All Forum Posts by: Jacob Bindler

Misspelled on my phone about the story: you are not in a hurry to sell, so you are doing it at your timing and by yourself. 

Marielle, you should be fine to sell it by yourself, but it would help to have a good story (family house, you are in a hurry, looking to pass it to nice people), nice listing description and good pictures (floor plans might help). Hire yourself some help to do all these things (as well as show the place) if needed: you are saving commission money, so you are already ahead. Right pice and pricing strategy is important. You can get several agents giving you their opinion: most of them will do it for free hoping for business. 

Alan, well said and 100% correct. One needs to pay attention not to the actors, but to the tasks to be done. Who would be the best person to draft an agreement? I think an attorney. Coordinate closing? Title Co. Gossip on a phone about seller? Agent. So, if one needs moral support, get yourself an agent. Otherwise, go with pros.

Waste of money. Your attorney, title company and you will not need the agent. 

First of all the background: I am running a service where i am helping FSBO sellers to procure services they need, but do not want to do themselves such as taking pictures and videos, promoting their listing online, print and other advertising. In light of that two questions to you:

1. Would you personally be willing to do showings and/or open houses if your were paid per hour or per showing? What would be the price at which you would consider doing it? 

2. Would you consider giving a seller a credit to count against your commission if i brought you a listing client?  

are you trying to sell or buy?

From what i understand one needs to have a licence to " negotiate " a sale on behalf of an owner. As long as you provide marketing services to the owner and not negotiating (whatever it means) it should be totally fine. I actually have started a service that facilitate exactly that: connecting owners who needs help selling their properties to people who can help them out. The site is being tested and will be improved, but you can check it out.

Matt,

Few points. I actually started a service assisting people people like yourself in finding help to sell properties without agents. I am talking about help in setting the price for the house, understanding cost/benefit of potential renovation, taking pictures, staging, marketing, open houses, documentation, negotiation and so on. I am in very beginning of the process and might not have many vendors in your area, but would be happy to work with you for free ( in terms of my fees) to promote the service. The foundation of the service is that there is a third way in selling. I call it uber for the home sale: there are plenty of people that can help and you do not need to pey them %. 

Other points are:

Saving 6% is huge for your return. Period. If you planning to be an investor this is probably one of the smartest moves you can do: you will not only save money but will learn a bunch of things about the market along the way.

The notion that FSBO people gets lower prices is a myth cultivated by the industry. In fact the independent academic research shows exact opposite: agents will depres your price. I can send you the link.

Blacklisting: baloney. However, you will need to decide if you are willing to pay buying agent commission. If you plan to, you will have to let them know about it and probably have a letter to this effect ready. I have language for such commitment on my site. If you want to try to sell directly to the buyers and capture buyers 3% you should advertise it in your property listings so the buyers call you, not the agent. You probably  would need to be more proactive in promoting your listing on Zillow and in physically world in your area. There are ways and people to do this for you at very reasonable cost.

As I said I would be glad to help. There is very little to lose by trying to sell on your own. I will tell you more: if you work with me,  spend money with my vendors and are not able to sell, I would probably be able to find a listing agent who will reimburse some of your expencess to get your listing. 

James,

Let me try to summatise something here: Would your friend benefit from unbiased expert advice? There is no question he/she would to some degree. Can anybody forecast what this benefit be in $? Probably not. Now, who can give you this advice? Agent or broker operating in the area and with developers would be able to help you some what. Who else? There are probably a bunch of people who are also in a position to help you.  Agents representing developers, other developers, investors or homeowners that bought similar properties. These guys will not negotiable for you, but they can advice you on what to ask and how to ask.

The best thing is that you can probably pay them a fixed fee for their services. I am actually running service that connect home sellers to people that can help them to sell. As right now the site will not be able to help you, but the idea is the same: there are plenty of help out there for everyone. So, the way I would try to find a person to help you is to search linked in and web for people experienced in selling new development on your area, and asked them for an hour or two of their time.

If you are on a binding contact, follow it, if not run an auction, and let's the best man win.