Heather cooksey real estate
Pros and Cons of Going For Sale By Owner "FSBO"
The infamous FBSO.. or For Sale By Owner. We have all seen the signs in the yard, with the owners phone number written in sharpie.
In the Real Estate world, this means selling on your own with out involving Real Estate Agents and paying their costly fees.
No middle man getting involved, selling directly to a buyer and not paying 4-6% of your homes sales price? Sounds like a win-win right! Maybe not.. let’s read further about some of the pros and cons of this process.
Pros
Going FSBO does have its benefits. Let’s review them and carefully weigh the pros vs. the cons to see if it’s worth it.
1. Less Commission Fees
One of the most common reasons owners decide to go the FSBO route is to save money. By going this route, you want to work directly with a buyer who is unrepresented as well.
Most of the time Realtors are the ones bringing you qualified buyers, and in this case they will most likely ask you for a buyers fee of somewhere around 2.5% (average). This is still much smaller in comparison to the 5-6% you would pay had a sellers representative been involved.
2. Inside Knowledge for Marketing
No one knows your home better than you. If you are the one showing and marketing your home you can go into great detail on all of the upgrades that you’ve done and the reasons why this has been the place you call “home” for all these years. No one loves your home as much as you do.
3. More Control Over The Sale
When hiring an agent, you are basically putting the entire sales process in their hands. Going the FSBO route, you have more control over the sales price, who you show the home to, and who you sell it to. If any of these things are extremely important to you – this may be the route for you.
Now, for the cons..
1. You May Be Biased
When hiring a professional, their number one goal is to make sure your home is show ready. They walk into your home with a completely unbiased opinion on the home, and tell you what you need to hear. (even if you may not like it).
2. Less Visibility
As much as I would love to say that putting a sharpie written sign in your yard and uploading pictures to Zillow is sufficient… it’s not always!
Unless you live in a VERY and I mean VERY small town where word travels quickly about a home for sale.. the MLS is where you want your home listed. There are fee for service transaction agents that will also put your home into the MLS for a small fee giving you more visibility, but they won’t be marketing your home the way a true professional will. More visibility means more feet inside your door which = more buyers.
3. Lack of Knowledge
The single most important factor that you need to weigh in to this decision is that as a FSBO you simply do not have the same knowledge of the Real Estate transaction that a true professional does.
You are selling one of the largest investments you will ever sell in your life, and you should want to protect that investment at all costs. This includes knowledge of Real Estate Contracts, knowing local agents & lenders who can get the job done and who is going to waste your time, and a number of other important key facts that are detrimental to having a quick and profitable sale.
The Home Selling Process is Not One Size Fits All.
Weigh these pros and cons carefully and decide what is right for you. Also, remember that every transaction is different, and having an agent who knows how to navigate the many different situations that can be thrown your way is key to a successful sale.
If you’re still torn between the two, and want more information – click HERE.
Thanks for reading.
xoxo Heather Cooksey Real Estate