FSBO, Flat Fee MLS, etc?

[ktgrok]

Given what a hot market it is, and there is SUCH low inventory, and we NEED to pocket as much as we can on selling this house, I'm researching the flat fee MLS services, and other options rather than paying so much in realtor fees. My parents have always sold by owner, but my husband is not sold yet. I'm thinking one of the services that offers closing help, provides all the local documents needed, etc for a flat fee might be a good compromise. 

Anyone done this?

[Ali in OR]

We did, oh-so-many years ago. We have a local company that made it so easy. We did all the marketing that a realtor would do (this was back in the day of newspaper ads, the company's FSBO monthly, and fliers attached to the yard sign which we were able to get from the company we used.) We scheduled our own showings, did our own tours, and sold the house within two weeks to another couple selling their house by owner. We would definitely do it again in this market.

[ktgrok]

8 minutes ago, Ali in OR said:

We did, oh-so-many years ago. We have a local company that made it so easy. We did all the marketing that a realtor would do (this was back in the day of newspaper ads, the company's FSBO monthly, and fliers attached to the yard sign which we were able to get from the company we used.) We scheduled our own showings, did our own tours, and sold the house within two weeks to another couple selling their house by owner. We would definitely do it again in this market.

When it comes to say, inspections, and holding earnest money, etc...the buyer hires the inspector, right?And some of the flat fee companies I'm seeing will provide a title company to use, an escrow service referral for earnest money, etc. 

One service will provide a sign, lock box, website to schedule showings, professional photographs, etc depending on price level....for a couple hundred bucks. 

At that point, what I'm missing out on by not hiring a normal realtor is contacts with say, contractors to fix stuff, advice on pricing the house, etc, is that right?

[Ali in OR]

One of our marketing points was that we had an inspection report ready. We hired a well-known local inspector to do an inspection on our 8-year-old house before showing it. We wanted no surprises. So then we knew we would be asked to clean the moss off the roof, etc. And we could say our price reflected the fact that we had the notoriously bad LP siding (but also that ours was in decent shape). I think the many realtors who would love to sell our house (it's not for sale!) would say that they can get a much better price for it. They could stage it, but honestly it would sell in a week or two with no staging in our market. When we sold our old house we did our comps and knew what was a fair price. I think you would have to be careful to do that work well now--don't use comps that are too old as the low inventory has really been driving up prices (at least here). But that should be so much easier with online tools than it was 19 years ago.

[Halftime Hope]

We did this in 2012 with my parents' home.  It was a hot market, and the home was on a lakefront, so it had serious location appeal. We put it on Zillow, listed it in the Sunday paper, and listed it on the MLS with a flat fee service, and did *not* have them list it in the local county MLS, because realtors there were super pushy, even before we listed it.  ("No, seriously, we're not paying a buyer's realtor. Really!") We hired a real estate lawyer to do the paperwork, since we were selling it out of state, as a cash sale, and literally, to the person with the best bid. We priced it fairly and my parents still walked away with 5K more than the asking price. Both neighbors made offers of 45-50K less than what we sold it for, and I would have loved for the one who had been super kind to my parents to have it, but that was my parents' "care" fund.  Having the lawyer helped us avoid some trouble when the buyer suddenly had cold feet. He wanted to renegotiate the deal for no good reason two days prior to closing, and the lawyer told him no, if he backed out the earnest money would be forfeit, and we'd be happy to move on to the next buyer.  

And the final bit of drama was that we closed one day prior to the law delaying the sale because of an inbound hurricane.  Apparently, at that time in FL, one couldn't buy or sell within 48 hrs of landfall of a hurricane. The lawyer was worth his weight on that issue, too. 

 

 

  

[ktgrok]

This is one of the places I've found - the owner was a real estate attorney before becoming a realtor. https://flatfeemlsrealty.com/pricing/

$250 gets you on MLS, professional photographs, etc. 

[Annie G]

1 hour ago, ktgrok said:

When it comes to say, inspections, and holding earnest money, etc...the buyer hires the inspector, right?And some of the flat fee companies I'm seeing will provide a title company to use, an escrow service referral for earnest money, etc. 

One service will provide a sign, lock box, website to schedule showings, professional photographs, etc depending on price level....for a couple hundred bucks. 

At that point, what I'm missing out on by not hiring a normal realtor is contacts with say, contractors to fix stuff, advice on pricing the house, etc, is that right?

Are you comfortable handling the negotiations yourself instead of a realtor being the go between?  
Who helps you with the contract? Is there one that you just fill in the blanks? for instance, how long for due diligence, etc.  Are you well versed on what’s ‘Normal’ as far as concessions in your market? like do most pay some closing costs? You don’t want to lose a sale based on that kind of thing.

‘When we sold our last house, our realtor kept us informed about the buyer’s progress, such as when they got their approval, etc.   She was able to work w the buyer’s agent to flow info back and forth- the repairs we’d had done after the inspection, their progress on loan, etc. When there was a delay due to buyer, if our agent hadn’t told us exactly what happened, we would have been freaking out. (Two days before closing the lender pulled another credit report and the buyer had a hard inquiry at a furniture store. The lender had to get an explanation and put it through underwriting again)

If the buyer is using an agent, are you on the hook for any commissions?

You’ll probably sell quickly, so it does seem that a flat fee is something to consider.

[prairiewindmomma]

In a really hot market, I would do a Redfin or other flat fee agent but I wouldn’t FSBO. I would at least meet with three realtors and say what they think current market value is and what they think of your home.

Houses here are selling 60k over what they were 3 months ago. You have the potential to be leaving a lot of money on the table by being penny wise and pound foolish.

[Bootsie]

Over the years we have had a couple of real estate deals that would have probably fallen through if we did not have an agent who worked hard to make sure the deal closed.  When emotions get involved, it is easy for a buyer or seller to be less objective that an agent.  The agent it able to work through, and put in perspective, when a $250 repair comes up on an inspection report or there is some other surprise.

The other thing that we have found helpful with an agent is that they will have a group of agents come walk through the house when it first goes on the market.  So, their network of agents know the house and may have clients that are a good match.  That can save some time with some initial showings.  

[Scarlett]

It is not that hard to search the current market and see what your house is worth.  I would try FSBO in a heartbeat.  I have sold 3 house fsbo. It is not difficult at all. 

[wathe]

No advice.

One of my family sold their house at a garage sale:  they had a garage sale/moving sale before they put the house up for sale.  Got to talking, and one of the garage sale attendees expressed interest in buying the house, put in a offer, and that was that.

ETA:  all the lawyer stuff got done properly later, but basically they sold their house at their garage sale.  The ultimate sale-by-owner.

Edited April 26, 2021 by wathe