What can a Realtor do that I can't do for myself???

Question

Tell me, because I really want to know. As far as I can see, all the sellers agent really does is find a buyer. Everything else is taken care of by the Title, Insurance and Escrow company.

At a few hundred bucks or so, I can get my listing on the MLS, AND hire a real estate attorney to make sure I do everything all legal-like. Sure beats paying a realtors sky high commission for sitting back and waiting for a buyers agent to come-a-calling!

With the internet available, a real estate agent is redundant. - even for the buyers. A buyer can search the listings on all sorts of websites and completely eliminate the real estate agent. Thus eliminating the need for thier 3% or more cut.

I am going to For Sale By Owner route. I have set a price according to the CMA's I recieved by the competing agents who are wanting to list my house, so how can I lose if I get my asking price or maybe a little under?

Am I wrong? If so, please enlighten me.

If my property is listed on the MLS I would legally have to pay a buyers agent. Therefore, I still would be getting all that traffic, I would just have to pay 3% instead of the usual 6%. Either way, I don't need an agent.

Darin,
In response to your points -
1) My time is worth saving the 3-6%.
2) Give me a free loan? For what? The buyers agents are the ones who usually "sell" the house after they pull it off the MLS.
3) Unless they are a dummy, why would anyone go all the way through to closing with out a pre-qualification letter?

Try again. Thanks!

Oh yeah, Darin. How does the realtor know they aren't trying to cheat or burglarize me???

Answer 1

In reality only a few things:
1. Save you time - You will have to answer calls, schedule showings(not all can be made around your schedule), communicate with all the parties(Title company attorney, Escrow company, inspectors,etc.), arrange for all theses services, advertise, and then check on all these things to make sure no one has missed something.

2. Give you a free loan - Essentially what an agent is doing when they front the money to advertise your property. They only get it back if the sell the house. If you do it yourself, your out that money upfront, if you sell it or not.

3. Qualify Buyers - If someone calls to see your house, how do you know they could even afford it? Would be terrible to go all the way to closing only to see the deal fall through due to the buyer not being approved for the loan. Worse yet, how do you not know if they are looking to cheat or burglarize you?

It is possible to sell your home yourself, but if you have family and work responsibilities, many people find they bite off more then they can chew.

Reply:
As I said, some people can handle it, as far as money, yes the agent will get it back if it sells but it still costs them money for open houses, newspaper ads, etc, which going FSBO you will have to front, not an agent. A few hundred dollars may be OK for you, but some can't afford to put that into advertising upfront. An agent spends an average of 3-5 hours with a client before ever taking the time to show a house. Your right there are no grantees but most looking to burglarize or cheat you wouldn't go through all that. As I said if you can handle all that more power to you. Not everyone can. I never said you were wrong, I just offering the main reasons people who try to sell their own property later turn to an agent. I often offer free pamphlets and checklists to those who sell themselves. I hope you get a great price and have no problems

Answer 2

I agree with you whole heartily, especially since you have good knowledge of what the value of your house is. Just hire a lawyer to look things over, like you said.

As far as getting a higher price using a realtor, I'm not sure I buy it. If you have a Realtor represent you, they have a very strong incentive to make a deal-any deal- because they don't get paid if it doesn't sell. Econ 101 tells us that people's behavior is determined by their incentives. If I'm your Realtor (i'm not a realtor, just for arguments sake), I'd try my best to convince you to take an offer, even if it was low.

According to a study by the author of Freakonomics, Realtors market their own homes longer and net more money than what they get for their clients. The study was performed in Chicago using data from 100,000 transactions catalogued by the local MLS, which found that Realtors "get 3-4 percent more for their own houses and leave their own houses on the market 10 percent longer."

You'll be better off without a Realtor. With the money you save you can go on vacation.

Edit: Why the hell did I get a thumbs down? I did nothing but state facts. Shows you everything you need to know about RE "professionals".

Answer 3

I agree with you, real estate agents are not worth the 4-6% they charge for their services.

You can find a mortgage broker to assist you with the sell of your home. Call and get one that is willing to help with open houses and necessary documents if you allow them to pre-approve all potential buyers that are currently not pre-approved. This gives them an incentive to assist you.

Someone mentioned that the real estate agent can help get a better price for your home. In California according to their standard contract real estate agents are not allowed to set home prices. It says so on page 5 in bold black print that can't be missed. It also says that you should also get your own title company, escrow closing agent, insurance.

So you raised a very good question what good are they if you are required to do all those things on your own. If something go wrong they are gonna point to the fact that they are not responsible for those items and this is their disclaimer.

You do need to do aggressive advertising in your local paper, hold open houses, make some fliers and place them on your home some place for those that come by to look at your home. Make sure you have color pictures and at least one of the kitchen. You can purchase flier holders from Staples or Office Depot.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 4

I would tend to agree with you on all points. That being said numerous studies have shown that the closing price of "for sale by owner" properties are siginificantly lower than those listed by Realtors. The only other item you failed to consider is that most folks go to a Realtor when they buy a home so you can pretty much count on not having as much traffic to your listing (unless its a super desirable area). Good luck, and PS - I don't like em much either.

Answer 5

Ive bought and sold about 10 houses. ALL by owner and a few with realtors on both sides or one side. Basically you draw up the purchase and sale agreement and earnest money agreement and let the escrow company to do the rest. Use a lawyer. I don't but i know the ropes having done it allot. The trick in selling is staging the house, and marketing. Cut flowers in bathroom mirror so they reflect. Warm cookie smell etc. Have a ton of pictures on slide shows on zillow or 4salebyowner.com or on your own web site. here's the link to a condo I just sold last week. http://themarketingresource.com/condo.html

Answer 6

Tenically you are correct, they don't do a thing that you can't do yourself.

One of the biggest advantages to using a realitor is that since they have more knowledge than most people about the market they're likely to get a high price. If you are comfortable with your knowledge of the market, and don't believe that a realtor would get you a price high enough to offset the commissions than by all means skip it.

Answer 7

I just sold my house as FSBO by listing it on craigslist.org. It isn't as complicated as realtors want you to think. Just make sure the potential buyer is pre-qualified.

Also, many realtors have called and/or sent me mail. They wanted to make a commission on selling my home. Their commission is negotiable. I had one realtor agree to 1% instead of the standard 3%.

Best of luck!

By the way, my house sold in one day.

Answer 8

The only drawback I see is fielding the calls and showing your home yourself. But you are right, doesn't seem to be that much to it.

Good luck.