Is FSBO worth it? (buyer's agent, commission, Realtors, listing)

[KayAnn246]

My house has been on the market for 11 months with 2 diffrent realtors. I have had very few showings after the tax credit expired. I think I had 1 in May, 2 in June, 3 in July and 2 this month. I don't know but I would like to try FSBO.com. I have dropped my price 3 times and now it is the lowest priced home in my subdivison. There are currently 6 other homes for sale and 3 have sold since March but I have had my house for sale longer. The subdivision is only 5 years old and fairly new. Has anyone tried FSBO.com? What are the pros and cons? Any tips or advice.

[cheryjohns]

I have had clients that tried them before going to a realtor. Save your money. They don't work and you will put non-refundable money out there for the ads. The quiet that you are experiencing is due to the market - they aren't going to flock to your house because you went with FSBO.com.

[HeatherKlein]

If your home is currently the lowest priced home in the subdivision your problem is the market not your agent. Hang in there. Does your current agent keep in touch? Is he or she doing enough marketing? If you are with an agent you will always get better exposure than with a FSBO site. Perhaps you can talk your agent into upping their game a little but it might just be that your market is flooded right now.

[Boompa]

Where?

[Silverfall]

If you are going to go that route, do a limited service listing and at least be on the MLS. That way you'll feed into Realtor.com. I would do a limited service listing over FSBO.com and they cost about the same. Google "flat rate your town" "MLS only your town" or "FSBO MLS your town" and you should come up with a local provider for like $300 or so.

[tomocox]

Dear seller... Yes, sometimes listing Realtors can effectively keep a property from selling, but in my estimate 95% of all homes fail to sell due to price. Do you remember how in the Bush years of 2001 through 2007, a seller could throw a house on the market and magically it would sell after only 15 to 30 days on the market. Well the prices were right. Now as the market is falling, the same theory still works, except now we have an interesting problem. Because of mortgages, sellers are limited by their "pay-offs" in pricing homes which of course weren't a problem when the market was rising.

We are in a market readjustment period. If you are unfortunately in a position that you must sell, you'll have to either "short sell" or even hand the keys to your lender if your equity is not sufficient to price your house at the value the market will accept.

Let the free market work. Your home will sell somewhere between $1.00 and the price you current have it set, if the market is allowed to function.

Americans must be reeducated about how the free market functions. No matter what the product or service, if allowed people will pay the price their emotions or true needs demand. From Realtor services to mortgage rates to tradesman charges, and on we can go. If we get government out of our business (your personal home business included), then you will find your homes true value and it will sell.

I recommend that you check out the simple works of DAVID KNOX, a Minnesota real estate personality that gives a very eye-opening series of real estate how-to's, how not-to's and basic expectations of FiSBO and/Realtor selection advice.

[chaotix]

I did it and know others that did, and it is definitely worth it, anyone to suggest otherwise is irresponsible. However, it depends on your attitude and how much time you are willing to invest to market/sell your home, your best weapon is a good RE attorney. Of course, price, location, condition and region are are also important factors but it is very doable even in this buyers market. Good luck.

Follow Silverfalls advice above to list on MLS, offer 2.5% to 3.00% commission to buyers agent.

[RickAbdella]

It's worth it if you sell your house. Whenever I talk to someone thinking about selling their home without an agent I always say - it depends on the individual. Some can do it, others can't. I have a worksheet I give them to help them decide. Below is a section of the worksheet that is basically questions you can ask yourself - who knows - you may be a good candidate.

• You have the time and skill to field inquiries and schedule appointments
• You know how you will secure your personal safety and the safety of your family and belongings during showings
• You are aware of the federal, state, and local disclosures you are required to make to the buyer
• You know how to determine if buyers are qualified to purchase your home
• You know how to market your home to the largest pool of potential buyers to get the highest price for your home
• You have a strategy for avoiding litigation when providing buyers with information about your home
• You are prepared to negotiate with bargain hunters and with the buyer’s demands for repairs
• You have a plan on what to do if the buyer wants to back out of the transaction, tries to renegotiate, or fails to qualify for a mortgage.
• Since greater than 90% of buyers (in my area) use a real estate agent in their home buying process, you have a strategy for marketing to the real estate brokerage community and are prepared to pay a commission to the buyers agent
• Since 80% of buyers search for homes on the Internet, you know how and have time to advertise on the Internet, track traffic to your site, and follow up with leads you receive

I definitely agree that you should do the following or not even bother:

1. Put it in the MLS, you are almost not even on the market if you are not in MLS
2. Have a good real estate attorney to help you if you don't have an agent.
3. Be willing to pay a buyer's agent fee.

[nwihomes4sale]

With appraisals going haywire today and the fact that the buyer already thinks they should get your home for a bargain price because you are not paying a commission it will be tough to get even near your already low price. Also I have been really amazed lately how many buyers are trying to re-negotiate the price after the inspection so know what a major and what minor defect is.
If you have had showings what did the realtor tell you the feedback was?
How is your curb appeal?
Are other more expensive homes selling in your subdivision?
Does your realtor know how to stage or can they put you in contact with a professional stager?
Ask your realtor what do you think I need to do to make my house sell. Remove all family pictures and personal, religious and any political items. Box up ANYTHING that you are not using clutter makes a house look smaller! Your going to have to have stuff packed for your move anyway and people look at cluttered houses as ones that are not well taken care of.
Go to the store and get a couple vanilla scented plug ins. When it is time for the house to be shown turn on all the lights in the house.
Refresh paint if you have not yet.
Just a few tips that might help.
And probably the most important hire a REALTOR that is internet savvy! Ask them what their website is. If they give you their company website they might not be internet savvy. Ask them where they blog, what forums they go on, if they are on facebook. While a lot of those things are not a requirement for selling a home it will certainly tell you if they are internet friendly. Statistics show 87% of all people are finding their home on the internet. So if you ask your agent how they are going to promote your home and they tell you they run ads in the local paper you will know.

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by rickabdella

it's worth it if you sell your house. Whenever i talk to someone thinking about selling their home without an agent i always say - it depends on the individual. Some can do it, others can't. I have a worksheet i give them to help them decide. Below is a section of the worksheet that is basically questions you can ask yourself - who knows - you may be a good candidate.

• you have the time and skill to field inquiries and schedule appointments
• you know how you will secure your personal safety and the safety of your family and belongings during showings
• you are aware of the federal, state, and local disclosures you are required to make to the buyer
• you know how to determine if buyers are qualified to purchase your home
• you know how to market your home to the largest pool of potential buyers to get the highest price for your home
• you have a strategy for avoiding litigation when providing buyers with information about your home
• you are prepared to negotiate with bargain hunters and with the buyer’s demands for repairs
• you have a plan on what to do if the buyer wants to back out of the transaction, tries to renegotiate, or fails to qualify for a mortgage.
• since greater than 90% of buyers (in my area) use a real estate agent in their home buying process, you have a strategy for marketing to the real estate brokerage community and are prepared to pay a commission to the buyers agent
• since 80% of buyers search for homes on the internet, you know how and have time to advertise on the internet, track traffic to your site, and follow up with leads you receive

i definitely agree that you should do the following or not even bother:

1. put it in the mls, you are almost not even on the market if you are not in mls
2. have a good real estate attorney to help you if you don't have an agent.
3. be willing to pay a buyer's agent fee.

an excellent post!!!