How do you decide whether to sell your home (or land, farm,
ranch, etc.) on your own or use a real estate broker? There are
pluses and minuses to each approach. Let's look at some of the
key ups and downs. Only you can decide which approach has the
most pluses in your situation.
Why go FSBO?
"FSBO" stands for "for sale by owner" and tells buyers you are
not using a realtor to represent you. The biggest upside to
going FSBO is you save thousands of dollars in broker
commissions when you sell the property. This may seem obvious,
but the savings are very real.
The downside to going FSBO is it takes your time to market and
show the property. (You'll need to prepare your property for
sale in either case, but that's a whole separate topic.) You
also need to be familiar with how the real estate sales process
works in your part of the country. It isn't necessary to be an
expert; just make sure you understand what things one must
generally deal with in a real estate sales transaction.
Also, it's important to have access to the helpers you need.
Examples include a lender who is willing to qualify your
prospective buyers, someone qualified and willing to draw the
sales contract and a person or firm qualified to close your
sales transaction. Fortunately, there are many lenders and
settlement offices willing to work directly with the principals
to a transaction. And, for the brave and hopefully, very
experienced, there are online, fill in the blank, sales
contracts.
Why use a broker?
Does the above discussion leave you feeling insecure instead of
alert, thoughtful, and excited? If so, you probably want a real
estate broker to sell your home for you.
Other instances when you may want to use a broker include:
1. Inexperience - If you have not had much experience buying and
selling homes, a broker may be the answer.
2. Local Conditions - Are you aware of the unique issues of the
geographic location? If you have bought and sold in Virginia
(where termites and radon are concerns) and you are now planning
to sell the one home you've owned in Colorado (where water and
mineral rights might be on the discussion table), it's possible
you may want a broker.
3. Time, Time, Time - If your profession provides for you and
your family very well, but takes up enormous amounts of your
time, ditto.
4. If you have no notions about how you'd go about marketing
your home using the Internet, magazines, newspapers, bulletin
boards, brochures, signs, word-of-mouth, etc., a broker can get
you the marketing exposure you need.
The Right Choice?
There is no one right choice. Only you can decide what's best
for you. Hopefully, this look at the pros and cons will get your
mental juices flowing nicely. I hope your sale goes smoothly.
More Information:Visit
http://www.fsboamerica.org/ for more details.
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