Sell Your Home, Condo or Real Estate
For Sale By Owner, or FSBO, is the process of selling real estate without the representation of a real estate broker or real estate agent. Homeowners may employ the services of marketing or online listing companies or market their own property but do not pay a commission and represent themselves with the help of a lawyer or Solicitor (mostly in Commonwealth) throughout the sale.
Options Including Multiple Listing Service Access
There are many options open to the FSBO seller. Many companies both online and brick and mortar offer various levels of services and price points. These include:
- Do it all yourself and pay no commission. For the solo job, thanks to the internet the creative seller can obtain all kinds of help. Some trusted sources provide step-by-step instructions to set a price, get the house ready for sale, hold an open house, open escrow and even transfer the keys.[1] You can put up a free website with one of the simple and free website companies. Get a professional looking sign with a mailbox attached to it. Make your own Flyers. List on For Sale By Owner websites. And, when you bring in a buyer who is not working with an agent, you pay no commission. The two parties can obtain contractual assistance from their own lawyers or hire one lawyer to facilitate the entire transaction.
- Get a Little Help and Pay a Little Commission. There are several flat fee listing services that for a nominal fee will put your property on the Multiple Listing Service so your property is marketed to all the real estate agents in the area and is listed on the nationwide MLS [2] Realtor.com. In exchange for this valuable market share, the FSBO Seller must agree to pay a commission to the agent that brings a buyer. The end result is that you end up paying about half of what you would have paid with a regular listing. The agent who brings in the buyer will also prepare the vast majority of the paperwork for the sale. Since the agent is representing the buyer, not you, you may want to hire an attorney to review the transaction and to make sure all required Seller disclosures are made.
- Flat-fee and hourly home selling. Alternatively, a home seller can either pay a flat-fee or hourly fee to a real estate agent. This can be a one time payment, or an ongoing hourly home selling agreement. These allow the FSBO seller to avoid commissions and still receive a-la-carte real estate agent help.
Legal Disclosures and Documents
The home sale transaction used to be simple. Now it involves a huge stack of documents and legal requirements which can make selling FSBO a challenge. For this reason, the FSBO Seller is wise to hire an attorney who specializes in FSBO transactions. While they will incur a fee for this, it will be far less than the amount saved by not paying a real estate commission. In most states, there are detailed legal requirements pertaining to sellers and disclosures they must make. In California alone, a number of disclosure forms are required to be completed when the seller is offering a home for sale to the public.[3][4] These forms that are within the bailiwick of the real estate agent is nearly impossible for a seller to come by. Real estate lawyers have all of the required forms, documents and expertise necessary.
FSBO Statistics
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the median age for FSBO sellers is 54 years. Seventy-seven percent of FSBO sales were by married couples that have a median income of $104,100. FSBO homes sold more quickly than agent-assisted homes; 67% in less than two weeks — often because the homes were transacted with someone the seller knew. Of sellers who personally knew the buyer, 71% were satisfied with the process of selling their home.[5]
USA
The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.), America, and sometimes the States, is a federal republic[17][18] consisting of 50 statesand a federal district. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is located in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also has five populated and nine unpopulated territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean. At 3.80 million square miles (9.85 million km2)[4] and with around 318 million people, the United States is the world’s fourth-largest country by total area and third-largest by population. It is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.[19]The geography and climate of the United States is also extremely diverse, and it is home to a wide variety of wildlife.[20]
The United States is a developed country and has the world’s largest national economy.[6] The economy is fueled by an abundance of natural resources and high worker productivity.[29] While the U.S. economy is considered post-industrial, it continues to be one of the world’s largest manufacturers.[30] The country accounts for 37% of global military spending,[31] being the world’s foremost economic and military power, a prominent political and cultural force, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations.[32]