THE FSBO MYTH

In today's society of instant communication such as the internet, many homeowners assume they can save money by selling their home without a real estate agent. This for sale by owner is called a FSBO. Two questions with this assumption need serious thought.
1. Are you up to the task ? Do you have the time,knowledge and expertise to accomplish your goal, if so great?
However,most the population,about 85% are not familiar with real estate transactions and prefer to have a professional handle it for them. Most buyers are uncomfortable dealing directly with sellers because of the " BUYER BEWARE " syndrome.
So from the beginning you are limiting your potential buyers to only 15%. If you decide to expand your potential buyers to the 85% who will be using a professional by offering a buyers agent commission, that will solve the problem, right. Not really, because Realtors will ignore FSBOs unless their client requests to take a look at this home, because it complicates their procedure for only 1 home, when they could show 3 homes in the time involved through the MLS system they know and trust.
So essentially we are back to the 15% of potential buyers. Who are these people? Most of the buyers seeking FSBOs are BARGAIN HUNTERS,they are searching out homes that they feel can be purchased for less than market value and they are in no hurry. They can afford to wait until the FSBO becomes frustrated and hope to take advantage of their possible lack of knowledge and inexperience in the real estate market. In many cases they will make lowball or unreasonable offers.
2. Are you really going to save money?
A few statistical facts from The National Association of Realtors,82% of FSBOs ultimately list their home. NAR stats also tell us that FSBOs that do sell, sell for 15.4% less than Realtor assisted homes. So, you will do all the work,pay for all the advertising and still may end up selling for less than a Realtor.
Call Larry or Jo Ann Thomas at 628-2903 or 545-9249 and get the price and exposure your home needs.