How to sell my Sequim home?  This is a question being asked by many.  Here’s a story that may interest you.  The creator of the national website for FSBOs, ForSaleByOwner.com, whose name is Colby Sambrotto, just sold his personal residence using a real estate agent and paid a standard commission of 6% after months of trying to sell it himself.  Why?  How could the guru of FSBOs abandon the core philosophy of all For-Sale-By-Owners across America?  This is relevant for anyone asking how to sell my Sequim home.

How to Sell My Sequim Home

Homeowners who want to sell a Sequim home have the odds stacked against them.  Nationwide 85% of FSBOs end up listing with a real estate agent because they cannot sell it themselves, and after loosing a lot of precious market time (like the spring and summer months).  Of the remaining 15%, the majority take their homes off the market in frustration.  Very few homeowners ever get their own homes sold.  Why?

Apparently Colby Sambrotto spent six months trying to sell his own residence, but finally sold it through a real estate agent for $2.1 million and paid a 6% commission.  The real estate agent actually raised the price by $150,000 and sold it to a buyer that Sambrotto had failed to sell it to.

This is a text book example of why FSBOs fail over 95% of the time.  We don’t have complete statistics for Sequim, but I think I’m not far off.  Real estate agents here are selling 20 to 30 homes every month, but I think you can count on one hand the FSBOs that have sold during the entire past year.  I fully realize that FSBOs don’t like to hear the truth on this subject, mostly because they don’t believe they will fail.  But the vast majority do fail.

How to Sell My Sequim Home – Why They Don’t Sell

Why don’t FSBOs sell?  Here’s my short list of why FSBOs don’t get their homes sold (but it’s not the complete list):

1. Buyers are not searching for FSBOs, including FSBO sites.  I know.  I’ve asked hundreds.  A few will stumble onto a FSBO site, but selling a home should not be a game of chance.  Don’t believe the sales hype the FSBO sites give you.  Their sites are not very successful.  Many buyers have told me they avoid FSBO sites. (The owner of a FSBO site called me years ago in Sequim to ask me how to do it, because he had never even owned a home himself.)
   
2. Buyers prefer to search MLS sites with hundreds of local listed properties.
3. Buyers prefer to hire an experienced professional agent as their buyer’s representative.
   
4. A real estate agent with a large Internet marketing system will reach hundreds of potential buyers for every one  that a FSBO reaches.  This is not an exaggeration.  This is the biggest issue for anyone asking how to sell my Sequim home.
   
5. The average FSBO is overpriced, and buyers who have stumbled onto a FSBO that is overpriced, figure that out real quick, and they are gone without ever looking at the home or talking to the sellers.  (Years ago I did a study in Spokane and discovered that FSBOs were overpriced with comparably listed homes by an average of $8,000.)
   
6. The vast majority of home sellers simply do not have the experience to price their home right, and
7. Do not know how to professionally negotiate the best price and terms, and
8. Do not know how to put together the contracts, appropriate addendums, and handle the inspection and transaction details, and
9. Do not know how to overcome buyer objections.

No wonder FSBOs don’t get sold.  All of these are true.  These are the key answers to the quere how to sell my Sequim home. Sure there will be the occasional FSBO who has the experience to price and negotiate and draft documents, but we’re talking about the vast majority of home sellers here, not the few. Even the home seller who can do these things, does not have a large Internet marketing system that generates hundreds of leads from qualified buyers.  They are operating with a huge disadvantage.

Even the King of FSBOs, the founder of the nation’s biggest FSBO site, ForSaleByOwner.com, could not sell his own home without a professional real estate agent who is plugged into the buyer market.  That should send a huge message to FSBOs.

FSBOs often tell agents they will pay a 3% commission if they bring a buyer.  Agents will not say anything, but they won’t work with FSBOs without a listing contract.  So if you are a FSBO, don’t get your hopes up that an agent will bring a buyer.  They won’t.

How to Sell My Sequim Home for the Best Price

Want to sell your Sequim home?  You will sell it faster and at a higher price if you list it with a real estate agent who knows what he is doing.  That’s the honest truth.  I’ve been in real estate for 37 years, 20 as a real estate attorney, and now I am a full-time real estate broker with a huge Internet marketing system that I’ve spent a lifetime learning to build and tens of thousands of dollars building.  With all due respect, as a home owner who wants to sell your own home, you cannot compete with this.  Be honest with yourself.  If you own a Sequim home you want to sell, don’t you want every advantage you can get to sell your home?  Don’t you want to sell your home in the shortest time period for the highest price?

Email me at chuckmarunde@gmail.com or call me at 360-775-5424, and I will come out to your house and share with you my impression of your home based on what retirees want and are currently buying.

How to sell my Sequim home is a question many Sequim home owners are asking but what will you do with the answers?

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The Sequim real estate market is a tough real estate market, but I have been observing a consistent pattern for three decades now. I periodically get questions from homeowners who want to sell their homes, or from FSBOs (For-Sale-By-Owners) who are trying to sell their own homes.  I have learned so much about the mindset of homeowners in this market, and  I’m surprised at some of the misconceptions owners have about selling homes.  I fully realize that some homeowners will not necessarily believe what I will share, but I swear everything I have experienced on this subject for three decades has been consistently true about FSBOs.  I did not write this article just to get FSBOs to list with me.  Anyone who reads my blog knows that I share everything I know, and I always tell the truth even if it is uncomfortable.  Let me share more about seller misconceptions beginning with an analogy.

Sequim Real Estate Market

Imagine a gentleman who had a successful career as a biology teacher, and his primary hobby is bird watching and photography.  He is passionate about his work and his hobby, and he’s good at what he does.  He married the love of his life, who also had a successful career as a dental assistant.  They retire and live happily ever after.  Well, almost.  They decide to sell their home.  They’re intelligent and mature people, and people of good honest character.  Now they have decided to sell their home, and here’s where the misconceptions start.  I mean no disrespect at all when I suggest that there is a lot more to selling a home than they think they know.  Selling a half million dollar home is not like having a garage sale, putting some plywood on some saw horses, laying out books and jeans and dishes neatly on the tables, and making some price tags.  As comedian Dennis Miller often says in his act, “I don’t want to get on a rant here,” but I see homeowners and FSBOs make many mistakes.  It’s unfortunate, because they cost themselves a lot of money and time and stress . . . unnecessarily.

Here are a few articles I’ve written about these very issues in this Sequim real estate market.  I can almost guarantee that a good, honest homeowner who wants to sell his own home will not have a lifetime of experience to do that job as he needs it done.   Many think they do, but I’m not entirely sure why they think they can do something so important without the education and experience.  I don’t work on my own car’s electronic ignition system.  I don’t try to do my own electrical work.  I’d probably get electrocuted. 

There is too much to know and too much at risk when it comes to selling a home.  My point is best made by reading all of the following articles.  If you’re a FSBO or thinking about selling your home, I strongly urge you to take all these articles seriously, because I promise what I have written is true and accurate.  I don’t care if you list your property with me, but ignore three decades in real estate and 20 as a real estate lawyer if you want to.  I have no dog in this fight when it comes to your decision to sell your own home and how much you make or loose on the sale.  I am honest and sometimes blunt when it comes to the truth.  If you find what I write helpful to you, then great.  If you’re offended by the truths I share here, I make no apology.

Sequim FSBO and What it Takes to Sell a Home Part 1

Sequim For Sale by Owner Part 2

Why the FSBO is so Hard to Sell

Why Can’t I Just Sell My Own Home?

Sequim Real Estate Market Due Diligence

I find it fascinating that buyers are the ones doing so much research on the Internet and doing their due diligence on areas, houses, and agents. Sellers generally are not. Buyers not only do extensive online research before they arrive to look at homes, but then they look at many homes in person to complete their knowledge of home values and features. Sellers neither do online research to find comparables, nor do sellers spend time viewing dozens of home currently on the market. Instead, sellers simply call an agent and rely on the agent to tell them what their home is worth and trust that their agent has a great marketing system. Sellers do not do their due diligence on their agents either. Buyers do extensive research on their buyer’s agent in the Sequim real estate market.

From 85% to 95% of FSBOs never get their homes sold themselves, but end up listing with an agent after many months of lost market time and a lot of frustration.  Of the remaining 5% to 15%, only one or two actually get their homes sold.  That’s one or two homes out of a hundred, and that may after be one or two years on the market.  And the price they end up selling for is typically far less than they would have gotten with a professional, even with the commission.  These numbers come from extensive national statistics and 37 years in the business.  [The one success story of someone who got lucky and sold their own home in two weeks circulates for years, but someone also won the lottery last month.]  The Sequim real estate market is not different than other markets in this respect.

One very important reality for FSBOs to realize is that qualified buyers are not looking for FSBOs.  They just aren’t.  I ask all my clients how they search for homes, and they:

1. Do not search FSBO sites,
2. Do not find FSBO’s turning up in the search engines,
3. Have often had bad experiences dealing with a FSBO in the past who did not know how to handle paperwork and transaction details,
4. Have told me that in their experience FSBOs want too much for their homes (statistically this is true), and
5. Qualified intelligent buyers are hiring a buyer’s agent who knows the local market and the local real estate issues of concern, knows prices, and know how to negotiate and handle the transaction details professionally.

This means FSBOs are off the radar screen for 99% of the buyers.  Like it or not, this is true.  If you’re expecting a buyer will see your For Sale sign, good luck, because the odds of that happening are extremely small, and the best most qualified buyer for your home at your price is most likely searching the Internet.

This Sequim real estate market is not the time or place for a homeowner to learn by trial and error how to sell a home.

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Question:  I found your website doing a search for “for sale by owner” information. I am considering the pros and cons of listing this myself, or enlisting a broker to help me out.  I am impressed by the amount of information you provide for free.

Although my property is in Kitsap County, I am writing to ask your advice regarding setting a price that is well above the current market value.  The reasons I am considering this are:

1. I am in no hurry for a sale. If it takes the market improving to the point that my asking price is more obtainable, I may be willing to wait for that.

2. Property is 1+ acre in a location that would be perfect for a small business owner. we are on a busy road, and although right now it is zoned residential (the home is manufactured), there are several businesses very nearby. It is only a matter of time before this property is used commercially as well.

Thank you for your time and thank you also for being so generous with the information on your website.

Joe [not real name]

Answer:

One of my pet peeves is overpriced real estate. An overpriced home on the market can actually cost a seller a lot of money. A home only sells for fair market value (FMV), not more than buyers are willing to pay. That’s what FMV is–what a ready, willing, and able buyer is willing to pay for a home. Yet we still see both FSBO’s and agent listings on the market above FMV, and some are substantially above FMV.

If your home is for sale at a price above FMV, you can end up selling it for even less than FMV down the road. I’ve been preaching this for almost 20 years now, but finally there is authoritative proof. [See my earlier blogs on this: Save $10,000 Buying and Port Angeles and Sequim Overpriced Listings]

The proof is in the Sunday, October 28, 2007 issue of the Seattle Times at page E7:

“Real estate agents often warn sellers about the danger of overpricing a house. Now they have evidence to show skeptical clients: research by Jeffrey Otteau, a New Jersey appraiser. He found that in a market where prices are declining, sellers who ‘test the market’ with a high price usually end up with a lower price than those who price realistically.”

The article points out that a house that is priced right for the current market sells within a reasonable time, but one that is overpriced will sit on the market while the market prices decline, and when the home does finally sell, it sells for less than the FMV of that home when it was first on the market.

The statistical proof showed that in a market where a home that was listed for $599,900 (FMV) and which sold for $599,000 (almost full listed price within 30 days), a comparable house that was overpriced at $634,900 actually sold for $585,000 months later when the market had declined even a little more.

There’s another solid reason not to overprice your home.  When a home first goes into the MLS and is advertised at that price, you have an opportunity to reach a small percentage of buyers who may be interested in your home, can actually afford it, and who are ready to do so now.  An overpriced home may cause them to look elsewhere.  And this is the clincher, buyers rarely come back to look at the same home again even after you’ve reduced the price.  That’s true.  Not only will most buyers not come back to see if you’ve reduced the price in the months to follow, but by the time you actually do reduce the price in the MLS, those original buyers are long gone, most having purchased a home that was not overpriced.  So as a practical matter, you have one shot at each buyer.

Sometimes a seller who wants to gamble by asking far more than his home is worth will say, “I’m in no hurry to sell.  If it doesn’t sell, I can hang on to it until prices go back up.”  If that’s your sentiment, then don’t waste time and effort listing it for sale when you know it won’t sell.  Hoping you will get lucky and find an uninformed buyer who will pay way more for your property than the true FMV is a pipe dream.  Buyers are very intelligent these days, especially with the availability of the powerful tools on the Internet.  If you want more, then don’t list your home until prices actually do appreciate to that level.  Believe me, no one will buy an overpriced home.

This is such an important lesson for homeowners who want to “test the market” with an excessively high price. Don’t do it. You could lose a lot of money by the time you end up selling it for much less in a slower market.

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From a FSBO in Sequim I received the following question.   Enclosed is my response.

Question: I’m interested in selling my own home for one reason–to save the real estate commission.   What’s wrong with that?

Answer: Nothing.   That’s a good American reason to be a For-Sale-By-Owner.   The question is, can you?   In other words, do you know how to price your home?   Do you know how to collect accurate information on fair market value?   Do you know how to make adjustments in the prices of the comparables?   Do you know the most and least effective ways to advertise and market?   Do you have experience developing compelling sales scripts that will attact buyers?   What about negotiating?   Can you negotiate for top dollar while not killing a transaction with a good buyer?   Do you know all about terms that change your net proceeds?   Are you aware of the top mistakes that FSBO’s make regularly?   Do you know about tax implications?   Are you a competent document draftsman?   Can you include all relevant terms and langauge without ambiguities?   Do you know what legal documents are required by law in Washington and Clallam County, and in Sequim and Port Angeles?   Can you help your buyer get a loan (there’s much more to this step than 99% realize)?   Can you provide the kind of attention and focus needed from the day there is a written agreement with your buyer  until closing?    Iin other words, do you know how to be a transaction coordinator?

If your answer to all of these question is an intelligent “yes,” than I encourage you to sell your own home.   But if you can’t talk for 20 minutes on each of these issues, you may be  unprepared.   It takes many of us a lifetime to really begin to get good at many or most of these steps.   No one is naturally good at all of these things.    There are too many details that must be learned on the street.    If you have gained the knowledge and experience to competently handle all these questions and all the issues  within each question, I would say, “Go for it, and God speed.”

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If you’re selling your Sequim or Port Angeles home, if you’re tired of trying yourself as a FSBO (For Sale By Owner), and you want the power of the Internet as well as the functionality of the local MLS, and you want to take advantage of 30 years of real estate law and sales experience, you might consider this new listing service offered by Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC and Chuck Marunde.   Watch this brief video to learn more.

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You can put lipstick on a slow real estate market, but it’s still a slow market.   You can lower the price on your home to sell it quickly, but it’s still a slow market.   Lowering the price may not be the powerful incentive it would be in a normal market.

You can stage your home with the nicest furniture and decorations, but it’s still a slow market.   You may have a beautiful home in a wonderful area, but it’s still a slow market.   You can have $40,000 in landscaping, but it’s still . . .

If buyers are not showing up, and they are not, you can use the brightest red lipstick on the market, but it’s still . . .

I have talked with many homeowners who have told me they want to sell their homes quick, within a month or two.   Hmm.   Maybe we can do that, if we connect with one unique buyer who falls in love with this home, but it’s still . . .

A slow market requires many things.   Certainly it requires expert marketing skills to connect with the small number of buyers who are qualified and serious about buying now.   But it also requires patience and realistic goals.   Here’s the rule of patience:   Be patient now, or frustration, anger, and time will make you patient.   As John Wayne might have said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.   Which will it be?”

But being patient is not enough.   You also have to be smart in how you market your home, especially in a slow market.

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