractive listing to a buyer’s agent because they know they wont have a fellow professional to work with on the other side of the deal. They are seen as being a hassle and full of risks for the buyer without a Listing Agent to help manage things, not to mention more costly for the buyer if the Seller is not willing to pay the full commission to the Buyer’s Agent either.

Could you list your home yourself? SURE. But let me say this – Real Estate is a full time job. Do you have the time to be answering phone calls all day, writing contracts correctly, negotiating offers, handling showings and appointments with inspectors and appraisers and so on? Do you have the knowledge to properly price your home in this market? Do you have the connections to properly list your home with professional marketing?

I DO.

Let’s Talk.