We’re selling our house “By Owner”. We’re happy and think things are going well. Our house looks great, it’s staged well and we’re proud of the work we’ve done. We’re not selling to break even – we’ll make money. But I think as far as hustles go – we have a pretty good one – it’s legit and sound and I’m liking it.
I guess all the realtors are back from the long Memorial Day weekend and folks saw our ad in the paper or got a flyer from our sign – so now the realtors are calling and letting us know that they have buyers interested in our house.
This is great – we’re excited to get some positive referrals! We even listed on our website, newspaper listing and flyers that we’d give 2% commission to a realtor. I think that’s fair – we’re paying for our own marketing and apparently it’s working well. It’s been less than 2 weeks and we’ve had 4 calls, 2 showings, our website is getting hits daily – it’s encouraging to us and it’s a great feeling, especially in a market that is soooo horribly slow.
BUT….what is up with realtors asking for more money prior to showing? I know people have to get their hustle on – they won’t get more money if they don’t ask. But we’re making it more than clear what we’re willing to offer. The other part that just IRKS me is that these buyers found our ad on their own. The realtor didn’t go out of his way to show them a FSBO listing. Why on God’s Green Earth would they expect me to pay them more for a job they didn’t do?
One realtor used a very shady and borderline unethical use of verbage to try to get us to agree to 3%. He said things like he requires a MINIMUM of 3% and how it was unfortunate we were only giving 2%. Well….husband was not too pleased with his poorly constructed diss. He asked the realtor what he could offer us for the extra 1% because obviously the buyer was interested with or without the realtor. The realtor was stumped and said he’d have to call us back. Dang…if you’re gonna hustle – have a good hustle.
So anyway – we talked long and hard and finally decided if an agent brings us a full price offer we will give them 3%. Anything short of that will get 2%. Point blank-period. We’ll see how that goes….
Realtors…prepare to hustle.
5 Comments
July 31, 2008 at 4:09 am
I have been a Realtor for 7 years and I have never successfully negotiated a “one party show” with a FISBO. Whenever I did approach one (because my client who I have already spent a lot of time, gas dollars, ect. happened to see the FISBO sign or ad and insisted I represent them ) I would always try and negotiate 50% of my regular fee (3%).
Part of the reason was because the brokers I have worked for would not allow me to do it for less. See, whenever I bring a buyer to a FISBO, since I am the “real estate professional” I assume 100% of the liability if ANYTHING gets screwed up. If you feel like I ripped you off, even though I did not represent you and I was not at fault, and you drug me and my firm into court, who do you think they are going to believe? There is a HUGE liability placed on me and my firm AND I am taking all this risk at 1/2 my regular rate. Please don’t ask me to discount it even more.
Frankly, I AVOID FISBOS at all costs. It’s way to risky for me as a professional. There are too many ways I can get the shaft. And addressing your comment “Why on God’s Green Earth would they expect me to pay them more for a job they didn’t do?” No, you spent the $15 on your classified ad, I will give you that. The commission these Realtors are negotiating isn’t for what they have already done (bring you a QUALIFIED BUYER, like that isn’t valuable enough) but this is securing the fee for what they WILL do. Let’s see, they will be preparing all the legal documents associated with selling YOUR home, they will be arranging for financing for YOUR buyer, they will be assisting YOUR buyer with obtaining inspections and making sure they don’t FREAK OUT over the smallest things, They will be coordinating the appraisal so YOUR BUYER can get the mortgage, they will be working with the title company to ensure a smooth closing for YOUR home…..do you see my point here?
Believe me, I hold no animosity towards folks that want to sell on their own. I am more than happy to provide guidance, blank sales contracts, referrals for title companies, inspectors, etc. I have provided FISBOS fliers and visual tours…all for FREE. And I am happy to do it, just to have some good “word of mouth” advertising. But please don’t expect a real estate professional to being you a qualified buyer, assume all the legal risk, do 99% of the work in order to get the deal closed AND screw them out of their earned comission too. That just isn’t right.
August 2, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Paul –
Thanks for your comment. I was venting on my blog, and I can see how it might lead you to defend the profession. This is the second home that I have sold – incident free – on my own. There were many agents calling us and several actually agreed to work for 2%. I happily signed a contract to pay an agent who had a very interested buyer – but they could not qualify for a loan. The other agent that called asking for 3% eventually told us he’d get the other 1% from the buyer “no problem” and he came with his clients and looked at the house. Ultimately – they chose another house and I was totally ok with that.
My gripe in the blog was that I had done the ad, the website, the fliers, put the sign in the yard. Buyers were approaching us directly and asking to come do a showing and we showed the home ourselves. Two of them were already working with agents but their agents were either on vacation, or out of the loop for whatever reason…. But then after doing my part I was being approached for more commission money than I was willing to pay. My ad, my flier, my website all said 2%. I couldn’t have been any clearer. Granted…this is less than the industry standard, but it was my prerogative to set a fee – and the agent’s prerogative to take it or refuse it.
So the end result: We sold our home to a very nice couple. They saw our home on the way to meet their agent, took a flyer from our sign, and proceeded to house hunt with their agent. She showed them 4 houses, none of which they liked – all of them priced $30,000+ more than my house. Afterward, they came to my door on their own, walked in and loved the house. At that time I told them I would gladly pay 2% to the agent (whom I had never met) or I would take it off the top of the sales price. ($5,000 total) Either way – I was not going to pocket the money. Ultimately – the buyers made the decision to take the discount and not use their agent. So…I disagree with your closing comment that the agent “does 99% of the work and gets screwed…” In this case – the agent did nothing, but I was STILL willing to include her in the sale if the buyer chose to do so.
As for the appraisals, closings, providing contracts, coordinating their financing, inspections….all of that was done by either myself or the mortgage lender. The buyers got prequalified prior to meeting their agent. The appraisal was scheduled by the bank and came back $24,000 more than the sales price. The bank scheduled the closing at the title company and we scheduled our appointments ourselves. The inspection, scheduled by the buyer, turned up $500 in minor issues that we paid for. We closed in 30 days without a single hitch. I know that this is probably not the norm, and I know most sellers/buyers are scared out of their wits to do any of it on their own. I was totally willing to accommodate those people and their agents. I really did try to be as ethical and honest with agents and buyers alike.
Our honest prayer – yes, we prayed before and after EVERY showing – was that the right person would buy the house. It was not to make a huge windfall of money, shortchange an agent or othewise….it was truly to sell our home and begin our new life and to bless someone else in the process. We succeeded and are very happy.
So that’s the ‘rest of the story’…
May God Bless you! “Miss Striking”
August 3, 2008 at 4:58 pm
We good for you. Like I said, selling FISBO can certaily be done and I applaud anyone who is willing and able to do it. Wow, the house appraised for $24000 OVER your selling price AND you made repairs? You certainly gave them a SMOKING DEAL! I am quite sure your buyers are VERY HAPPY they bought YOUR home! You don’t feel like you left money on the table?
–Lisa (sorry I didn’t sign the original post but I wrote that, not Paul)
August 5, 2008 at 5:58 am
Miss Lisa –
For about 1/2 a second I wondered if we sold too cheap. But really…we wanted to make enough money to pay off our new ranch, our credit card bills and have money left over. We have several friends selling homes at a loss and taking out loans to cover their debts. We felt so blessed to come away with everything we wanted…. I feel great about that. We had a number in mind and we exceeded it. It wasn’t about making a windfall of money…we wanted to sell and move on to the next adventure in our lives.
Without disclosing too much info – at closing we came away with 6 figures. We now own 40 waterfront acres free and clear and have no debts to speak of. We are blessed beyond measure, we feel we have been good stewards of what God has given us. Would an extra $15,000 be nice? Sure…. But at the end of my life I want to be able to say that I lived a life that was pleasing to God. Greed has gotten me nowhere in the past, and I have learned that money is no guarantee of happiness.
Our new land is so beautiful, totally handpicked by God. We have plans to build our dream house in the spring and we have plans to use it for ministry. This home sale brings us one step closer to realizing our dreams!!
Take care Lisa, may God bless you and yours –
Miss Striking
August 6, 2008 at 3:30 pm
That is awesome! And yes, we aren’t “lucky” we are “blessed”. Big difference in my opinion! Best wishes to you and yours!