All parties involved in For Sale By Owner (FSBO) transactions are after the same thing - saving money.
The FSBO seller is thinking they are saving the expense of hiring a real estate professional to market and manage the sale of their home.
The buyer likely thinks they can save because because the FSBO seller will take less since they are not paying for a real estate professional to market and manage the sale of their home.
There is rarely a time I would recommend a buyer ever go it alone when buying a house in Brevard County, Florida.
The reason - the seller almost always pays the buyer's real estate agent - including many of the FSBO sellers.
In the current Brevard County, Florida real estate market I rarely run across FSBO sellers. According the the 2011 NAR Profile of Buyers and Sellers, 10% of sales last year were FSBOs.
You can sell your home yourself as long as you are aware of what is involved such as
- Pricing. Do you know the real market price or do you just know how much you want to walk away with at closing?
- Time. There is a significant investment of time when marketing your home. Will your schedule allow time for scheduling appointments and being present when potential buyers want to view your home. (Weekends free - not likely!)
- Safety. Who are these strangers who will be coming in your home. I will admit that most real estate agent do not usually know their clients very well. In this day and age, safety is a real concern for professional real estate agents.
- Marketing Plan. Just putting a sign out front worked well when it was a seller's market. Will it be easier to let someone who does this daily market your home? Marketing is all about exposure to your most probable purchaser. Experience. Have you previously completed such a transaction? Experience is a great teacher - just ask any real estate agent.
- Staging Your Home. Even if you decide to FSBO you should consider the services of a professional stager. It has been said that a potential buyer will either be interested or turned off all within the first ten seconds after they arrive.
- Negotiation skills. When that offer comes in, do you have the experience with negotiation skills.
- Contracts, inspections, closing costs and procedures....
