For Sale by Owner? Go Ahead, Sell for Less

In this hopping Portland sellers’ market, homeowners may be tempted to forgo the real estate agent and sell their home For Sale By Owner. No paying real estate agent commissions (or maybe just pay the buyer’s agent commission), setting the price you want to get for your home — sounds great, right?

As a real estate agent for over a decade here in the Portland metro area, I would advise you to consider all of the facts when deciding to list your home as a FSBO if you want to sell it for its maximum value. The key is to attract multiple buyers and offers, which isn’t as easy as it sounds even if your home is in a desirable location, in perfect condition, and priced competitively for the market.

Here are some of the factors at work:

– Your home likely will not be well advertised. It makes sense that the more people know that your home is for sale, the more offers you’ll receive, and the higher the sales price will go. However, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors, 50% of FSBO sellers don’t market their home at all, limiting their buyer pool to friends and neighbors. Those that do market their home often don’t know how to get their home out on the thousands of real estate websites out there, they only manage a handful. On the handful of websites they might get it out to, they typically have no option to feature the home. We generate over 100,000 online views on average per listing. We do this through making sure your home is on the thousands of real estate website out there and by paying extra to the top real estate websites for extra promotional views. As a result, we sell faster than average and for a higher sales price than average – even in the hottest neighborhoods. This is not something a for sale by owner can compete with.

– Buyers may be suspicious. Most FSBOs are listed that way for the perfectly harmless reason that sellers don’t want to factor a real estate agent’s commission into the price. However, conventional wisdom warns that for sale by owner sellers are hiding some defect about their home. Real estate agents are obligated to disclose problems they find out about the home. Understandably, buyers will be wary of purchasing a home not backed by a licensed real estate agent.

Here’s the bottom line, according to the NAR 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers:

“FSBOs typically have a lower median selling price: $208,700 compared to $235,000. Thus the typical agent- assisted home sale typically has a 13 percent higher sales price than the typical FSBO sale.”

The best way to sell a home in Portland is to use a qualified and experienced real estate agent, and that is true whether the real estate market is strong or stale. Click here to see our listing package. We charge less and pay more to sell your home!