For sale by owner or realtor?

[Phoebe]

I am trying to get our house on the market. You can imagine having a toddler at your feet 24/7 makes it quite difficult. Part of the slowdown is that DH wants to sell our house ourselves. Our neighbors have always sold their themselves and had success. My husband is influenced by this. I would like to save the 6 or 7% commission by selling it without a realtor. However my concerns are being able to show the house. We are going on a spring break trip in a few weeks and more often now I have to go to our new location to do stuff for our new house. Dh's answer for this is to have our neighbor show it. They both have full-time jobs and I don't think we should have to rely on other people. DH wants to try selling ourselves for a short time then turn to our friend who is a realtor and sold our last house for us. Apparently, our area lacks inventory at this time so it is a sellers market. WWYD?

[HouseofWool]

I think it really depends. I say, pay the MLS listing fee, take some great shots, get it out there and have a couple of open houses yourself. If it doesn't sell quickly, and you get frustrated, you can always find a realtor after the fact.

[GrayMatterWife]

Although I am a lawyer, I do not specialize in real estate closings.

I dis not sell my own home because:

I want a professional to handle the showing, staging, negotiations, and so forth. A realtor as a mercenary's eye and focus, which is what I need. Both the homes we've bought have been easy closings but were highly negotiated K terms. I wanted a mercenary as a middleman--especially someone with the skill set needed for these types of deals. Highly personal (it's not just money--people tend to get personal about their home).

2. I wanted someone who is very familiar with closings overseeing it. I did not want anything missed.

The realtor I worked with in St. Louis was truly outstanding. She priced our condo exactly right, and we were happy. It was under K in nine days in a crappy market and closed in 30.

To me, it is worth the price. But others may be more confident/experienced/ skilled.

[SuzySunshine]

I think it really depends. I say, pay the MLS listing fee, take some great shots, get it out there and have a couple of open houses yourself. If it doesn't sell quickly, and you get frustrated, you can always find a realtor after the fact.

This is what I was going to recommend. Try it but you're not stuck to it.

[SoonerTexan]

Only 3% goes to the realtor you hire, so you still may have to pay 3% to the buyers agent.

That being said, my parents used a flat fee real estate company they were happy with. Ask Thirteen if they have been happy with them too

[moonlight]

I wasn't happy with any of my agents. Basically my MIL and I bought and sold our home. I don't want to go through that again and won't use another agent. For us it was a waste of money to pay a agent.

[MrsSz]

It totally depends on your situation. There is SO much that goes into a real estate contract and so much that can be missed and jeopardize a closing. It's seriously crazy and it still boggles my mind. When doing FSBO you do save the 3-4% for a listing agent, but you do still pay the buyers agent, which is typically 3%. Then you are up against and negotiating with a professional whose fiduciary responsibility is to serve their client in the best way possible, which could definitely screw you. It honestly might not be worth the hassle. In Ohio at least, the only person at the showing, for the most part, is the buyer and the buyers agent. So no need to have neighbors show it. Something to note also, at least in our case, you could potentially deduct the cost associated with selling your home from your taxable income. I'm no expert on that but the way we did our taxes we were able to deduct at least a portion of realtor fees.

[Thirteen]

I have loved out flat fee broker - it helps to have the name "realty" behind you, and you aren't paying 6% in total commissions.
Very professional - supra key box on the door, huge sign in the front, container for print copy flyers that we got to design, with the company's contact info on bottom.


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[Pollyanna]

Ask yourself if it's worth it to you to take on the liability you accept when you represent yourself. 3% of $500k is only $15k. If you guys miss something you could end up owing that and more in legal fees. Also realize that many buyers won't even consider a FSBO so you decrease the pool of folks willing to even take a look at your home. And to be honest with your schedule and the fact that you are doing this on your own it seems unreasonable to me to also have you act as your own realtor. You don't need one more thing to manage.

[Meenah]

Ask yourself if it's worth it to you to take on the liability you accept when you represent yourself. 3% of $500k is only $15k. If you guys miss something you could end up owing that and more in legal fees. Also realize that many buyers won't even consider a FSBO so you decrease the pool of folks willing to even take a look at your home. And to be honest with your schedule and the fact that you are doing this on your own it seems unreasonable to me to also have you act as your own realtor. You don't need one more thing to manage.

This!!!