For Sale by Owner
We are in a market where it seems like doing a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) is a good idea. You might save some money. There is a chance you will but it’s more likely that you will end up doing a bunch of work for free instead of letting a professional do their job.
Folks like Dave Ramsey say that hiring an agent is the best thing for you. The stats say that the seller does a FSBO to save the commission but in fact they almost always negotiate the difference away and then have to do the work themselves for free.
Getting a contract is the easy part in this market. With inventory way down it’s easy to find a buyer. The hard part is all the folks you end up negotiating with.
Folks like:
- The buyer who wants the best deal possible
- The buyer’s agent who solely represents the best interest of the buyer
- The buyer’s attorney (in some parts of the country)
- The home inspection companies which work for the buyer and will almost always find some problems with the house.
- The termite company if there are challenges
- The buyer’s lender if the structure of the mortgage requires the sellers’ participation
- The appraiser if there is a question of value
- The title company if there are challenges with certificates of occupancy (CO) or other permits
- The town or municipality if you need to get the COs permits mentioned above
- The buyer’s buyer in case there are challenges on the house your buyer is selling.
I guess my point is that I do this full time, do it over and over and do it well. I will make sure you have the representation you need to get the deal to the table and closed and with the increase in sales price we get the most for your house and you probably net more than doing a FSBO.
If you want to know what your house is worth in the new market, call me and I’ll help you.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578 Cell