Realtor or No Realtor?

Question

Lately, I been hearing a lot of people say that they are thinking of listing their home without a real estate agent. I can’t figure out why.

My wife and I are full time real estate. We flip homes, have rentals, and represent clients. We have seen a lot.

So, help me understand why someone who has never bought or sold a home before would think that it’s better to navigate this process on their own than listing it with a real estate agent who eats, breaths and sleeps real estate....?

I mean after all - shouldn’t real estate fees just be a part of the math? If you spent $30k to fix up a $150k home, what’s another $4,500 bucks?

Prove me wrong

Brent Shields · Answer

I listed my house with a realtor one time and they put a sign in my front yard, my next door neighbor called the agent and said they would pay anything for the house. The agent proceeded to do everything they could to mess the deal up and just generally cause me grief. So after that experience I always put a sign up myself for at least a few days just in case I have another house that the neighbor is dying to buy.

Then another time I advertised a house myself for $130k and spent months and months trying to sell it to several different people but I just never could get anyone to close on it. Then I listed it with an agent for $175k who immediately sold it and closed it with no problems. I was never so happy to pay a commission in my life.

So I think there is a time and a market to sell a house yourself, and also a time to hire a realtor.

One more note is that I have had a couple different friends tell me they were trying to sell their house themselves and they had someone interested but they didn't know what to do? So before you start to sell your house, ask yourself if you find a buyer do you know what to do?

Taylor Fontaine · Answer

@Matt Honeyford

Unless the market where you live is known to be slow or you're so busy you don't have the time, I think it's extremely reasonable to try sell yourself.  I did my homework to make sure it was priced appropriately, had all my ducks in a row, and was able to sell my first home myself after one open house.  Saved 12k in doing so.  I listed on Facebook, craigslist, and Zillow for free.

Lee Nestlerode · Answer

not all agents are created equal, I would guess 50% (probably less) actually add value, the rest get a property up on MLS and provide little value otherwise.

On the other hand, find a great agent and they are worth their weight in gold.

Russell Brazil · Answer

Most people need agents, but not all people do. Some people dont need agents, but still want to use them. My client base is largely people who dont actually need an agent, but use me because their time is better spent running their businesses and outsourcing stuff to me.

Many of the people who think they dont need agents, are not self aware enough to realize they do need them. A few like Matthew Paul above are self aware enough and knowledgeable enough to not need them.

When I do business in other states Im not licensed in, I do use an agent though, as I know my limits of market knowledge, customs, how hard to press or layoff are tailored to my market and not ones Im less familiar with. Though when Indo hire other agents, they have similar sales volume numbers to myself.

Mark Fries · Answer

@Matt Honeyford @Matthew Paul

I agree with matthew here...I have bought tons of property without a realtor....its a piece of cake...

I have NOTHING against realtors...but people just do not realize it is not required or actually needed to complete a real estate transaction. I prefer to not play follow the leader and spend 4500 in commissions just because the guy before me did.

Lisa Walker · Answer

Here's the problem- You don't know yet, what you don't know.

Some people are fine and have enough prior experience to FSBO, especially most investors; this is not the norm though with general public. Also, some investors "think" they know how to fill out a contract (I assume either they're new investors or just attended a seminar) but us agents have to laugh & roll our eyes. I think for a brand new investor working without an agent, there might be a few expensive lessons to learn or there might be money left on the table.

Matthew Paul · Answer

@Matt Honeyford  Not to prove you wrong or right . I bought my first house FSBO , at 23 years old  (1984) . Got a contract , got a loan , done in 30 days , no big deal it was easy . Second home , I bought from a guy I knew , no agent , same process , easy . Bought my 3 rd house thru an agent , I still did everything that I did on the first 2 , didnt save me any time .  My last 3 were FSBO all settled in less than two weeks . Piece of cake . A realtor would have brought nothing of use to these deals

Matt M. · Answer

@Matt Honeyford

I absolutely adore my realtor, many transactions since 2002 when I met her.

I am in the process of buying an off market property right now. I made the purchase offer myself, had it signed by the seller, brought it to my settlement company, and I’ll close in 2 weeks. Piece of cake.

In today’s world of Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, etc, I could essentially list my own property for free, and with every one else scouring the internet looking for houses themselves, sell it easily myself. Or atleast try to, before going to my realtor to have her list it on the MLS. And if it sells fsbo, I save that $4500 you speak of.

Matthew Paul · Answer

Right now I am selling a bunch of stuff on craigslist and facebook . If you price things to sell , they move quick . I sold 3 things in 2 hours . And people want to meet me at 9am for more stuff . If you price too high , or its such an oddball thing , it will sit  for a while .  Everybody wants a steal , what I offer is a fair deal .  no home runs , just base hits all day .

Its no different in real estate , price it at top dollar and you chase away a lot of people , price it too low and you get too much to deal with .

And then you get to deal with the ones you offer you 50% in an email .

Bob Woelfel · Answer

I don't think there is any question that it can be done and is done every day.  We've certainly bought and sold both ways as have thousands of people on this site.  I think the reason why you're hearing it more and more now is because of technology and the time we are in.  Most people think you can just throw it on Zillow, put a sign in the yard and get traffic.  Or they think they can just have an open house, put a few signs around the neighborhood and someone is going to miraculously come in with POF and buy it on the spot.  While this does happen, I don't think it's the norm.  Sellers slowly realize that selling themselves maybe isn't the best option or it's just way too time consuming.  I don't think a seller is getting nearly all the exposure they could if they don't have it on the MLS either.  Although, if one were to do it the time is now as most markets are hot or have been hot recently.  People see homes flying off the market in a few days and wonder why they should pay an agent when there is clearly demand.  What it comes down to is that some people are capable of doing it themselves and some definitely are not.  I think what most don't realize is that it's normally not that easy.

Realtor or No Realtor?

Most Popular Reply