Why For Sale By Owners have an advantage selling in today's market
In today's price driven market, there are two things for sale by owners can do to increase the sales price and get sold faster.
The first thing is to get listed in the MLS as a flat fee MLS listing. In this type of listing, the by owner offers a commission only to the buyer's agent thus saving 3% from being listed with a full-service Realtor. And, by owner MLS sellers can also sell without a Realtor and pay no commission.
By getting listed in the MLS, a for sale by owner increases their exposure to the pool of potential buyers by 10 fold. This in itself should allow the by owner to increase their ask price by a few thousand dollars because the pool of available buyers increases.
The next thing a for sale by owner can do is to list their home exactly where an offer would be accepted instead of leaving ‘room to negotiate’. This approach competitively prices the home and attracts the buyers and Realtors compete to buy your home. If priced right, Realtors will drag their buyers to see your home because it may be the best deal in your neighborhood. Of course, the Realtor wants a sale and a sale that will not get hung up on appraisal issues. Don't be concerned about receiving low ball offer because you can always counter at full-price and let that buyer decide what they want to do. It is not your responsibility to counter lower than list price. It is far better to receive an offer and have a buyer and their spouse wanting your home than it is to have no showings and no offers! Hence our URL is appropriately named GetMoreOffers.com.
For sale by owners have a competitive advantage because they can list flat fee in the MLS for (Program not currently available) and pay just the buyer's agent. This saving can be passed onto the buyer. And, they can sell 100% ‘by owner’ and get professional marketing on sites such as MSN, AOL, yahoo, and Realtor.com.
And by the way, don't be fooled into paying a for sale by owner website $3000 to list your home. This is highway robbery. In America, a listing on a by owner website is worth at best $300. One that charges $3000-$5,000 is synonymous with paying a commission upfront before the sale. This entire fee structure and what they offer by owners is absurd. Their high pressure sales tactics of having a representative come to your home is proof that this approach is a huge high pressure sales gimmick. There is absolutely no reason for a sales representative to visit your home because they are not qualified to give you an opinion of value because they are not licensed. At best, these sales representatives are akin to carpetbaggers. The only reason they want to visit your home is to get your credit card on the spot and charge you $5,000. Paying this fee upfront is the biggest mistake in real estate today.
In comparison, a $200,000 home can listed by owner in the MLS for (Program not currently available) and offer just buyer's agents a commission, as well, be listed on 100's of website including AOL, MSN, Realtor.com, Yahoo, Homes.com, GetMoreOffers.com, bargain network and more…All for (Program not currently available), not $5,000! These websites are 1000x more powerful and effective than any for sale by owner website!
And, if you sell through a Realtor, the 3% commission would cost $200,000 x 3% or $6,000 at closing, not paid upfront.
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