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For those that haven’t read the previous post, or who don’t know what “FSBO” stands for… it’s For Sale By Owner. You know, when someone decides to sell their home themself, rather than utilize the services of a real estate agent.

In a market like us Phoenicians are currently in, it seems like it’d be easy to sell a home yourself. Heck, you could probably sell a cardboard box or a tin shed if you just plant a sign in front of it.

Well….. maybe not. I do see quite a few FSBOs moving fairly quickly, but I also see some sitting forever. And selling your home yourself may not mean squat, regardless of how much money you “save”.

Here’s a recent true story:

I was in my real estate office a couple of weeks ago, and this really nice young couple walks in. Turns out they are thinking about selling their condo in northwest Mesa. We chatted for awhile, and I told them I’d be happy to do a “CMA” (Comparative Market Analysis) for them that would tell them what they could list their condo for. I also told them I’d be glad to do a cost estimate so they could see exactly what they would net from the sale of there condo after paying all those fees and that horrible real estate commission.

So I prepared the CMA and went to visit their lovely abode.

I told them they could probably sell it for $127,000 and after paying off their existing mortgage, the escrow fees and that horrible commission, they’d net about $47,000. They were stunned. Seems they had looked into selling it themselves and were going to list it at $94,000. I said $127,000. That’s a $33,000 difference. Sure, they could have “saved” about six grand on commissions if they sold it themselves, but they would have sold it for $33,000 less!!!

They listed the condo with me and it was sold within the week. They’re taking that extra 33 thousand bucks they made and are putting into more home–enabling them to get the home they really want and they thought they couldn’t afford.

There is a lot more to going FSBO than saving real estate commission. Just ask my recent clients what they think about going FSBO….