How To Get FSBOs Listing With You

July 17, 2009

It was once thought that the internet would make the real estate professional obsolete.  Though that hasn’t happened, the internet has given consumers marketing tools comparable to the MLS, so many more home sellers today than yesteryear are trying their hand at selling their own homes.  So you must prove you are worth your commission to FSBOs more than ever.  Here’s how to do it:

They’ll Limit Their Home’s Exposure

Many FSBOs sellers don’t realize that even with the internet their home will still get far less exposure than listing with a real estate professional.  In fact, FSBOs only get about one tenth the prospects that a top producing sales rep gets.  So obviously it will take the FSBO a lot longer to sell their home.  This is a particularly good point to make to FSBOs who must move by a certain date or are otherwise motivated sellers.  Show them just how much traffic their listing will get by having it on MLS and the places you advertise (both online and offline).  Quantify this exposure whenever possible.

They Won’t Get Top Dollar

With far fewer prospects coming in the door, a FSBO home usually takes a lot longer to sell.  If a home stays on the market for a long time, it usually sells for less.  The reason is buyers think there must be some sort of deal breaking flaw about the house if it’s priced right yet just won’t sell.  This point will help a lot in convincing a FSBO to list with you.

People Dislike Negotiating

There’s one thing that’s truly indispensable about real estate professionals and why we’ll always be needed: our negotiating abilities.  Most people hate negotiating.  Many also assume that a FSBO won’t allow the buyer to have a real estate professional negotiating on their behalf, so they won’t even want to make an offer, even though they’re interested in the home.  They would rather look at homes where they can have a professional doing the negotiating for them.

A FSBO’s Legal Liability

When the buyer and seller are acting alone, they usually won’t have a lawyer.  So they both subject themselves to legal issues and liability.  FSBO sellers nor their buyers usually don’t know a sound legal contract from a bad one.  One party may take advantage of the other, getting them to sign to conditions they don’t understand and will regret later.  For instance, some real estate investors can be very savvy in putting clauses into the contract that are unfair to the seller but which can be easily overlooked.  But when FSBOs work with real estate professionals work they seldom face these sorts of problems.

Learn more about how to turn FSBOs into new listings by taking my Excelling In The Real Estate Profession course.  This course has been approved by the Registrar, REBBA 2002 to qualify for 9 credits.

Filed under: Negotiating Best Practices

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