FSBO article

Selling Your Home:
A Fullcourse Approach to Selling

Provided by Jay Burnham, VP
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Whether it's Ed McMahon's smiling offer of multimillions for doing nothing or the latest generation of pyramid clubs, the American public seems everwilling to pursue the something for nothing dream.

Home sellers are no exception. A few have begun to experiment with bargain basement brokerage schemes, ranging from selling their own homes to employing the fragmented services of "FSBO (for sale by owner) helpers," often just purveyors of advertising and yard signs.

Can a home be sold without the help of a competent, full-service Realtor? Of course it can.

Does it make economic sense to do it that way? Seldom, if ever, and I saw no hard evidence to the contrary during my more than 40 active years in residential brokerage.

Before you dismiss my opinion as merely the self-serving view of an industry loyalist, please read on; if you're ever going to sell a home, you'll be glad you did.

I'm assuming that, as a seller, you will be interested in realizing the highest price obtainable. (If the proceeds don't matter, any old marketing plan will do, including an absolute auction or accepting the cash offer of a speculator.)

TO GET TOP PRICE

Realizing that the highest obtainable price is possible only if you can expose the property to the best market, in terms of size and quality, and have the proficiency to identify, satisfy and obtain a commitment from the best qualified buyer.

Let's first examine quantity. Unless your home comes to the attention of the largest possible pool of potential buyers, you can't be reasonably sure that the best offer received is the best price obtainable.

Consider the facts: Although a Realtor may spend thousands of dollars each month on classified advertising and may have hundreds of yard signs dotting the landscape, only about 20 percent of actual buyers will be attracted by these media.

So much for doing it yourself: How many of that 20 percent will be attracted by your single yard sign and occasional ad?

So much, too, for the marginal marketers who will sell you a sign, help you write ads and circulate a few prospects.

REACH A WIDE MARKET

Want the best price? Challenge the whole market, not just a small slice.

How to reach the other 80 percent? That's where the quality of the market comes in.

In a full-service real estate firm, about 30 percent of its buyers are brought to the table by associates of cooperating brokers.

It is axiomatic that the best qualified buyers are availing themselves of the free services offered by real estate professionals. Why should they track down ads and signs when a competent practitioner will sift through the available inventory and match their dreams with bricks and mortar?

The professionals who attract those best buyers play for pay - and the good ones are worth every one of the six figures in their incomes.

The only motive, then, that could possibly lure buyers to a for sale by owner home would be the hope of saving the same commission that the FSBO is trying to save - a bit of logic that seems to escape many do-it-your-selfers.

FINDING QUALIFIED BUYERS

Just as challenging a larger market must produce a higher price, so only reaching the highest quality market can uncover that one best buyer for your home.

Your ability to reach fully half of the available market (signs, ads and cobrokers) depends on a range of services that you can't provide for yourself and can't expect to obtain for free.

The other half of those buyers become owners through the activities of the Realtor firm and its associates, including repeat business, personal and out of town referrals, corporate transferee services and, above all, perpetual prospecting.

Thus, both the optimum quantity and quality of your potential pool of buyers will be available only through the help of competent professionals, who also supply the third necessary ingredient - proficiency.

It takes skill, experience and objectivity to find, qualify, service and sell a prospective home buyer in an arena where dozens, if not hundreds, of homes, sellers and agents are vying for the same prospects.

AMATEURS vs. PROFESSIONALS

It is naive to hope that rank amateurs or cut-rate counselors could effectively compete with full-time experts whose economic lives depend on delivering satisfactory service to buyers and sellers on a daily basis.

There's no law against being your own doctor or lawyer, or hiring a partially qualified person in either profession, but it is foolish to do so.

The bottom line is this: A bargain, either in goods or services, is measured not so much by what you pay as what you get in return.

In real estate, if you pay less, you settle for inferior marketing. If you settle for inferior marketing, the cost in net proceeds will far exceed the commission dollars you thought you were saving.

Only exposing your home to the best market, in terms of quality and quality, coupled with proficient marketing services, can put that highest obtainable price in your pocket or purse.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This editorial was written by Realtor Joseph P. Klock, CRB, CRS who retired as president of Coldwell Banker/S.Florida in 1986. He served nationally as Dean of Coldwell Banker University. Klock, who has been active in real estate for 43 years, is past president of the Real Estate Brokerage Managers Council, Realtors National Marketing Institute and a member of the Education Committee, National Association of Realtors. Joe has logged over two million miles on the lecture circuit and has written numerous articles and audio-visual products on real estate marketing. He may be reached at (305) 451-0079 or http://www.joeklock.com .

JAY BURNHAM, VP
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
PREVIEWS International® Property Specialist
54 Dodge Street
Beverly, MA 01915
978.233.2828

Designations Earned: CRB, CRS, GRI, RECS, SRES