Athens GA Properties, Athens Georgia Homes, and Athens Real Estate

Do For Sale By Owner’s have the deck stacked against them? I have tried to educate and help people understand that no matter if they liked it or not, the reality was that Realtors are the “Gate Keepers” for buyers. While I applaud the For Sale By Owner who is under no pressure to sell, but many FSBO’s are not in this situation.

Statistically, based on a 2007 Study called a “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers” by the NAR they found the following;

Method of Home Purchase, By Use of Internet:

Agent/Broker – 81%

Direct from Builder – 10%

Direct from previous owner whom buyer didn’t know – 5%

Furthermore, buyers who repeatedly use a Realtor wanted help in the following areas;

What Repeat Buyers Want Most From Real Estate Professionals

Help you find the right house to purchase – 53%

Help with price negotiations – 13%

Tell you what comparable homes are selling for – 11%

Help determining how much buyer can afford – 11%

This clearly shows that Buyers often seek out a Realtor Consultant to help with the buying process.

As far as Information Sources Used in Home Search by a Buyer;

Real estate agent – 84%

Internet -84%

Yard sign – 59%

Open house – 48%

Home book/magazine – 31%

Builders – 24%

What were FSBO’s favored marketing tools of choice? Those polled used the Yard Sign first and foremost in the marketing of their home, followed by Word of Mouth by friends and neighbors, and next the Newspaper Ad. Notice regarding Buyer sources that there was no reference to Newspaper Ad and the only printed material (home books) was only 31%. The two most telling stumbling blocks for the FSBO it seems is the lack of Open Houses and use of the internet. FSBO’s incorporate an Open House as a marketing tool roughly 25% of the time as compared to Buyers who used Open Houses as a Source used in their purchase 48% of the time. How about use of the internet? This will blow you away! While according to NAR Buyers used the internet as a source 84% of the time, the average FSBO use of the internet as a marketing tool was roughly 1 in 5!

Now in my humble opinion, the NAR and Realtors as a whole have not communicated to FSBO’s very well over the years one important point. “We don’t want to List your property, we want to Sell your property.” While every FSBO I speak with says almost without exception that they would value and pay a Realtor to bring a buyer to their door, they forget that their are two things that move a house. The first I have mentioned in a previous post. The second is “Exposure.” This means that without having the house listed in the local MLS as well as other MLS systems around the state that are available to Real Estate Professionals the odds of bringing in a buyer are drastically reduced. Why do I make such a definitive statement? Because without the ability to List the property we cannot market and promote it. This removes at the top of the list “Real Estate Agents 84%,” and “Internet 84%.”

Okay, you say, “let’s not worry about the Realtors, I will just put my home on a link on the net.” What kind of exposure are you going to have beyond what a flier in a tube at your yard sign might provide just because you have a link on your sight? Unless you get that URL out into search engines your attempt at traffic is limited.

To sum up, is it impossible to sell your home yourself? No its not. Do I see FSBO’s that have been sitting for the past 18 months with a worn FSBO sign in the ground? Yes I do. If you are a FSBO and need help as you are getting close to a point where you need to sell remember that if you would pay a Realtor 3% to bring in a buyer, why not pay them 5% to sell it for you understanding that the cost for marketing that is beyond what you might be willing as a FSBO to pay out of your own pocket to get the house sold is on the shoulders of that Realtor.

As noted in this post, “Exposure” is one of the two most important reasons a house does not sell. If you want to know reason number one just email me and I will contact you with the answer!