Last night, I received a very polite email from a reader in the Western part of the state. I replied back and am reprinted an updated version of my letter here on this blog, The question is a very basic one;
"I am thinking of selling, I want to sell on my own, do you have any advice???"
Y'know, I didn't want to respond with a "canned" reply, so I took my time and "slept" on it. Around 7 am this morning, I replied. Following is my response with some slight changes and additions.
Thanks
for your email. I would've responded last night but snow shoveling got
to me. Anyways, let me tackle your question now...
I am going
to ask you a couple of questions and I'm only asking so I can isolate
your situation for the best answer. #1, why are you selling? and #2,
why are you thinking of selling on your own?
Let me give you a
couple of answers that may apply and you can email me back if you'd
like. If you NEED to sell, absolutely, must sell, etc, etc, etc, then
get yourself a top quality agent. Look at the whole thing this way; I
could fix my car! Since I have NO knowledge on auto repair since any
automobiles made after the mid 80's, then it would take me forever. I'd
probably waste a lot of money on parts and tools and STILL never get it
fixed; then on top of all that money I'm never going to spend, I'll
wind up towing the car to a mechanic and pay him, in addition to fixing
what was originally wrong with the car, PLUS also fix my additional
screw ups and mishandled repairs.
"Most of the FSBO's (for sale by
owners) I see pretty much are in this type of boat."
Most of the FSBO's (for sale by
owners) I see pretty much are in this type of boat. It's bad enough
the present market conditions make it tough for regular real estate
agents to sell their listings; and you want to attempt selling your
home in this market environment? The odds are not stacked in your
favor.
Most FSBO's I've been tracking (yes, I do track the
"fsbos" in my area) all follow a sad and familiar pattern. I want to
scream, "Please!!! Please don't do this! So many others have failed
before you!!! Perhaps that's what I'm probably doing with this post.
In
some cases, the homeowner has consulted with an agent or agents. They
decide NOT to list with anyone, 'cause they want some monetary figure that no
agent can get them. I mean, let's talk the truth here. The 2 biggest reasons sellers think they should try selling on their own is either because they think they won't be able to pay an agency and/or they think it's easier than it seems. without meaning to potentially insult anyone, I'm sure you've heard the expression concerning defendants in a court house setting that "only a fool represents themselves"... With all due respect I submit to you that the same could be said for a lot of "FSBO's".
Honest and ethical agents tell the truth and
do not list "liar" listings, with prices that will never sell. They
walk away if they can't get the property properly priced. In this market (any market, really), you may be giving out "signals" to the buying pool that you're NOT really serious about selling when you are asking an unrealistic amount. It's almost like you're saying; "Go away, until I get serious or until you find a more realistic, sensible buy." All you are doing by overpricing your property is helping to justify your competition's market position. The ones that are in the same price range with you offer more bang for the buck; the ones you should be competing with are getting looked at. That's WHY a lot of overpriced homes don't even get showings. You or your agent could advertise that sucker on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno; no one will buy it.
The 4 "P"'s of marketing, for the real estate world...
A proper price is
only ONE of the 4 p's of marketing; the others are promotion, product,
and place. You can also throw in planning as a 5th p. Let's look at price first. Without a
correct price, everything else collapses. It will be impossible to promote a product, (your property), and expect to be taken seriously when the asking price is too high. As for promotion, well, promotion is NOT
advertising; it's PART of it...Promotion to me simply means getting the word out. RUN AWAY from an agent that promises you tons of newspaper
advertising! Why would I or anyone waste our resources in a dying
medium? The serious buyers are all doing internet searches so they
won't leave one stone unturned! That means if you're not in the MLSPIN
- Realtor.com search engine, you may as well pretty much forget about it. An overpriced listing accomplishes NOTHING. And finally, place. Place is where the potential buyers are going to find your product. Place is the real estate agency the product is being handled by. If your product is not handled correctly, well, that's why you see homes sometimes jumping 2, 3 or even 4 or more comapnies before they finally sell. Sometimes it may have sold for more money if it was handled correctly the first time, like anything else out there.
If
you attempt to sell it on your own, buyers may tend to try to deduct from your proceeds the
very same commission you are trying to save. You have to ask yourself, "do I
want to spend the commission and have a professional do this for me,
with potentially much much less liability involved, or do I want to
eventually see the buyer save that money, while I wind up doing all the
work and walk on potentially dangerous soil? So now you may be thinking; "I'll
list it with one of those 'put it in MLS yourself' agencies'.
What sort of a buyer would not want all the services of an agent?
Is
it an investor? A "looky loo?" or an unqualified buyer that has been
told by 14 mortgage companies and 17 agents that they are NOT qualified
to buy a house! They decide to look and ONLY look for fsbos since you
don't know their situation and you're probably as desperate as they
are; after all, why would you be going fsbo?
Maybe they can even convince you to do a "rent to own" deal, eh?
"Most
serious buyers I've worked with DO NOT WANT to see or meet the
sellers."
Most
serious buyers I've worked with DO NOT WANT to see or meet the
sellers. The whole thought of this is nerve jarring to them. They don't
care about you; the house is a commodity with a little emotion spread
on it. I've actually had buyers instruct me NOT to have the sellers in
the house. When the occasional seller "slipped" by, they'd roll their
eyes and give me THAT look....
Think that if you're there you can do better than an agent? I once saw a buyer at a home inspection purposely disparage and demean both the house they were thinking of buying AND THE SELLER, probably because the seller was an elderly lady who was "afraid" of leaving her home. On almost every issue the home inspector brought up, the buyers kept turning and asking the elderly lady, in a borderline sarcastic way "You, you're going to fix that for us too, aren't you?" Feeling sorry for my client (and doing my duty as a seller's agent in protecting her best interests), I INSISTED the lady and I leave the inspection and go have ice cream (even though I'm lactose intolerant LOL). Two hours later, the inspection was over, the house was fine, and the buyer conveniently "forgot" all the "issues" they were bringing up to the seller before we left.
If you're a real estate agent,
and today there are many homes to pick from, HOW EXCITED WOULD YOU BE
if you placed on deposit a home for your buyer client with someone that
probably doesn't really know what they're doing? How much higher would you say
there is a chance for liability, even with lawyers involved? I think
some, or most real estate agents get scared of FSBO's NOT because of
the work they have to do but because of the potential nightmare they
may be facing. And again, buyers may see you as a "discount"
house and
act accordingly.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen the following scenario repeated over and over...
1. FSBO runs ad in paper and possibly something on the internet. Maybe it's a webpage they do themselves.
2. 2- 3 weeks go by and they start doing open houses. The majority of respondents are real estate agents.
3.
They start offering the buying side of the commission to buyers agents,
not having someone represent their side. (They are their own
negotiators)
4. They pay money to "list" their home, complete
with a cheap looking sign that looks like a nightmare from Home
Shopping Club"..
5. Nothing happens. Then they may just give up and try the same steps again later on or.. if they REALLY DO NEED TO SELL...
6. Urgency sets
in. They finally "break" and list with an agent. The sad thing is if
they listed earlier, they may have gotten more. How much more? Well,
with the declining market spread over the course of a couple of months,
I saw a FSBO lose what I think in my opinion was around $20,000 or even
more. Yup.. That much.
"If I have any advice, at least I'd say
just price it right and don't spend more than $200 in advertising."
If I have any advice, at least I'd say
just price it right and don't spend more than $200 in advertising. The
commission you pay isn't just for advertising; it's a professional fee
for expert services, NEGOTIATION, and advice. Doctors, Attorneys, etc,
all collect professional fees. If you can't sell it for a realistic
price, don't waste your time. The buyer you seek isn't going to come
down from the sky to save you. Even if they did, the banks are sooo
conservative today they'd knock the sale out with their appraisal.
Yes, you will find real estate agents that will take your property and
put it on the market, and pile up on the market time and do mind
numbing open house after open house after open house, but that because
they are what a friend and client of mine calls "people pleasing"
brokers, who have a hard time saying no and try to make you happy; only
problem is, their failure is their unintentional deception and your misery. This is
where you have to interview agents and pick the best qualified. The
best qualified is NOT necessarily the highest bidder for your listing.
If
you owe more than you can sell for, and are having problems, I can try
to help you with both either with a loan modification or a short sale.
You could try to do your own loan modification by checking out hopenow.com.
You don't want to waste week after week after week; those folks are
flooded with work now. Or you could call me and I could take an
application over the phone. I submit it to ShortSalesexpress.com
and they will tell you if they can do anything for you in terms of
lowering your interest rate, your payments, or even in some cases your
loan balance. If you agree and they do this they will charge you. I can tell you it aint cheap but it may be worth it in the long run and it's probably cheaper than refinancing. I am admittedly not a big fan of loan modification because in a lot of cases it merely delays the problem, and doesn't solve the problem. Am I telling you to do this? No, I am
telling you you may want to try it yourself with hopenow for free.
With a short sale, the bank
agrees to release you from the obligation of the loan while they
collect less than the loan amount rather than go through foreclosure.
You won't own the house anymore and have to move out, but worst things
will happen in a foreclosure. Your credit may not be as adversely
affected but this is a case by case assessment. I would say however
that anything is better than a foreclosure. You may even be able to
turn around after a year or so and buy another house, but again, a
credit advisor-mortgage officer would be the one to consult.
Through this blog I hope to provide enough information to help out. If you need to, please do not hesitate to call or email me directly.
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