FSBO: For-Sale-by-Owners in a Buyer’s Market
Posted by 
Al Filippone Associates on Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Consider this scenario: You have decided that now is a great time to sell your home. While you have considered hiring a real estate professional to handle this transaction, you feel that you can figure it out on your own. So you purchase a “for sale” sign, stick it in your front yard and wait for the call to come flooding in. Days, weeks, months pass with few inquiries and you begin to wonder why. When you finally get an appointment for a showing you realize the buyers are not serious or unqualified to purchase your home.
The time, energy and skill involved in selling your own home are oftentimes underestimated by for-sale-by-owners. While many homeowners have successfully sold their homes on their own, the current buyer’s market conditions and resulting competition can make this undertaking more difficult. Once you have considered all the steps involved in selling your home and decided you are prepared to handle this important transaction on your own, consider these ideas which could help you to reach the closing table faster:
1. Ask to list your home on a real estate agent’s website. Al Filippone Associates’ offers free community classifieds for residents of Darien. This will help broaden the exposure while allowing realtors to learn more about the home which they can then show to potential clients.
2. Ask a realtor to host a Sunday open house. While initially this may sound strange, it is actually a win-win situation for both the FSBO and the agent. You will gain more exposure to buyers in the area and make buyers feel more comfortable about viewing the home. In addition, the agent may ask for feedback from these buyers, providing valuable information on the perceived value of the home. The agent, in turn, meets prospective buyers with whom he/she may decide to work with in the future.
3. Don’t be afraid to invite a local realtor over to view your home or to simply ask for some advice on current market conditions in your neighborhood. If you establish an open dialogue between yourself and the realtors in your area, they will remember your home as a potential option when taking buyers out to view homes for sale.
