Short version - Have any of you sold a home yourself in the past, and would you do it again or would you hire a realtor the next go around?

Longer version - We are going to put our home on the market in May for a cross-country move. Homes in our neighborhood have been selling like hotcakes, as in hours or at most days. The one up the street that just sold never even made it to market before they had a contract. I ask myself, why pay a realtor 3% when this house will sell itself? We can hire a photographer to take pictures, make flyers, use FSBO to list on MLS, and negotiate the deal ourselves.

On the other hand, I'm sure that there is a lot that realtors take care of that I'm not appreciating as I sit here and type this. For starters, they can make suggestions that will help us get our asking price, run interference on negotiations, and generally take the most annoying parts of the transaction out of my hands.

FSBO or Realtor? I value everyone's input, but especially those that have been there and done that with FSBO.

I recommend using a realtor. I have tried doing it myself, including paying $500 to have it listed on mls. I know others who have tried to do it themselves also. I don't know anyone who has been successful without a realtor. My daughter tried selling her condo last year on her own. Had no luck, then listed with a realtor and sold it in 48 hrs for 25k more than she was trying to get on her own.

We have sold four homes in the past three years, and used a realtor each time. We have also bought four homes, also using a realtor.

In my experience owner-sellers often don't have a realistic idea of where their home sits in the market, because of their attachment to it and all the labor they put into it which they expect will lead to higher profit.

Setting the price right is a judgment call, and Zillow is not really the right place to get an accurate estimate IMO.

The most recent purchase was the worst: a FSBRO (for sale by realtor-owner).

I'd suggest using a realtor 'if' you access to a good one. There are probably ~10k realtors in Florida, and a huge majority of them aren't worth a damn. I've bought and sold a number of residential properties over the years, and there are a whole lot of potential pitfalls a good realtor can help you avoid.

I’d use a realtor. Just remember, no matter what anybody says, it is not a “buyer’s agent” and a “seller’s agent,” it is a “selling agent” and a “listing agent.” Well, maybe if you hire a realtor to help you buy for an agreed flat fee, but that is rare. If you have an agent on either side of the transaction whose primary loyalty is not to the deal and getting it closed, you are very fortunate.

There is a difference berween selling a house and closing a transaction and avoiding future difficulties. Find a competent, experienced and ethical RE broker and let them do what they do.

The profession gets a bad rap. There are good ones out there and the average person has no idea how much is involved.

LOTS of negotiations involved and minutia, a good agent is a master at closing the deal and navigating through the process.

I’ve read reports that the difference in sales price of agent vs FSBO shows that even after the commission, seller ends up with more cash.

Expect far less exposure (house won’t be on the multiple) and fewer showings (buyers agents will steer buyers to other options).

As another poster said, buyer tends to attach emotions to the deal and see more value than there is.

Kinda like used cars and guns - every seller of one thinks it is worth more than it is...

Any house that sells within hours and wasn't listed (or was), was probably underpriced.

My wife is a realtor and I get to look at a lot of houses for sale. When we sold our last house, if I was the one pricing it, we would have left a lot of money on the table.

The problem is that people don't know what they don't know. As others have mentioned, there are a lot of other aspects to selling a home that a good agent knows but home owners usually don't. Your real job is finding that good agent. Recommendations from friends may or may not be valuable.

If you know a good attorney that handles real estate or a good mortgage broker, that would be a good start. Interview at least two or three. Look at their other listings to see if they do a good job presenting the property well and accurately.

Use a Realtor.

They have access to tools you won't and will be able to advertise this house far and wide.

I've bought two and sold one. Used an "Abstract Company" (not sure if the term is still used). Everything went fine.

But for 3%, maybe I'd let someone else handle it. I thought it was 6% commission, split between the firm and the broker?w

Why not just get a local real estate attorney to help you from start to finish. You would be shocked at how many homes are sold on facebook each day.

Also, who says you need to pay 3%.

If homes are selling fast tell your agent his commission is 2% and only offer out 2% on the buyer side.

I have owned a number of homes, bought and sold. I just sold one of the previous homes this last year. I did my best to sell it privately. This thread details my struggle.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...10006244&f=230601935

We ended up using a realtor, we had a contract in about 15 days.

We just sold a home of which I was a co-trustee. Our realtor charged 6%. We are in an area where the market is pretty slow and in The People's Republic of Illinois which also doesn't help with so many people leaving the state. Also it was the wrong time of the year. By the time the commission was divided between two agents and two separate businesses, it didn't seem like they were overpaid. I was glad to get the house moved. It was a nice house but would have been nicer if it was over in Missouri.

Actually now that a real estate attorney has been mentioned, I have to correct my earlier post. We sold one house to the tenants because they really wanted it, were willing to pay the top dollar that our real estate attorney set based on comps, and we did save the commission. Attorney charged a flat fee of $5,000. But in any other circumstance we’d use a good realtor.

You talk of saving the 3% by going FSBO. Guess what the first thing to pop into a buyers head is when they see FSBO. You can not both save the 3%.
Rod

The only way I would (an have) sold a home as a FSBO is if there is something unique or highly desirable about it where it does not have to be "marketed" and/or negotiation will be at a minimum.

My Dad's house is a prime example of this...older home on a beautiful lakefront lot with VERY limited inventory...basically, his obituary will be all the listing the house will need.

Hire the realtor. Best 3% you'll ever spend and you're probably going to end up making a little extra.

I live in a red hot re market. Listing price is a starting point around here. Typical is for selling realtor to take highest best offers during a 2-3 day open house and selling price on good homes typically 20% over list. You can't do this as fisbo.

My girlfriend is a realtor, and a good one. She'd say never list yourself. That being said I've sold 2 houses FSBO in the past. It's different in some states. But in MA we use real estate attorneys that do a lot of the work a realtor may do. So I had a good attorney handle a lot.

The one tip I've learned from my gf, don't overprice. You are better off pricing under and having bidding wars. If you overprice because you think the market is great you limit prospective buyers. They won't even look at it if it's above what they have in mind. Then when you lower the price they will think something is wrong with it.

I have sold 2 homes myself.

I would not recommend it unless you have the time to deal with showings, cancellations, last minute showing requests, questions from buyers agents, etc.

Additionally, you have to know how to market and sell your home.

In most cases, the potential buyer will be using a buyers agent, so you will be giving up 2%+ anyway. This is not necessarily a bad thing if the agent is prescreening their own clients.

If you are comfortable with all of the above, all that remains is securing an attorney on your end. (will probably run you $1500 for basic work)

Good Luck

Thanks for all of the responses. I'm a bit surprised that there's not more love for FSBO, but it's hard to argue with experience.