FSBO Selling A Home Fast

Q: I’m a FSBO selling a home fast in Colorado. Do you have any tips or suggestions on how to do it quickly and efficiently? I’ve already tried listing it on some popular real estate websites, but I haven’t had much luck. I’m thinking about working with a local real estate agent. Do you think that’s the best option for me? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.

A: Ilyce has written several books that address the issue of selling a home. We’ve also discussed the issue of whether you need an agent to buy or sell a home. For sale by owners (FSBO) have been around for years. But only a fraction of all homes sold are sold by owner. An even smaller subset are sold without any involvement from a real estate agent, who may represent the buyer in a transaction with an unagented seller.

Tough to be a FSBO selling a home fast

Even though there are relatively few homes listed for sale, it’s tough to sell by owner. The question is, why aren’t you getting more interest in your home? Most FSBO sellers fail because of three key reasons:

  1. They don’t offer compensation to a broker that brings the buyer
  2. They do a poor job of marketing
  3. They misprice the property.

FSBOs selling make mistakes with broker compensation

Let’s start with compensation. Did you list your home for sale on some of the major real estate listing sites? Does your listing mention that you are willing to pay a real estate broker’s fee to an agent that brings you a buyer for your home? Without that language, most buyers’ agents will skip your listing. They have no incentive to show your home as they don’t believe you’ll compensate them for bringing you a buyer.

That means you’re relying on the listing alone to generate interest. What about signage? Do you have a for sale sign with information about the property in your front yard?

FSBOs selling make mistakes with listings and marketing

Which brings us to the next point: Have you created the best listing possible? A great listing includes an excellent description of your home along with photos of every part of your home and property. You want prospective buyers to get a good idea of whether they would be interested in buying your home. That’s why most agents use professional property photographers to make the home look its best.

FSBOs make mistakes with pricing their homes

A third mistake FSBO sellers make is overpricing the property. While demand for homes is extremely strong, buyers are well-informed about value. They seem to be less willing to “overpay” for a property when interest rates are around 7 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate loan. They’d rather wait for a different home to be listed for sale.

Without knowing the true value of your home, it’s easy to overprice it. You should bring in three agents to interview and provide a comparative marketing analysis. This will give you a more thorough understanding of the price at which homes are selling. And, listing prices are different from the actual sales price.

Most FSBOs can’t sell homes quickly – so they hire an agent

Agents are well aware that most FSBO sellers aren’t going to get to the finish line alone. Most will give up trying to sell by owner. Then, they typically hire one of the agents they met during the interview process. That’s why agents are usually happy to help sellers understand more about the local market.

If you still want to sell your home on your own, start by reviewing your listing and tweaking it where necessary. Be sure to write that the broker’s agent will get a commission. Make sure you post at least one to two dozen photos and that your home is picture perfect. You want those features to show well in the photos you post. And, if you don’t have a sign in your front yard, get one up pronto. There are plenty of buyers driving through neighborhoods looking for a home to buy. Finally, be sure to price your home competitively for the local marketplace.

Then, give it a few weeks. If you haven’t gotten any offers in 3 to 4 weeks, consider hiring one of the brokers you interviewed. That broker should list your home on the local multiple listing service. The home will also end up listed in other online real estate websites, including the ones you chose.

We hope this leads to a quicker sale. Two things you can’t change: location and the type of home you have. If your home is in an odd location, with unique characteristics for the neighborhood, that can make it much more difficult to sell. At that point, lowering your price or waiting for the right buyer may be how you sell.

Read more about FSBOs and selling a home fast:

Your Home-Selling Questions Answered

Sell Your House Faster With New Paint

Offer To Sell Home Fast

Selling a House

©2023 by Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.