For Sale by Owner

Feb 1st, 2007 | By Bea Weiss, Real Estate Consultant, Attorney | Category: Blog, Seller Advice

It is not unusual for homeowners to yield to the temptation to try to sell their own home. It seems easy enough–just place an ad in the weekend paper and wait for buyers to show up. Although it may seem easy, real estate sales are extremely complicated transactions.

The first difficulty can come with pricing your property realistically. Homeowners often price their property too high initially, then, in a panic, drastically slash the price. Even if a buyer agrees to the initial asking price, there could be trouble if the buyers begin to feel that they have agreed to pay too much or if the lender’s appraisal values the property at far less than the agreed-upon price.

The overwhelming majority of homes that sell are listed with a real estate agent (90%), so you will be going against significant odds if you decide to sell your own home. The experience of a real estate professional may get you a better price and help you to avoid all the “little” things that can go wrong in a real estate transaction.

When you list with a real estate professional, you are not paying for any of the marketing. You pay NOTHING until your home sells. A lot of For Sale By Owner’s end up paying for their own marketing out of pocket, taking the time to do it on their own, deal with strangers, and THEN finally turn to a professional to complete the job.

List before you spend. You lose nothing if your agent doesn’t sell it.

The desire to “save” the commission on a property is the reason most people decide not to work with a real estate agent. Prospective buyers who look for properties that are “For Sale By Owner” (FSBOs) are also wanting to avoid the commission–and to get a less-than-market-value deal. So both sides in the transaction are looking to save the same money! However, nothing is saved in the majority of FSBO’s.

If you are not skilled in the area of negotiations or writing binding business contracts you may end up actually selling for less, having your transaction fail, or worse yet ending up with a legal or financial liability because you made a mistake. Furthermore, if the buyer brings their own representation and you have none, you stand a good chance of getting the worst side of the deal.

Listing your home with a real estate professional can save you money, spare you the inconvenience of showing your home, and save you the time you would spend talking to buyers who could not qualify for a loan.