Fsbo tips! (for sale, real estate, attorney) - Pittsburgh - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

irishvan · 08-31-2011, 10:15 AM

Hello People,

Anyone have any personal experience advice on selling their home without an agent.

gg · 08-31-2011, 10:20 AM

1. What neighborhood you live in is important, because some areas will sell themselves.
2. If price correctly, you don't need an agent most of the time.
3. You could call a brokerage office and ask to have a CMA done on your home for free, but there are some drawbacks. If you sell on your own after that CMA, you may have slightly burned that bridge that you might need if you can't sell.
4. A sign is still a big seller, because you never know what neighbors you have nearby that have friends looking to move there.
5. Craigslist is a good move.
6. Sunday open houses are good especially if there is a home for sale close to you that is listed and also has an open house on that day. Make sure you have lots of signs out next to that other open house.
7. PRICE IT RIGHT! Yes, I said that twice for a reason. Don't leave a ton of negotiating room. It is a mistake. If the home sits on the market for two months, you may have priced it wrong. The first few people that show interest in your home are the ones you WANT, if at all possible. Treat them well, because once those first few are gone, then you are reaching out further. That is more of a crap shoot.

irishvan · 08-31-2011, 10:28 AM

Have a CMA and a Sign thus far. That Sunday open house idea is good stuff, definately going to follow through with that. Thanks!

BrianTH · 08-31-2011, 10:49 AM

So we tried to sell a house ourselves. It was a bad environment (we listed it in 2008), but I am also still completely convinced that real estate agents were steering clients away from our house because it was a FSBO. We know some other people who had a similar experience.

That doesn't mean it is impossible, but I do think you will be facing a significantly reduced potential market.

gg · 08-31-2011, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishvan

Have a CMA and a Sign thus far. That Sunday open house idea is good stuff, definately going to follow through with that. Thanks!

Just remember those first few buyers are people you want to work with if at all possible. Also, if you want you could advertise you will pay a 3% commission to a selling agent. If I as an agent had a buyer and I knew they might run across your home driving around, I might have to take that 3%. I would put a sign out, have open houses and see if you get some local bites. If it sits for over a month advertise a 3% commission to a selling agent. If it is still sitting and not much traffic, you might want to list. If it is still sitting and you had a ton of traffic, you overpriced it.

I have sold plenty of homes FSBO. Why would I list one? I sold real estate for over 15 years. The key is price. Of course, if you are in an area that isn't at all in demand, that changes the ballgame.

lisa53109 · 08-31-2011, 10:56 AM

I will give fsbo's a help kit so they can try to sell their own house. If someone has made the decision to go through the headache of selling themselves they must have a good reason. I do ask them if they get any buyers in that aren't interested in their house if they can refer to me and also if I can help them with their new home or provide a referral to an agent if they are moving out of my area. I also tell them that if it gets to be too much for them I would appreciate the listing but that I will not ask for the listing unless they first give me permission.

BrianTH · 08-31-2011, 12:41 PM

Incidentally, we offered a 3% commission to buyer's agents, and we did get the sense that some buyers with agents were independently attracted to our house by our marketing (Internet stuff, open houses, and just the sign). The thing is, even then a buyer's agent can do a lot to torpedo a FSBO, such as assemble relatively unfavorable comparables (in our area, at least, you have a huge choice of potential comparables that can imply very different things).

Bazzwell · 08-31-2011, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

......but I am also still completely convinced that real estate agents were steering clients away from our house because it was a FSBO.

Speaking as an agent that idea isn't entirely untrue but, and this isn't a defense, there are reasons for that happening in some cases.

We're legally obligated to put forth our "best effort" to find a home for a client and can be taken to task for not including FSBO properties in our search, it has happened but rarely. What usually happens is that a self-listed property can gain a "difficult to deal with" status quite quickly. Word spreads around and then the house is given little further consideration by agents.

"Difficult" can be described as...

"No, we won't let agents show the house". (even though we may have a perfectly qualified buyer)

"This is the price we're asking and not a dime less" (even though your property may not be worth what you think it is)

"No, we won't pay any commission" (which means we then have to go to a potential buyer and ask them to pay more money which they'll rarely do)

We've also found that a lot of FSBO don't have all the legal paperwork to conduct a proper sale. Ok, raise your hands....how many here know what a "seller disclosure statement" is? Everyone selling a piece of property must have one filled out, ready to present to anyone who asks for one, state law. "Lead disclosure statement"? Again, state law.

So yes, it does happen.

BrianTH · 08-31-2011, 01:23 PM

I don't want to get too sidetracked, but of course all that gives ample opportunity for a cartel to get away with protecting itself from unwanted competition.

gg · 08-31-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazzwell

Speaking as an agent that idea isn't entirely untrue but, and this isn't a defense, there are reasons for that happening in some cases.

We're legally obligated to put forth our "best effort" to find a home for a client and can be taken to task for not including FSBO properties in our search, it has happened but rarely. What usually happens is that a self-listed property can gain a "difficult to deal with" status quite quickly. Word spreads around and then the house is given little further consideration by agents.

"Difficult" can be described as...

"No, we won't let agents show the house". (even though we may have a perfectly qualified buyer)

"This is the price we're asking and not a dime less" (even though your property may not be worth what you think it is)

"No, we won't pay any commission" (which means we then have to go to a potential buyer and ask them to pay more money which they'll rarely do)

We've also found that a lot of FSBO don't have all the legal paperwork to conduct a proper sale. Ok, raise your hands....how many here know what a "seller disclosure statement" is? Everyone selling a piece of property must have one filled out, ready to present to anyone who asks for one, state law. "Lead disclosure statement"? Again, state law.

So yes, it does happen.

All this can be overcome if the price is right. There will be an attorney closing the deal and whoever is chosen, you can get all the paper work from them. All can fall into place.

Sure it may not be as smooth as having an agent, but 6% of a $200K home is $12K. That isn't exactly chump change.