Julington Creek FSBO Information 32259

Denise Bash, Realtor Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty

How are For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Homes Doing in this Challenging Market?

     In today's highly competitive real estate market, the home owner who is considering going it alone in order to forego paying a real estate brokerage fee should understand the implications. Having a realistic perspective is important so the FSBO will go into this with their eyes open and prepared for what lies ahead. Here is a preview of what you will experience as a FSBO.

     If your prime motivation for being a FSBO is to save paying a commission fee, you need to understand the facts. Should you obtain an interested home buyer, you can bet that they will make a “low ball” offer for your home. At the very least, the buyer will expect to split the real estate commission savings with you. For example, if you are selling your home for $200,000 and the average commission rate in your area is 6%, then the buyer will expect to split the $12,000 savings. This means you forfeit $6,000 right off the bat. If you balk at the buyer’s request to split the commission, you run the risk of losing the buyer.

    Did you know that most FSBOs who manage to sell their home actually sell to buyers using a real estate agent? This means paying a commission at closing to the buyer’s agent/broker. The buyer agent’s commission will normally be half of the full commission rate. Using our previous example of 6%, this means you’ll pay 3% (or $6,000) from the proceeds of the sale. Now that you’ve split the commission savings and paid the buyer’s real estate agent’s commission, you will need to then begin subtracting from your proceeds the various costs you incurred in selling your home. These costs include advertising expenses, printing costs, and marketing expenses you’ve racked up while selling your house. You will also have to pay attorney fees for preparing and reviewing your sales contract and required closing documents. Your legal expenses can easily exceed $1,000.

   However this is not the end of your financial situation as a FSBO. Historically, you are not likely to obtain as favorable a price as you can when using a professional real estate representative working on your behalf. Without the Multiple Listing Service and a full time real estate brokerage working aggressively for you, you will almost assuredly receive a low ball price offer (if you receive an offer at all). Depending on the strength of the housing market in your community, you are probably going to receive an offer that is (on the average) about 7% lower when you sell as a FSBO.   On a $200,000 home this means you automatically sacrifice $14,000! Unless you are that rare FSBO who has eager buyers lined up, you will have to make the best of any low ball offers you receive.

   To recap, these are the major challenges most FSBOs will encounter:    1) Splitting commission fee savings with buyers, 2) Paying for your own advertising, printing, and marketing costs, 3) Paying attorney fees for document preparation, and 4) Receiving low ball price offers. When you combine these FSBO challenges, the reality is that you are probably going to walk away from your transaction’s closing with less money than you might have by using the services of a professional real estate agent.

     Money is not the only thing you stand to lose. Selling marketing and selling a home is time consuming and frustrating. Nearly all FSBOs invest many long, emotionally taxing hours trying to find a qualified buyer and then holding the deal together until it successfully closes. No wonder recent data indicates that nearly 80% of all FSBOs eventually list their homes with a real estate professional after unsuccessfully trying to sell their homes on their own. Ironically, many disenchanted FSBOs wind up being the biggest advocates for using a skilled real estate agent. In attempting to sell their home, they soon discover how difficult and time consuming the home selling process really is. Rest assured most real estate agents earn every penny of their commission. Selling a home is hard work!

Julington Creek Plantation, Julington Creek, JPC, Homes Sale, Julington Creek Home Prices, Jacksonville FL 32259, Denise Bash, JCP, NW St Johns County, Riveroaks Plantation

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