Selling a home without the assistance of a professional Realtor is known as a for-sale-by-owner, colloquially known as a FSBO (pronounced “fizbo”).  Over 85% of all FSBOs do not sell themselves, but end up listing with a Realtor.  Why?  What is so hard about selling a home oneself?  Here’s a simple graph that presents complex truths about why FSBOs lose so many potential buyers.  I thought a picture might be worth more in this case than 1,000 words.  Click on this image for an enlargement.

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• Why Can’t I Just Sell My Own Home? What’s So Hard About That?

Selling your home as a FSBO (for sale by owner) puts you at a huge disadvantage from the starting gate. I’ve seen that many times over the past 30 years. I don’t do any cold calling of FSBO’s. I’m pretty darn busy just working with buyers, and I don’t have the time. Keith Sorem, an agent in Glendale, California, wrote a concise article on FSBO’s, and with his permission I’ve reprinted it here.

Given the current market condition I suggest that you think long and hard about your decision [to sell on your own]. A couple of helpful facts:

In a “normal” market about 10% of homes sell without professional representation. This is not a normal market.

There have been significant changes in how appraisals are conducted since May 1st causing major problems in valuation. so buyers who finance their purchase are having to cancel escrows, sellers are having to lower prices.

In August there are new underwriting guidelines coming out, which are going to make it even harder for buyers to qualify.

According to a recent survey buyers have a Realtor represent them about 90% of the time. From the buyer’s perspective they get a “free agent”, so it is a good deal for them, In most markets there is a lot of inventory, so the problem by selling on your own is that the Realtors are not looking on other websites for their buyer’s homes. Your listing basically does not exist.

My suggestion is that you should interview a few Realtors, have them analyze your property and situation, then if you want to try it on your own, go ahead, you might get luck.

Know that 76% of sellers eventually list with a Realtor. 5% sell to someone they know, 5% sell to someone they don’t know. When they sell they, on average, sell for 16% less than the average sold by Realtors.

For a full discussion of the two multiple listing services and how marketing real estate compares, including the FSBO issues, see the Sequim MLS and the NWMLS.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Why The For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) is Hard to Sell
• FSBO asks Should I List My House Above FMV
• Free For Sale By Owner Consultation with Retired Real Estate Lawyer and Broker
• Sequim Homes for Sale – FSBO eBook Download
• Why Can’t I Just Sell My Own Home? What’s So Hard About That?

If you are a For Sale By Owner, FSBO, and you want the best professional advice from years of experience to help you make tough decisions, Chuck Marunde is offering a free consultation.   Now any Realtor can offer a free consultation, right?   This is much more.

First, you get a consultation with a 30-year veteran who practiced real estate law for 20 years.   He’s been involved in nearly every aspect of a real estate transaction.   He’s negotiated hundreds of transactions, drafted hundreds, and helped clients avoid litigation and resolved many difficult issues.

Second, your free consultation includes what you would expect of any Realtor, plus honest and frank discussions about how selling really works in the real estate industry, how the competing multiple listing services actually work (or don’t), what advertisting works and doesn’t work, what role the Internet plays in marketing your property, and where the buyers are coming from and exactly what they want.   I track these subjects with research and analysis, and I offer these free in this consultation.

Third, I open up what I am doing, so you can see how to do what you need to do.   Now, I’m not going to share my trade secrets that I don’t want other Realtors to know about, but you will be surprised at how much I do share.

Fourth, you will be so impressed with how hard I have worked to create the systems I have in place that there is a significant probability that you will want to list your property with me, BUT there is absolutely no obligation and no pressure to do so.   I won’t even ask.

There’s a lot at stake in this market if you want to sell your home.   Don’t you want to be sure that you will do everything possible to get the highest price in the least amount of time?

Email me or call me at 360-775-5424.   I’d be delighted to share whatever I know and have learned with you.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Why The For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) is Hard to Sell
• FSBO asks Should I List My House Above FMV
• Selling FSBO Huge Disadvantage
• Sequim Homes for Sale – FSBO eBook Download
• Why Can’t I Just Sell My Own Home? What’s So Hard About That?

Do you have a Sequim home for sale, maybe a FSBO?   Retired real estate attorney Chuck Marunde, now a real estate broker, Internet marketing consultant, and writer, wrote an eBook for homeowners who have thought about selling their own homes.   The eBook is short and to the point, but with the content and the resources made available in the eBook, there are over a 100 pages of solid content, especially for the Sequim and Port Angeles homeowner.

The subjects covered include topics on arriving at an accurate fair market value, appraisals, advertising and marketing, negotiating like an expert, an MLS tool for homeowners to look at what is for sale now in Clallam County, free classifieds for advertising, a list of document titles for the legal documents that may be needed, and traps for the unwary (like the Form 17 Seller’s Disclosure).

Download Free FSBO eBook

FOR VISTA users:   If you are running VISTA on your computer, after you download the program, you open it by right clicking on the icon and then clicking on the “Run as Administrator” button.   On XP or other operating systems, you don’t have to do that, but VISTA is quirky.

Offered as a courtesy of Chuck Marunde, J.D. and SequimRealEstateNews.com.   May I also recommend a new online newspaper at Sequim-News.com.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Why The For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) is Hard to Sell
• FSBO asks Should I List My House Above FMV
• Selling FSBO Huge Disadvantage
• Free For Sale By Owner Consultation with Retired Real Estate Lawyer and Broker
• Why Can’t I Just Sell My Own Home? What’s So Hard About That?

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.”

Possibly Related Posts:

• Why The For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) is Hard to Sell
• FSBO asks Should I List My House Above FMV
• Selling FSBO Huge Disadvantage
• Free For Sale By Owner Consultation with Retired Real Estate Lawyer and Broker
• Sequim Homes for Sale – FSBO eBook Download

Sequim FSBOs and Port Angeles FSBOs are having a tough time selling their homes, just as real estate agents are listing but not doing much selling.   The market is slow, and on top of that we are in the slow winter months for home sales here.

While it is true that sales are few and far between right now, it is also true that the Sequim and Port Angeles areas have not suffered the crashing prices that so many other areas of the country have.   Las Vegas is down by 30% and even more in some areas.   My son recently moved to Vegas in a job transfer, and has made an offer on a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch home in a nice area.   The home was listed at $139,000, and his offer was accepted by the owners at $129,000 subject to a short sale (the bank approving the purchase since the net proceeds will be less than the current balance of the owner’s mortgage).   Okay, that’s an amazingly low price for a nice home like that in a nice area, but the Vegas real estate market crashed.   Developers and builders overbuilt, and the economy there has taken a huge hit, there have been job layoffs, and a lot of homes are in foreclosure.

No so with Sequim and Port Angeles.   Some might say, “Gee, I wish we could buy a house in Sequim for $129,000.”   If you could, that would mean that our market had crashed, that our local economy was in shambles, and that thousands of homes are in foreclosure.   But none of that is true, so you cannot buy a house here for $129,000.   Thank God!   Thousands of homeonwers here are thankful that their homes have not been devalued.

This is actually good news for Sequim and Port Angeles homeowners and investors who are thankful they haven’t suffered terribly like so many around the country.   While this may not be fantastic news for buyers, it should be encouraging, because it means we have a stable real estate market here, and that is very good news.   Our prices are still down and sales are down, but nothing like Vegas.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Why The For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) is Hard to Sell
• FSBO asks Should I List My House Above FMV
• Selling FSBO Huge Disadvantage
• Free For Sale By Owner Consultation with Retired Real Estate Lawyer and Broker
• Sequim Homes for Sale – FSBO eBook Download