FSBO Sales Just Don’t Cut It – Sellers Lose Time, Money and End Up Exhausted

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It’s a natural reaction of most homeowners looking to sell to reject the idea that any real estate agent would support a For Sale By Owner transaction.  And for the most part, they would be right -- but not for the same reasons.  The truth is that real estate agents usually end up selling most of the homes that were not successfully sold on their own, once the home is back on the market again.  But when a top executive of a website company called ForSaleByOwner.com supports hiring a real estate agent to sell his home, THAT should get people listening, right?

So why is it that the CEO of this top national company that is based on facilitating FSBOs hired an agent to sell his property?
 
Because hiring an agent is the smartest thing you can do.

In fact, he was able to sell his condo in New York City for $150,000 OVER the asking price!  Trust me, that was not the doing of an (usually) inexperienced homeowner.  That was largely as a result of his agent’s knowledge, expertise, and track record plus of course, hard work.  This wasn’t before he tried to sell his property on his own, but he figured out quick enough that if he was going to get anywhere then he better hire a professional.  So he did.

Now, as a homeowner looking to sell your property, what do you need to know before deciding to hire an expert or go it alone? 
Here are five solid reasons you want to call a Realtor to get your house sold:

FSBO Buyers Are Expecting a Deal Before They Even Set Foot In Your House

We all know that sellers putting up yard signs and using other avenues to self-market their home, are doing so in order to save some money.  Why then, is anyone surprised that buyers who end up looking at FSBOs are also looking to save some money.  In a real estate transaction when agents are used on both sides, usually the commission is split evenly between each.  This means that the potential of savings is on the side where an agent is NOT being used.  Ironically, statistics show that during most FSBO transactions as much as 10% is left on the table.

Only 2% of the Population Attempt To Buy and Sell Real Estate On Their Own

In other words, ninety-eight percent of the real estate buying and selling population heads for a Realtor to assist them in their property endeavors.  There is a good reason for this figure too – which is that the process of selling on your own is often unsuccessful, resulting in a lot of time wasted, not to mention a good amount of high hopes dashed when the sale falls through.

Forty Out of Every One Hundred FSBO Sales Do Not Even Come Close to Closing

The main reason that For Sale By Owner transactions do not pan out is because the parties were inexperienced.  Whether this means they were unable to effectively negotiate, credit qualifications were not done prior to making an offer or issues came up during the home inspection stage – there are myriad reasons that these deals fall through.  Interestingly, about 20% of these fallouts end up in the hands of real estate agents, who usually sell them successfully.

Top Agents Yield As Much as 98.5% of the Asking Price for Most Properties Sold

Even more so than the market average of 94%-96%, top agents’ performance means more money ends up in your pocket – and in less time.  When you factor in the fact that other agents can cause you to lose up to 2.5% to 4.5% through a lower final negotiated selling price, imagine how much you stand to lose during negotiations as a FSBO seller. 

Sellers Walk Away With More Cash When Using an Agent – 3 to 5% More

Statistics demonstrate that those homeowners who opt to use a real estate agent often end up with three to five percent more than if they had sold the property without a Realtor.  On a $200,000 home, this amount can add up to anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 more cash in your pocket!
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The bottom line is that real estate agents want to help you sell your home and they will do what they can to help you save as much money as possible.  Far more important to them than a few extra commission dollars is the long-term relationship and hard-earned referrals that they seek from you when you are a happy customer with a house sold at a great price.

The Spring Real Estate Market Has Arrived!

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We just turned the corner into March and things are already picking up at warp speed in our marketplace. Sellers are jumping off their fence and deciding to sell, while buyers continue to seek out the nicest looking properties, located in great places at good prices.

But that doesn’t mean that it will be easy. There are some things that as both sellers and buyers you will need to do to get the upper hand on your competition.

Sellers Have the Upper Hand

Consider this: we recently picked up two listings that had expired after not being sold despite being on the market for considerable time. One of the homes had been available for sale for 155 days. When we took on the challenge to sell it, we simply applied our techniques and the seller followed our suggestions, creating the perfect home for showings. This resulted in the house being sold in 14 days. We requested the homeowner to remove any clutter, create a neutral environment with décor that would likely appeal to most anyone and then we used a professional stager followed by having professional photographs done.

In the second recent scenario, the home had been on the market for a total of 215 days before we took the listing on. Once again, we made some suggestions to the homeowner, had the home professionally staged and photographed. In one week there were multiple offers on the property and 32 days later the seller received full price for it!

Increased Buyer Competition Expected

Buyers will continue to be met with more and more competition, particularly as we see fewer homes on the market. Keep in mind historically low interest rates that we are seeing right now will not last forever. In fact, we are predicting rates will start to rise by the middle of this year.

Just as we have our unique list of things we do with our sellers to ensure optimum results, we also have some strategies in place to help our buyers get the home that they want.
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Contact us today to see how we can help you to make your real estate dreams come true this spring!  Call 410.638.9555 or email lee@leetessier.com