Homes For Sale By Owner: FSBO & Buying Brokers
You’re selling your house as a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) and get annoyed when realtors call you, right? That’s a reasonable answer when you’re doing all the legwork to market your property to save thousands of dollars in broker commissions. However, when he calls a “buying agent,” he may want to listen.
why listen
To understand why I say that, we need to understand the roles of “listing brokers” and “buying brokers.” Real estate brokers can and do do both, although some specialize.
Some brokers who call you are interested in listing your home. They want to market your house for you. The amount of commission charged for this service varies, but where I live, most brokers list houses for a commission of 6 percent of the sales price. When the home sells, if another brokerage firm has brought the buyer to the deal, the publicly traded broker pays the selling broker half or 3 percent.
When you’re successfully operating as a FSBO, you’re getting people to come and look at your house, or condo, or whatever, and you don’t need a listing agent. However, what if you’ve been doing this for a while and none of your viewers have become buyers? So what?
Well, if a realtor calls you and says they’re working with buyers and they’d like to show your home, maybe you should consider it. They probably only expect about half the typical listing fee. That still saves you a lot of money. Maybe you can even trade a bit from the middle. This is especially true if your home is priced right above the median home price in your area. In my area, where 3 percent for a selling broker is often acceptable, I’ve seen brokers accept 2.5 or even 2 percent. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
As a bonus in that situation, you get someone who knows the process with an interest in reaching a deal. True, they do not represent you. They represent the buyer, but the buyer wants his house and the broker wants a payday. In short, the buying broker has an incentive to paddle when problems arise.
Do not misunderstand. I am not for one second suggesting that you pay more than is necessary to sell your home. At first, write down the names and phone numbers of the “buyer intermediaries” who call you. Then, if you think you need it, call back those who impressed you.
There is a middle ground between going it alone and trading with a broker. If you feel you need it, it may be worth exploring this middle ground through buying brokers.