All Forum Posts by: Chris Jensen

@Account Closed that's a great way to make good money. I've not opted for that, given that most of our rehab projects are in neighborhoods I'm not targeting for buy-and-holds. BUT I'm definitely keeping that in mind as a viable alternative exit strategy if and when we do a home in the neighborhood I'm interested in. Keep having fun.

More importantly... you've been to Bettendorf?!  And apparently had dinner at Steventons at the top of the hill?!  What a small world.

@Account Closed that does sound like a frustrating situation. Who knows why some people do the things they do. Hope your property sells quickly!

@Jonathan Minerick, thanks for additional clarity on the awkward position FSBOs put buyer agents in. I wasn't aware of that aspect of the FSBO path. More and more, I'm understanding why buyer agents may not want to get involved with FSBO properties. And it looks like there's a lack of accurate, reliable data that would help gauge success rate (at least financially) of opting for FSBO over listing on MLS. Everything seems to point to the MLS providing a structured market place for buyers and sellers to connect and engage in business. FSBO world almost sounds like the wild west. Very interesting. Sure appreciate the perspectives.

@Charlie MacPherson and @Steve B. great comments. Agents generally don't go seeking FSBOs out because they have a valid reluctance to do so (for a variety of reasons). Makes sense. Thanks.

@Patrick Hermans, good to hear some favorable points about going FSBO. Most of the comments I've heard thus far are anti-FSBO.

Ok time for a reality check. I'm busy. You're busy. We're all busy! And we're all on BP. Some are learning from others, some are sharing their knowledge with others. But all of you are spending time here.  And some of you are spending an extraordinary amount of time here.

So my big question for you is this: how do you possibly have time to be so active on BP?! I'm genuinely curious to hear how much time per day or week do you spend on BP, and how do you fit that in with everything else you have going on. Thanks!

In another post, I explored how people felt about buying FSBO properties and whether FSBO properties were shunned. Several comments in that thread dealt with cons of FSBO and pros of realtor/MLS. So I thought I'd create a new thread just to explore pros/cons of hiring an agent and listing through the MLS vs. going lone wolf and listing FSBO.

Many people choose FSBO, so I know there are at least some perceived benefits of that path. Conversely, many more people choose the realtor/MLS path, so there are a lot of perceived benefits of that route.

Based on your experience with either path, I'd appreciate your comments and perspectives. Clearly agents and realtors will have plenty to say about the pros of the realtor/MLS path. I'm particularly interested in buyers and sellers who have gone either, or both, paths. Thanks all!

I appreciate all the comments and perspectives.

Several folks spoke to the pros and cons of going the FSBO path, which deserves a separate thread.

Many talked about pros and cons of dealing with a FSBO seller, or being a FSBO seller themselves, which is what I'm very interested in.

Sounds like the general answer to my question is, yes FSBO properties are often shunned for a variety of reasons. Over-priced listings, sellers that are unrealistic, uncooperative, hard to reach, emotionally attached, an environment that is unstructured or chaotic, etc.

Of course there are plenty of problems with the realtor/MLS path, too. Maybe that also deserves its own thread.

@Ashley Wise thanks for the link to the articles. And good arguments for using a listing agent, especially the comparison to book publishing. We use a realtor almost exclusively, in a return for a discount to her fee. I imagine people have many different reasons for going fsbo, as we did with one of our projects. But you definitely need to know what you're doing and why!

@Brian Pulaski yours and Ashley's comments get at the heart of my question. It would be nice if all listings (via MLS or fsbo) received a fair shake with agents, but true that not all listings are created equal and no doubt implicit bias comes into play for all parties.

@Russell Brazil, very good points.  If the fsbo seller were truly serious about selling their property they would be more cooperative.  No doubt you encounter some of these issues even with listed properties, but maybe just not as frequently?

I'm curious about the comment that properties won't appraise because there's no listing agent involved. Can you expound on this?