One way to show a For Sale By Owner they may not know as much as they think….
If you go it alone, you aren’t necessarily saving 6 or 7 percent of the home’s sales price by not hiring an agent. Most likely at best you’re only saving 2 or 3 percent. When a home is sold, the seller ordinarily pays the 6 or 7 percent commission. Since virtually all qualified/motivated buyers work with an agent you may need to offer a commission to the buyer’s agent. If you want to get traffic to your listing, you need to offer that commission to the buyer’s agent to incentivize them to show your home. Many Buyers also buyers feel uncomfortable negotiating directly with an unrepresented seller. Buyers want guidance from their agent and appreciate their input, experience,,negotiation skills, and feedback. If you don’t offer that buyer’s side commission you risk losing eyeballs and therefore market share. If you lose a chunk of the market, you risk not getting top dollar. Or not selling at all.
Now consider this – if an agent shows your home and you do not offer a commission (or offer less than what is customary in your area) that agent may be unwilling to “sell your home” because they won’t be what they consider fairly compensated, they may have to do more work during the offer and closing process, and they assume legal liability for you after the closing. Also consider that any agent who shows your home is legally bound to negotiate on their client (the buyers) behalf and you can see how in the heat of contract back and forth that you may not save quite as much as you think. In fact in studying over 650 FSBO’s that sold this year it was discovered that at least 450 of them paid a commission to a buyer’s agent.
If you have questions about this or any other aspect of a real estate give me a call or email.