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For Sale By Owner  The increasing use of computers and technology and the "do-it-yourself" mindset of today's home sellers have contributed to the growth of homeowners who decide to sell their homes themselves as For Sale By Owners, or FSBOs. Estimates of FSBOs range from 15-30% and it is expected that their will be continued growth in the future. Web sites such as www.Owners.com make it easy for home sellers to get the word out to a large audience of potential home buyers.
Buyer's Choice Realty provides free advertising to FSBOs as a way to broaden the inventory for home buyers.There has also been growth in entrepreneurial real estate services to assist FSBO sellers. Many resources are developing nationally to accommodate those sellers who chose to market their property on their own. Another site that links to FSBO Resources is www.FisboTips.com.Discount Brokers attract FSBOs Discount brokers are the middle ground between a full-service listing agreement with a traditional real estate agency and a strictly FSBO effort. These entrepreneurs have taken the full package of services traditionally available to home sellers and "unbundled" the services into flat fee, reduced commissions and/or a menu of options for home sellers. Sellers are usually given the option of placing their home into the MLS for ad additional fee or letting the discount listing firm sell it on their own at no additional fee. Flat fees or reduced commissions of 1-3% are common and some discount brokers keep the door open to a full-listing service through a menu of options. A discount or flat fee broker may have separate fees for a yard sign, advertising, Open Houses, mortgage financing assistance for buyers, MLS placement, negotiation assistance, and closing paperwork. Massachusetts has attracted some discount brokers such as List For Less, Inc., Assist2Sell, TalusMLS as well as individual agents who are now marketing unbundled services. Traditional real estate agents may not be eager or willing to help buyers identify and purchase FSBO homes because they do not have the structure in place in their offices to handle such transactions. Buyer's agents, on the other hand, are eager to work with FSBO sellers and usually have a tracking or monitoring system in place to specifically identify FSBOs to increase their "inventory" of homes to show buyers. If you want an agent to show you all of the available properties out there, you are best served by hiring a Buyer's Agent to show you more than the active MLS properties. |
