FSBO

I WANT TO TRY IT MYSELF   truly has been the mantra of the entrepreneur and the American Spirit that has made this country great. However, the current Real Estate market in our area of the country has made tremendous legal changes over the last few years. No longer do we see this as a totally buyer beware state. Recent changes by the State of Oregon regarding real estate contract laws apply to us all.

Let's take a look at some of the reasons you might want to market the Home yourself.

1) You have had or you know someone else who has had a poor experience dealing with an Agent.

2) You don't see the value of the service that an Agent could provide for you.

3) You want to save the cost of the commission.

4) You believe Selling your home by yourself will give you more flexibility.

5) You believe Buyers would rather buy from a FSBO than from an Agent.

6) Your Ego gets in the way.

Let's take a look at these reasons one by one.

1) First and foremost, all Agents are not created equal. Nor are House painters or Carpenters or any other individuals. Interviewing and selecting an Agent to help you sell your home is a difficult task. I would recommend that you ask each and everyone a series of questions like:

A) How long have you been selling homes. Do you tend to work with more buyers or sellers ?

B) What other properties do you currently have on the market. How many properties did you sell last year?

C) What is your percentage of sales vs failures ( expired listings ) .

D) During the term of the listing contract how many properties did you have to lower the price to get a sale?

E) What types of advertising will you use to sell my home.

F) Do you have a personal Web site to market your listings. What does the traffic count for that site look like? 

These are just a few of the questions you should be asking. I'm sure you can think of others as well.

2) Ask the Agent to provide you a comprehensive marketing plan detailing the specifics of how he will     handle your home from start to finish.

3) A little known fact is that most informed sources will agree that Sellers will typically net more money when employing an Agent to represent them in the sale. There are a variety of reasons for this. Often times FSBO buyers tend to be bargain hunters praying on the inexperienced seller and there desire to focus only on the sales price. Given the fact that FSBO sellers only have a limited amount of buyers to draw from, typically those calling on your sign or from your ad the Seller is more likely to panic and make concessions. Where as an experienced Broker like myself understands that the buyer pool from other Realtors is immense as Buyers working with an agent know that there are thousands of homes to choose from via the MLS where you only have but one.

4) Flexibility is a fun one. By not commuting to an Agent you in essence sentence your self to be the Marketing Agent. Like most Agents you can forget about your free time. Weekends are normally prime time for buyers out looking at homes. Buyer's as well are all about themselves. They want the information now, they want to see on their time, they do not want to give out any information at all unless they think it will benefit them. Do you know how to qualify them before they come out ?

5) As mentioned above Buyer's are well aware that they can call an Agent and within moments have thousands of properties to look at. Most Buyers when surveyed in the past have also indicated there desire to work with an Agent as they were familiar with the laws. Who would you want to work on your New Car ? Bob the backyard mechanic or the Dealership where you purchased the car.

6) Don't let your Ego get in the way. There are many things that we can all do well. There are some things that we can all do fairly well. There are many more things that we can't do well at all. Just because I know where my head is, I wouldn't want to perform brain surgery on my self.

How Does Herb find qualified Buyers to market your home to ?

Create exposure through the use of a professional sign and lock box.

Submit your listing to the MLS where thousands of buyers purchase homes yearly.

Submit copies of the listing to our company sales staff for their waiting buyers.

Prepare a List of Benefits and features on a Flyer for the purpose of promoting your property.

Tour your Home with cooperating Agents from the local MLS for greater exposure.

Enter your property on my Web site and and other web sites affiliated with mine across the country.

Place ads on the internet and print publications as necessary for a saturated exposure.

Contact list of current buyers from several of my buyer prospecting sites.

Set up showings to as many qualified buyers in the shortest amount of time until sold.

Update you with advise, Buyer comments, and suggestions to help make your home more marketable.

Assist you in getting the highest possible dollar value for your property with the least amount of problems.

If you choose to list your home with an agent for sale I would be honored to assist you.

" A real estate transaction with Herb is one you will Profit from "