Episode 18: For Sale By Owners (FSBO’s)
A For Sale By Owner is exactly what it sounds like. But do you as an owner really know what your home is worth? Lori Alvarez has sold with a 97% accuracy on pricing. Understanding the market, executing strategies, and savvy skills can make a huge difference in getting your home sold at the right price. Are you up for that challenge?
Takeaways:
You're responsible for ALL the negotiations.
Realtors will likely sell your home for more.
You need to invest to get the most out of your home.
Everything will sell, at the right price.
Reviewing and verifying documents are important.
Know your worth and protect yourself.
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Sometimes, as a seller, you may want to save some money on service fees. And that’s understandable. The reality is, you hire a professional because they know the real estate market. They will help you price strategically and get your home sold for the most money.
Let’s dive into talk about what it’s like to sell your home as an FSBO, and some of the ups and downs during that process.
The Question:
What is a For Sale By Owner?
So Lori got a call from a client saying they were ready to buy a house, in the middle of a pandemic no less. And when this client found a home they loved listed as an FSBO, they were a little confused. Of course Lori gladly guided them through understanding just what that means.
A For Sale By Owner, or FSBO as commonly abbreviated in the industry, is as simple as it sounds. They are choosing to represent themselves. The seller is choosing to sell their house by themselves, without involving agents or other parties.
At least that’s what most sellers think is what happens. The reality is, the seller is going to have to negotiate with the different parties in the transaction.
Even if you eliminate hiring an agent during the transaction, you still need to negotiate with:
the termite guy
the home inspector
the appraiser
each offer from a potential buyer
and on and on.
If you’re making an offer on an FSBO
You are going to be sending in an offer directly to the owner of the property.
It could be an enjoyable experience for sure. It’s a “normal” person. A normal easy going person that has a normal idea of what their home is worth and a normal idea of what they’re willing to sell it for, and sorta know what they are doing.
The reality is, they probably aren’t 100% sure of what they are doing. Although, there are some professional FSBO’s out there who do it all the time, and that’s fantastic for them, but that isn’t often the case.
Why hire a professional?
If you’re going to do a simple thing like your nails, who are you more likely to go to? A professional? or do it yourself? Lori go to a salon and gets them professionally done, because it’s done well, precise, and frankly, way better than she could do herself.
Purchase or selling your home is a major thing. And a little more complicated than painting your nails.
Of course, being a Real Estate Team we are going to root for the professional hiring route. A professional real estate agent is going to support you and help you tackle the difficult things that come along the journey with ease.
The Cost of a Realtor
Most people, like we mentioned before, choose to sell their own house in order to save money. They believe realtors are just too expensive, and don’t spend the money.
But the reality is:
So an FSBO lists their house thinking, I want “x” for this house, don’t hire a realtor that can “eat into their profits”.
“When you hire us, we’ll actually, probably, sell your house for more money than we cost,” Lori.
The National Association of Realtors have done the statistics. They have measures the for sale price of an FSBO and a realtor sell the property. And realtors often get the property sold for more money because they understand how to negotiate and price correctly.
Lori Alvarez and Team has a 97% accuracy on our pricing of a home listed for sale. We will make suggestions for the pricing on your house. We will give you information that supports that decision. We will analyze the market with you.
Strategic numbers work to get your home sold.
Don’t Have A Seller’s Perspective
When you’re thinking about listing your home for sale you can’t think from the perspective of a seller. You can’t focus on a seller’s net pocket perspective.
You need to think from a buyer’s perspective. You have to think with the current market in mind. The market may not be able to give you want you want. Buyers are smart. They know what a house is worth, they know what they’re willing to pay. And that’s what they are going to offer you.
If you’re priced way outside of the market, they’re not going to look at your house.
Lori always forewarns her clients when they list their house for sale with Lori Alvarez and Team, “ If no one walks through that door the first two weeks on the market, it means they don’t like your price.”
They love your house. It’s never about the house. It’s always the price.
You have to price within market value.
You Need Reach
Most FSBO’s will put their home on the market priced too high, and it’ll sit there for awhile. Often, it’s only on one site, like Zillow.
With a Realtor, with Lori Alvarez and Team, your house is listed on over 350+ website. It’s all over the internet, available to all types of buyers, and all types of areas.
You Need Quality
A Realtor will also invest in the property and pay for professional photographers to take beautiful photographs of your home to showcase on all the websites.
Can You Manage Being an FSBO
You need to invest a little to get the most out of it.
And that also means investing your time.
As a Real Estate Agent Team, we are currently managing about 10 different listings on the market, and receiving multiple offers on them. One property had about 45 people go through it in a single weekend.
If you’re considering listing your home as a FSBO, can you handle this:
45 families going through your property on a high level experience
Generate multiple offers and correspondence activity
Negotiate and compare offers
Keep all those families safe and healthy during the pandemic while they tour your home
Do you know the documents, clauses, disclosures, and legal lingo?
Are you able to marketing your property?
You possibly could, we don’t doubt you’re capable of doing great things.
But do you walk the liability as well?
We recommend hiring a licensed professional because you transfer all that liability and risk to the agent. And of course, we value our license and will do our best to exceed our client’s expectations.
In Conclusion
Have an honest conversation with yourself. Can you provide the same level of service a professional can to represent you in the sale of your home?
You deserve the most out of your investment. Be willing to invest in your home and in yourself.
Call us and find out what’s best for you.
909-227-4196
Thanks so much for reading. We look forward to helping you with your real estate goals.
Lori Alvarez has been in the Real Estate Industry for almost 15 years. If you’d like to contact her call her at 909-227-4196. She loves helping families find their home sweet home.
Our podcast is geared towards our current clients. We love to give our buyers and sellers great information. Wondering about something we haven’t covered? Send us a message.
Thanks for reading. What’s going to be your next step to finding your home sweet home?
Real Estate is an ongoing, beautiful story. That’s why we love to share ours and to help you begin yours! Tune in to the next episode where we will continue the conversation.
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