Your thoughts on listing on Zillow (by owner) before listing in MLS.. (contingencies, disclosures)
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I believe I'm fairly well versed in the home buying/selling process, and see some value in using a real estate professional. At the same time, I feel like I've got a property that will probably get a good amount of attention on its own once it is listed by virtue of its location.
My idea is to list the home on Zillow.com (by owner) and see what type of activity I get before "moving up" to the use of a Flat Fee MLS listing or full service broker/realtor.
While I may not be able to attract folks that don't search for homes on the internet, I feel pretty strongly that whether or not the home values on it are correct, virtually everyone will at least check out Zillow a couple of times during their search.
So my question to you kind people: What are the downsides to starting with Zillow (by owner)?
I understand that the home may not get as much exposure as a complete MLS listing, but am I shooting myself in the foot in the event I decide to "officially" list it?
Thanks!
You are obviously not as well versed as you believe you are or you would not be asking the question.
If the housing market was a free market then yes you could sell your home yourself, but it is not.
The Realtors in a given area have a monopoly on the home buying process. That monopoly has been the target of many self sell programs over the years because of the obvious huge profits that Realtors coup in the process. Most all have failed because Realtors are a cabal and protect their territory vigorously.
If you list your home yourself, every Realtor in your area will discourage people from even considering looking at your property. Some will ignore it and some will resort to telling people there are terrible problems with your property or that it is simply not available anymore.
Since they control the vast majority of the buyers market, you will be denied any access to the potential buyers that are available to you.
In short if you want to sell your property, chances are you will have to pay the cabal their cut. It is not a free market, it is controlled.
I learned this lesson many years ago trying to sell a home into a red hot market at a great price. After 3 weeks and a lot of advertising expense, I did not even have one person look at the property. I then gave up and listed it and had 5 offers in 3 days for more than I was trying to get. Enough to offset the commission.
I am planning to sell my house myself in the spring, so I am watching this thread with great interest.
I am in a Very Hot market, less than a mile from Apple world headquarters, Google, Facebook, Linked In, you get the idea.... I am across the street from the very desirable public schools. I get notes on my porch all the time, "I want to buy your house, name your price" So I plan to use a real estate attorney for the contracts. And list the house myself on Zillow, tho I think a sign in the front yard will do it all.
Plan: "Coming Soon" sign on front lawn. Beat off Realtors with a stick! Advertise & hold open house one weekend, my son-in-law will show house, not me. Open Bids following week...
My question is: I am not willing to pay commissions, period! How do I let it be known that buyer will pay his own realtor if he brings one? How do I keep realtors away from my door trying to convince me that I need them? I know: "Don't answer the door!" I'm afraid they will crawl the thru the windows! Homes for sale here are rare and usually sell for several million. I'd have to pay a buyers agent a huge amount.
Ideas are appreciated. I've been surprised by some of the answers earlier on this thread. So eager to hear new ideas & suggestions. Wishing the OP success!
I'm not sure how your chart disagrees with what oh come on! said. In fact, I would say it supports his argument. Yes, Zillow by far has the most unique monthly visitors on a worldwide basis. However, Zillow only represents a third of the traffic and that's just on your chart. When you start adding in all the smaller websites, the percentage of total web real estate traffic that Zillow represents will keep going down.
I don't know about you, but if I were selling my house I would be less than satisfied if my listing were only getting in front of 1 out of every 3 buyers (really even fewer than that). As a real estate agent, if my performance were similar I would be fired quite quickly and quite often.
Your understanding of "unique monthly visits" is flawed. That is unique visits to that ONE site... not across all internet sites. These visits are not exclusive.
Do you honestly believe that people on the internet only visit ONE site when making their home buying decision? I'm willing to wager that virtually every buyer who visited "RedFin or Realtor.com" also viewed their top choices on Zillow as well.
Also, I have stated that I would not be "confining" myself to Zillow, but I do believe that is the site that would generate the most traffic/leads. Postlets syndicates to not only Zillow but Trulia as well as Yahoo Homes which are the top three real estate sites on the internet according to that report.
You are obviously not as well versed as you believe you are or you would not be asking the question.
If the housing market was a free market then yes you could sell your home yourself, but it is not.
The Realtors in a given area have a monopoly on the home buying process. That monopoly has been the target of many self sell programs over the years because of the obvious huge profits that Realtors coup in the process. Most all have failed because Realtors are a cabal and protect their territory vigorously.
If you list your home yourself, every Realtor in your area will discourage people from even considering looking at your property. Some will ignore it and some will resort to telling people there are terrible problems with your property or that it is simply not available anymore.
Since they control the vast majority of the buyers market, you will be denied any access to the potential buyers that are available to you.
In short if you want to sell your property, chances are you will have to pay the cabal their cut. It is not a free market, it is controlled.
I learned this lesson many years ago trying to sell a home into a red hot market at a great price. After 3 weeks and a lot of advertising expense, I did not even have one person look at the property. I then gave up and listed it and had 5 offers in 3 days for more than I was trying to get. Enough to offset the commission.
Actually, you might have missed me saying:
Of course 99% of agents are in it to make money, I think you'll all agree.... That's not a bad thing, but I do think it affects their behavior. If they know they are not going to get paid, or paid less, they will not be inclined to show my home.
I foreshadow agents steering buyers to comparable homes where they know they'll get a commission, making off comments about the downside to my home, or even informing a buyer that asks to see my home that they will not show it to them unless they get paid.
So yeah, I get it.... but I think times are changing... I think home buyers/sellers are becoming more and more savvy.... and with forums like City-Data to ask questions and learn from, it's happening at an increasing rate.
I am planning to sell my house myself in the spring, so I am watching this thread with great interest.
I am in a Very Hot market, less than a mile from Apple world headquarters, Google, Facebook, Linked In, you get the idea.... I am across the street from the very desirable public schools. I get notes on my porch all the time, "I want to buy your house, name your price" So I plan to use a real estate attorney for the contracts. And list the house myself on Zillow, tho I think a sign in the front yard will do it all.
Plan: "Coming Soon" sign on front lawn. Beat off Realtors with a stick! Advertise & hold open house one weekend, my son-in-law will show house, not me. Open Bids following week...
My question is: I am not willing to pay commissions, period! How do I let it be known that buyer will pay his own realtor if he brings one? How do I keep realtors away from my door trying to convince me that I need them? I know: "Don't answer the door!" I'm afraid they will crawl the thru the windows! Homes for sale here are rare and usually sell for several million. I'd have to pay a buyers agent a huge amount.
Ideas are appreciated. I've been surprised by some of the answers earlier on this thread. So eager to hear new ideas & suggestions. Wishing the OP success!
1. Let the buyer have an agent, and just don't agree to pay a commission.
A commission should not dissuade a real buyer at your price range.
You might also consider softening, if the NET amount you receive after commission exceeds your bottom line. Regardless, just don't sign a showing request with a commission written in.
2. You won't be able to stop listing agents from pestering you because many specialize in pestering FSBO sellers.
It's like any other sales pitch in any other business: Just say "No." It's no big deal. You don't have to listen to them or respond to the drivel they will drip on you. Do not engage at all other than, "I have no interest in this." Stated repeatedly, that should do it.
Never "Thank you anyway" an unsolicited salesperson, whether a real estate agent or an investment scammer.
We had a frustrating experience with a seller last year who "put out a sign" to see what interest he would get.
The problem is that our market, and his neighborhood in particular, is incredibly popular and one in which many houses sell by word of mouth before they are even listed. So people are constantly driving through or trolling online listings looking for a home to buy there.
This FSBO was completely unprepared for the barrage of calls and drive-bys he started getting. And they were so not ready to show the house. There were unfinished DYI projects all around. It was cluttered. He just sat in the rec room with two toddlers while we tried to look around. Our agent tried to give them our offer, and they kept taking forever to get back to us.
Then suddenly an agent showed up who said she was "helping them," and advising them to counter HIGHER than the original asking etc. Next thing we know we are in a bidding war. It was SO frustrating and nothing that we had experienced in 22 years of buying homes. We walked away.
So OP, my point is that if your location is that desirable, do yourself and everyone a favor and have the house totally ready, and know the market.
In short if you want to sell your property, chances are you will have to pay the cabal their cut. It is not a free market, it is controlled.
I learned this lesson many years ago trying to sell a home into a red hot market at a great price. After 3 weeks and a lot of advertising expense, I did not even have one person look at the property. I then gave up and listed it and had 5 offers in 3 days for more than I was trying to get. Enough to offset the commission.
In my area of socal, my impression is that not many people window shop on zillow.
My broker advertises our listings in LA Times, and not once have I gotten a phone call from it.
you get poor results from zillow and old fashioned advertising techniques because most people still default to choosing an agent when they want to buy a home.
Most people don't do their own legwork. They rely on the buyer's agent to do that work for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by icetea123
We just want to sell our home myself, not afraid to pay a commission...but we feel they should have to earn it,
I feel the same way about Ebay. How has ebay "earned" their 10% cut on everything? (plus an extra 3% cut for Paypal)
Ebay provides an efficient and effective medium for exchange, just as real estate agents do for homes.
Craigslist is for those who want to sell stuff FSBO style- some succeed, but others just become frustrated and tired just to save 10% on ebay fees.
In the end, they say it's not worth it. There are plenty of examples where ebay has fetched a higher price for an item than Craigslist has, even after ebay fees.
It's pay-to-play. Commission goes with the territory whether you think it is deserved or not.
I'll admit, when I list a million dollar house and pocket $20000 when it sells in 5 days, I have to laugh and ask what did I do to deserve it?
Then I think of Kim Kardashian, who is 10000x richer for no good reason it seems, and shrug it off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by momzdrm
I am planning to sell my house myself in the spring, so I am watching this thread with great interest.
you'll do well in the bay area. Just don't get scammed.
The Realtors in a given area have a monopoly on the home buying process. That monopoly has been the target of many self sell programs over the years because of the obvious huge profits that Realtors coup in the process. Most all have failed because Realtors are a cabal and protect their territory vigorously.
Yes. I'm actually writing this from my subterranean bunker where I conduct subterfuge against FSBOs. I have to run now though. I'm going to jump in my Bentley and run off to Neiman's to spend some of my commission.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimhcom
I learned this lesson many years ago trying to sell a home into a red hot market at a great price. After 3 weeks and a lot of advertising expense, I did not even have one person look at the property. I then gave up and listed it and had 5 offers in 3 days for more than I was trying to get. Enough to offset the commission.
What kind of advertising were you doing? Could it have been that the agent who you hired was just better at marketing the property than you? It is their job after all. I'm not trying to be nasty. I just find it hard to believe that we agents run the world as you describe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by volk2k
Your understanding of "unique monthly visits" is flawed. That is unique visits to that ONE site... not across all internet sites. These visits are not exclusive.
Do you honestly believe that people on the internet only visit ONE site when making their home buying decision? I'm willing to wager that virtually every buyer who visited "RedFin or Realtor.com" also viewed their top choices on Zillow as well.
Also, I have stated that I would not be "confining" myself to Zillow, but I do believe that is the site that would generate the most traffic/leads. Postlets syndicates to not only Zillow but Trulia as well as Yahoo Homes which are the top three real estate sites on the internet according to that report.
Yes. My interpretation of "unique visits" was not correct.
The bottom line is . . . even by advertising on the top 3 websites you're still not maximizing your exposure. There are absolutely buyers that get locked into searching on a single website. Sometimes, it's a real estate agent's (or brokerage's) website and those people won't see you at all. Not everyone searches the same and the goal is to reach everyone (or at least as many people as humanly possible).
Many times, reaching that one extra person can make a huge difference in your sale price. I've seen it happen first hand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by momzdrm
I am planning to sell my house myself in the spring, so I am watching this thread with great interest.
I am in a Very Hot market, less than a mile from Apple world headquarters, Google, Facebook, Linked In, you get the idea.... I am across the street from the very desirable public schools. I get notes on my porch all the time, "I want to buy your house, name your price" So I plan to use a real estate attorney for the contracts. And list the house myself on Zillow, tho I think a sign in the front yard will do it all.
Plan: "Coming Soon" sign on front lawn. Beat off Realtors with a stick! Advertise & hold open house one weekend, my son-in-law will show house, not me. Open Bids following week...
My question is: I am not willing to pay commissions, period! How do I let it be known that buyer will pay his own realtor if he brings one? How do I keep realtors away from my door trying to convince me that I need them? I know: "Don't answer the door!" I'm afraid they will crawl the thru the windows! Homes for sale here are rare and usually sell for several million. I'd have to pay a buyers agent a huge amount.
Ideas are appreciated. I've been surprised by some of the answers earlier on this thread. So eager to hear new ideas & suggestions. Wishing the OP success!
Personally, I think your idea of absolutely not offering a commission to buyer's agents is flawed. The important thing to you is what you net at the end of the sale. If you have to pay someone a commission in order to walk away with the most money then so be it. It shouldn't matter to you. There are many buyers who are under a contract with their agent and discouraging them from seeing your house is not going to help you sell for the most money possible.
The prevailing misconception in this thread seems to be the difference between getting a house sold (easy in a hot market) and getting a house sold for the most money possible.
My question is: I am not willing to pay commissions, period! How do I let it be known that buyer will pay his own realtor if he brings one? How do I keep realtors away from my door trying to convince me that I need them? I know: "Don't answer the door!" I'm afraid they will crawl the thru the windows! Homes for sale here are rare and usually sell for several million. I'd have to pay a buyers agent a huge amount.
If you are in that kind of an area, then you will likely get multiple offers. Have an attorney create a multiple offer form for you and go over how you should handle that. I was in multiple offers with a FSBO about a year ago and they had no idea what they were doing. It makes the process really hard.
Just write on advertising "No agent solicitation" and put that on your sign that you put outside.
I agree with Mike that it doesn't matter if the buyer asks you to pay the buyer agent commission. What you care about is getting the highest net (Offer-minus all closing costs, commissions, transfer taxes, etc) possible for your house. Since you will likely have multiple offers just let the highest net win.
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