Anyone use www.forsalebyowner.com ?
If so, what did you think about it?
jt8
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
— Carl Sandburg
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self bump
jt8
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
-- Carl Sandburg
Haven't used them myself but a friend did. He didn't have good results after a couple of months and ended up working with a realtor.
I think a lot of homeowners that sell their property by themselves fail to understand is that selling a house is more than plunking a sign in the ground.
We sold our house ourself and we saved a lot of money but we also put a lot of time into the effort. Getting the word out and establishing a network is really important. The listing service that For Sale By Owner Systems is great to get the word out nationally but it's also up to the owner to get the word out locally advertise regularly and hold open houses often.
With lawyer fees, advertising, and materials I think we probably spent $1000.00 but we easily saved the buyer 5 times that amount (because we didn't have any realtor fees to pass on) and were able to price the property really competitively in a weak market.
Have a look at this idea. I haven't tried it but it's been around for many years with lots of testimonials from satisfied FSBO sellers. The book's author is a hand's on type who keeps in touch with the market and how it effects his clients.
http://www.howtosellyourhomein5days.com/
We bought our current hose from a fsbo, and looked at many when we searched. Also looked at sale by realtor. It was a company paid relocation so we got a lot of assistance. Our realtor was not thrilled with the search, and I can agree with her. She had to do a lot more work. Biggest problem was scheduling the visits, had to work directrly with the HO. When it came time for the inspection, she was involved too cuz there was no selling agent to meet the inspector. We made an offer for one house we really liked, it was a little low, HO was out of town and the person they had sitting in did not pass on the offer, so after 3-4 days we moved on. Actually, now that I think about it, the temp person declined the offer without passing it on, and we thought the decline came from the HO. Bad deal.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Very few FSBO sellers have a clue about what-all needs to be done, so most of the time, the buyer's realtor ends up doing double-time, unpaid.So most realtors are reluctant to show FSBOs, because they know that what will happen is that all of the normal realtor labor will be expended, but only half will be compensated.If you're really, really good, sure, go FSBO. But if you're just a cheap **** who's trying to get something for nothing, get off it, and pay the pro what he/she is worth. And keep in mind that buyer's realtors are going to respond only if first prodded by their clients. That means that you're going to be faced with a drastically-reduced buyer pool.I just came off of a difficult sale in a difficult market, paying my realtor her full commission. I believe that she more than paid for that commission in the higher price that she was able to obtain by going through the normal channels, as opposed to trying to do an end run.And don't kid yourself, that is exactly how going the FSBO route will be perceived by at least 90% of the people out there.This is consistent what I've seen over the last 35 years or so that I've been involved with, or have observed, the market. Once I had a lawyer friend do me a favor by drawing up documents around a shared driveway.Yeah, I saved some money on that deal, but the realtor had to re-write and modify the documents to get them right. I saved some money, but the realtor ended up doing a bunch of uncompensated work.That's not right, but that's FSBO in a nutshell!I slipped that realtor a few nice rose bushes at closing, but I think he still probably lost out in the end.My vote is to go with the theory of abundance, and pay the good people around you what they deserve. In the long run, it'll come back to you many times over.AitchKay
"When it came time for the inspection, she was involved too cuz there was no selling agent to meet the inspector. "The buyers agent is the one that represents the buyer and the buyer is the one paying for the inspection and getting the results. It would be more logical for the buyers agent would be the one with to meet the inspector (along with the buyer).At least that is the way that it works here..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
We used FSBO.com (I think that was the site) in 2004 to sell our home.
I would do it all over again if everything was exactly the same. The market was hot, we lived in a bedroom community where someone moving from Baltimore could get a much nicer house than what they were likely paying in rent, the house was relatively new and in great condition, so it seemed like a good way to go.
We had one realtor show our house to a prospective buyer and he hung around after they left to try to convince us to use his services. He maintained that we were leaving money on the table. I asked him to show us how much he thought he could get for the house, and it was basically our asking price (which we got) plus the 6-7% commission.
I think we showed the house to 4-5 couples before we had a buyer. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. In this market, I would not be as likely to do it myself.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
if you make it known to realtors that you're willing to pay up to 3% (the less the better for you) you can get better interest. We sold DWs house via a different but similar company than FSBO but the jist is the same. DWs house was ina hot neighborhood with several houses for sale through agents. One offered to advertise DWs place while she was doing an open house as long as we did an open house at the same time. The buyer was using a realtor when we sold the hosue and the 3% was reasonable for us compared to the full commision. Time on eh market was 3 months (during winter, sold in earlyu Feb.).
sorry Jon, shoud've addressed this the t8.
Edited 8/15/2009 12:32 pm ET by john7g
I have not seen that web site before. We have sold 4 on a FSBO basis if you want to include the one DW sold to her renter, but those were all in different market times. To me the best thing you can do for yourself is get it in the local MLS. That leaves you paying a buyer's agent a commission of 2.5 or 3% but the exposure is 10x what you will get otherwise. Around here there are cut rate real estate agents that will put you in the MLS for an unlimited amount of time for maybe $600. No other services are provided except maybe a for sale sign that basically just advertises the company that sold the listing.
One of the first houses I sold I learned a few things. That was before the web though - now it's much easier with the "information highway". Had people make an appointment and come look - these people just wasted my time.... One lady shows up late and then says - OH - I wanted a house with a garage.... DUHHH. Finally sold that one via one of the $500 MLS deals...
It's not rocket science but market conditions gotta be good too. Here, in the current bad market, people who are trying to do just a straight FSBO aren't serious about selling.
Another thing is that from a buyer's perspective, since commission is paid by seller, why wouldn't you want to have an agent. So - most buyers go with agents. We just recently sold and bought another - that woman beat those sellers down mercilessly.
John - I just went to that web site. Did a search of my area, for houses in a price range of 250 - 350k. It had 2 to whow me. I then logged into the MLS - it gave me 95 to look at - same search criteria. What does that tell you?
John
One of our neighbors sold a house on Craigslist. This was in a horrible market. Resort town. Overbuilt. No indigenous job market.
Folks moved back to California. Sat empty for a while. Then the FIL sold it on CL. The price they got (for the time) was decent.
The FIL home has been up for sale too. But hasn't sold in the intervening year. I'm sure he tried CL.