If there is one boogey man in the real estate industry it’s the For Sale By Owners, or FSBOS. Many agents, gripe about them. They find it difficult working with them because they assume they don’t value anything a realtor can provide, so they obviously are the bad guy.
When I tell people I work with FSBOS specifically, they look at me like I am crazy, or feel sorry for me. Why would I want to work with someone who doesn’t want to pay any commission? Why would I choose to work with people who think they know how to sell a house better than they can? FSBO’s get worn down with phone calls by agents reaching out to try to get the listing or pretending to have an imaginary buyer. I actually empathize with FSBOS, at one time I tried to sell my own house that way. I immediately experienced the phone calls too and I get why people feel resentment towards them. It’s a lot.
I made my regular expired calls, and then decided I better call a few FSBOS because I just relate to them and they need my help. The first FSBO I called answered and she sounded exhausted. I apologized for all the phone calls she was likely getting, and immediately told her who I was and asked why she was selling. She had just lost her father and she was overwhelmed with getting the house ready and was trying her best. His whole world was wrapped up in this house and a lot of her own future was too. She knew an agent would walk in and tell her how outdated it was and how unrealistic she was being with the price. Yes, this was an unusual house with many acres very close to town- very hard to find accurate comps for. She described trees they planted and special times they shared. I knew this would be an ideal client. I could protect her equity and handle all the details for the fee I charge. I know, the more I help people the more they in turn will let others know there is someone like me who is willing to be of service.
Are agents that charge more than I do bad? NO! They have their own business models and work in their own brokerages, with different types of sellers. For me, I am here to help the people who would likely love to hire a realtor but literally can’t afford to. People who often need me the most and who ultimately end up being someone I truly want to help. They are ladies like the one I spoke to, divorcing couples, parents moving to be closer to aging family and sellers who simply need more equity because the cost to sell and the price to buy is high. No one wants to downgrade. Yes, sometimes they just happen to not like loosing money in commissions either- period, sometimes they are wealthy and happen to be really smart about their own money. They realize the cost of selling should be less with the improvement of technology and other innovations. And they are aware that the real estate industry has gotten it’s hairy paw caught in the cookie jar- steering, colluding, price fixing and RICO sounds more like a thug than a friendly realtor. We need to get back to being trusted, again. It should be earned. It can’t be bought with fancy marketing. It’s ruthless out here, but with reform and options the market can ultimately improve. The goal should be to make selling affordable and heck- possible because when everyone can afford to sell then that inventory problem disappears and we all win.