For Sale By Owner (FSBO)

What can a realtor do to assist a homeowner who is trying to sell his home on his own?

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). A realtor can tour the home and then go back to the office and do her homework. The next day she’ll return to the home and show that homeowner what the market data show is the highest market value range. She’ll do this by presenting the homeowner with a CMA. Realtors aren’t allowed to provide a homeowner with an appraisal unless the realtor is also a state-licensed appraiser. But the CMA data will allow the homeowner to determine the best price to list his home for sale.

Staging. A realtor can advise a homeowner on how best to get her home in salable condition. She’ll suggest putting away personal things and clean everything. Move the furniture so it is easy to get around the room. Set up each room so it has just one, obvious purpose. Store everything you don’t need while the home is on the market. Update anything that is outdated. Make any needed repairs. And don’t forget the exterior needs all these things, too.

Explain why a home seller should consider hiring a realtor. If you are knowledgeable on all aspects of selling a home, you are probably ok with the process on your own. If you are knowledgeable with marketing, you are probably ok with the process on your own. But do you have access to the multiple listing service (MLS)? Some brokers will, for a fee, list a FSBO onto the MLS. Do you have the time and money to place ads into newspapers and all over the internet weekly? Do you have time to arrange for buyer visits to your home? Are you knowledgeable about fire inspections? Are you knowledgeable about home inspections? Do you have negotiating skills when an offer is received and the time to do the negotiating? Do you have a property lawyer to help with the purchase and sale agreement once an offer is received? Do you know whom to call to help you complete needed home updates? If there is a problem with the process, are you able to handle it quickly enough so you don’t lose the buyers due to missing a deadline? Home selling is a complicated, time-sensitive process that is full of ways to get sued if all is not accomplished within strict time limits and is full of many laws that must be followed. And ignorance of the law will not limit your liability if things aren’t accomplished correctly and in a timely manner.
Need more reasons to hire a realtor? Buyers have realtors. Realtors work for a living. Realtors get paid for being the procuring cause of a real estate transaction. Realtors can show client-buyers FSBO homes if the buyers have a written agreement with their realtor to pay the realtor themselves. The client then puts that payment into her offer to buy the home being sold by the FSBO. If the agreement is accepted by the homeowner, then everyone is happy. But, in today’s market, few buyers sign such contracts with their realtors. So few realtors show their buyer-customers a FSBO. And what incentive does a buyer have to tour a FSBO when they have so many realtor-represented homes available? And why would a buyer buy a FSBO and have no representation when, at no cost to the buyer, the buyer can have expert realtor representation?