I have often wondered why real estate agents become disgruntled when they see a friend or past client attempting to sell their own home as a “For Sale By Owner” or “FSBO” (pronounced fizz-bo). Before I became a Realtor, I always planned to sell any homes I owned as a FSBO, knowing full well that I would be in the minority. The most recent statistics show that only nine percent of sellers choose the FSBO route. So, how can I possibly hold judgment against anybody who seeks to sell his or her home on their own? For me, it’s the opposite. I have a sense of connection to the FSBO.
As a child, my family and I moved every four years. When I learned that my parent’s real estate agent was collecting 6% of the sale of their house for her services, my eyes bulged out of my head as I exclaimed, “Six Percent?!? That’s too much!” It was at that moment that I have my first memory of wanting to be a real estate agent. Surely, I could do it for less. Surely I could at least learn what it is that real estate agents do so that if I were ever to move, I could save myself the 6% fee.
After being a Realtor for 15 years, here are some insights that I have gathered: Anybody can put a for sale sign in the ground, run some ads, schedule a few showings, and enter a listing in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). These are some of the simple, rote, administrative tasks that real estate agents do in the process of getting homes sold. Are these services worth 6% of the price of your home? No, not at all. In my opinion, these services are worth about 1 to 2%.
How do I justify the remaining 4 to 5%? A joke I once heard is a good analogy. “A woman calls a plumber because her sink is leaking. The plumber hurries over, looks at her pipes, turns one screw which fixes the leak, looks at her and says, ‘It’s all fixed. That will be $150.00.’ The lady retorts, ‘$150? All you did was turn one screw!’ The plumber replies, ‘Correct. You’re not paying me $150 for turning the screw, you’re paying me $150 because I knew which screw to turn and I did it quickly enough so that your entire kitchen didn’t flood.’”
Real estate sales involve so much more than signs, MLS listings, showings, and advertising. A real estate sale is a highly emotional process. It requires a gentle combination of a personal touch to deal with the strong emotional issues surrounded in the process along with a tough negotiator to yield the seller the highest possible price for their home. Prior to even taking a listing, we must meet with the seller, determine their intentions, understand their needs, feel out their time-frame, etc. Once we’ve decided to take the listing, we offer guidance on pricing, staging, timing, showings, understanding the paperwork, contingencies, appraisals, financing issues, home inspection issues, termite problems, radon inspections, marketing strategies, closing cost contributions, settlement problems, earnest money deposits and more.
For many, a FSBO can quickly become a flooded kitchen. If I had to boil my experience down to one thought, it would be this: Hiring an experienced agent to help you sell your home should provide you with peace of mind. In the end that should be priceless.
