The Pitfalls of For Sale by Owner (FSBO)

Especially in the spring real estate market, selling your home as For Sale By Owner (FSBO) might feel like a no-brainer. Post to Zillow, easily receive an offer, and avoid a REALTOR® commission. What could go wrong?

Actually, quite a few things could go wrong, which is why we recommend starting with a qualified Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Michigan Real Estate REALTOR®. If your home is currently listed FSBO, you might recognize some of the problems below, or if you are thinking about FSBO, here’s the top things to be look out for.

Pricing Your Home Correct for the Market

As a homeowner, you know what you paid for your home, and you might have a small idea, thanks to Instant Home Value tools like Zestimate, of what it could be worth. But all instant home value tools are using historical data, which means you could be getting outdated info. Only a REALTOR® has real-time, live market knowledge to accurately price your home. You could risk over-pricing your home and missing well-qualified buyers, or even worse, you could risk underpricing your home and leave valuable money on the table.

Advertising Your Home

Sure, you can publish your home For Sale By Owner on Zillow. But on average, prospective homebuyers are looking at over 15 sources when house hunting. If you put all of your eggs in one basket, you are hoping buyers will see your home and like it enough to take a gamble. A professional REALTOR® will put together a robust marketing plan for your home, including syndication to the top 40-50 real estate websites in the country, a large network of REALTOR® colleagues (who all have buyers), and will showcase the features of your home that are most likely to get you a favorable result.

Open Houses, Showings and Offers

It is not uncommon in this market for a new home for sale to get outrageous traffic in the first day it is listed. That may sound like a great thing – more eyes = more offers, right? But remember, as a FSBO, you are responsible for scheduling the showings, coordinating with multiple buyer’s agents, accepting and evaluating offers with complicated clauses and addendums. All while likely still trying to work your normal schedule, coordinate family life, or relax in your home. A REALTOR® takes all of those struggles away from a homeowner, making your selling process so much easier and more streamlined.

Negotiations

We hear at least once a week a story about the listing that “got 50 offers in the first 24 hours” – and as a FSBO, all of those offers are coming directly to you. What’s the difference between Offer A and Offer B, both at full price, both with closing costs covered by the seller, both with inspection waived? A REALTOR® will help you evaluate each offer with your end goal in mind, whether that is the offer with the most money at the end of the day, the offer that gets you into your new home the quickest, or whatever your home selling goals may be. And what if you only get a few offers, and they aren’t what you had hoped? A skilled negotiator can help you counter those offers without skipping a beat.

Have we convinced you of the pitfalls you can avoid by using a trusted REALTOR®? Search for a Michigan Real Estate agent here and get started with the process today.