You Don't Need A Realtor To Sell Your Home

With prices still depressed in many parts the residential real estate market, homeowners these days are looking to eke out as much profit as they can from the sale of their home.

Don Ryan / AP

Yet, with the high inventory of available properties, especially foreclosed or short sale ones, it's hard, if not impossible, to get your price.

Enter: For sale by owner (FSBO).

By cutting out the middle man and selling your home yourself, you could walk away with tens of thousands of dollars more in your pocket. It just takes a little marketing know-how and a lot of entrepreneurial spirit.

“A lot of people who are selling right now are doing so because they’re changing jobs or changing lifestyles and they’re selling by owner because they know it’s going to immediately save them 5-6 percent on commission costs,” says Eric Mangan, a spokesman for ForSaleByOwner.com, a sell-by-owner listing service. “In today’s market, where prices have dropped by double digits in some cases, the cost of using a realtor is that much more expensive.”

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Indeed, without a real estate agent you could lower your asking price by up to 6 percent to comparable listings in your community and help sell your house faster.

Better yet, leave your price on par and pocket the commission that would normally go to the realtor. (On a $350,000 house, a 6-percent commission is $21,000.)

Who's Doing It

Despite the financial incentive and growing access to online listing services, the FSBO (pronounced "fizzbo") market has been trending down from a high of 19 percent of the market in 1997 to roughly 13 percent today, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Some 81 percent of home sellers still use full-service realtors, 9 percent rely on limited service providers, including discount brokerages and the remaining sellers, and roughly 9 percent use minimal service (including FSBOs and those who pay only for the use of an MLS).

About 45 percent of FSBO transactions involved people who already knew each other, such as family members or acquaintance.

According to NAR's Walter Molony, the majority of homeowners still rely on agents because their home is often their largest asset and they want an experienced professional on hand to protect their interests.

Indeed, some homeowners still require the help of realtors to sell their home. Among them: those who can’t be physically on site to show their property and those not comfortable selling or promoting their houses.

While the real estate recession has some homeowners wary of selling solo, however, Mangan maintains the sell-by-owner strategy is actually easier than most homeowners imagine—and makes more sense today than during the boom.

“It takes education about your local real estate marketing, including recent sales activity and some knowledge of what’s currently on the market,” he says. “Other little things are more important today, too, like being more flexible with a buyer’s closing time frame.”

If your buyer needs to close within 30 days and you’re not ready to move, find an apartment and store your furniture. Be prepared to do whatever it takes.

The housing slump, of course, also makes it more important to market your home effectively.

Above all, that means listing your house for a fair price.

It’s easy enough to find out what your home is worth. Sites like realtor.com, zillow.com and homegain.com can help you review comparable real estate listings available in your neighborhood.

You should also ask a realtor or two to stop by for a comparative market analysis. They don’t charge for the service, you can be honest about your intent to sell-by-owner (they’ll be waiting if it doesn’t work out) and they might even give you some good ideas on quick fixes to help you sell faster.

Once you’ve arrived at a fair market price, you can either list for that amount or, considering the growing inventory of available homes, discount your price just enough to position your property as a bargain.

For example, if your home would normally list for $450,000 with a realtor, consider lowering your asking price by 3 percent to $436,500. If you’re really eager to sell, you could reduce by 4 percent and sell for $432,000, while still coming out ahead.

What You May Need

Even a well priced home, however, isn’t going to move if buyers don’t know it exists.

Ads in the local newspaper, which cost as little as $25 per month, can be surprisingly effective, considering a large percentage of buyers across the country upgrade into homes within their existing community.

But you’ll have better luck if you pony up for a listing service, which publishes the specifics of available homes to realtors and potential buyers.

Packages priced at $229 and up also include a yard sign kit, access to a consultation line and automatic syndication of the listing to the real estate sections of partner Web sites like Google, Yahoo and USAToday. Higher-priced packages, which run as high as $809, also include a listing on Realtor.com and on the MLS.”