FSBO Mentality

"What Have I Got to Lose?"*

It could just be my imagination, but it sure seems like there's an uptick in FSBO ("For Sale by Owner") activity recently.

At least through my Realtor eyes, it seems like that happens at market extremes.

When the market is overheated and everything seems to be selling in a day, more would-be Sellers figure that there's nothing to it, and throw their hat in the ring (so to speak).

When the market is slow (like now), and even properties that are professionally represented can take a long time to sell, the same people figure, "What the Hell, what have I got to lose?"

*The answer to "what have I got to lose?"

About 15%.

That's how much less the average FSBO home sells for compared to a home listed with a Realtor.

Catching Mistakes -- Or Not

Nice Save by Edina's Front Desk

The difference between good and not-so-good Realtors isn't just the Realtor -- it's often the quality of the support staff around them. Assuming the Realtor has support staff.

I was reminded of that when Edina Realty's front desk caught a mistake I made on a "tour request" form I turned in yesterday -- the first mistake I've ever made :)

On the line that asked for the three digit MLS area, I inadvertently transposed a number. So, instead of appearing in the Bloomington section of the Broker tour printout where it belonged, my new listing would have shown up in South Minneapolis.

Then, instead of having 17 Realtors at my broker open today . . . I would have had none (and my client's townhome would have had no exposure).

Fortunately, Mary, one of my office's two listing coordinators, noticed the mistake, corrected it, and left me a voicemail letting me know that it had been taken care of. Nice.

Team Effort vs. FSBO

Contrast that with what can happen when no one's looking over your shoulder.

As I discussed in Classic FSBO Mistakes, I previewed a home where "Foreclosure" had been checked on the MLS information sheet.

When I asked the (for-sale-by) owner how long the home had been in foreclosure, she got upset, and was adamant that, in fact, the home was completely paid off.

So I handed her the MLS report.

Oops.

The home had been on the market three weeks at that point, and my guess is that it hadn't attracted a single showing because the list price made no sense for a foreclosure.

That one mistake alone probably cost the owner 5%, or in her case $20k.

P.S.: the grainy photos, poorly written ad copy, and missing disclosures probably added up to another 5%.