For Sale By Owner FSBO - Nevada
There is always a segment of the Nevada residential real estate market that is composed of For Sale by Owner (FSBO) properties. While the largest portion of the market in 2008 and 2009 will be either bank foreclosures or short sales, most of which are listed by real estate agents, a small segment of motivated FSBO properties can always be found.
You can usually find FSBO properties in the newspaper, on www.craigslist.com or by finding them as "drive-bys" since owners have a somewhat limited number of marketing options.
FSBO properties offer buyers options that they often cannot find in other market segments. Leasing with an option to buy is one of those options that brokers avoid since there is no commitment to buy, and no way to collect a commission, when a deal of this type is negotiated. Only cash or new loan deals work well for agents.
Owners can also offer to take trades, like cars, boats and timeshares, or they can carry-back notes or seller "purchase money mortgages" that are "off the books" since they are at times not recorded as liens against the property. Since some FSBO deals are not "closed" like normal transaction they can be ongoing agreements that offer more flexibility.
It is obvious to sellers that not using a real estate agent saves them commission money, often between 5% and 6% of the sales price. Since many homes sell for $ 150,000 or more in Nevada, the median in Las Vegas is down to about $ 175,000 in late 2008, the saving is in the range of $ 7,500 to $ 10,500. That cost savings can be uses to price your home more competitively than those in your neighborhood, or if you get an offer that is equivalent to that you would have received had you used an agent, you can pocket that money as your reward for following the path less followed.
If you are going to follow the FSBO route, you need to be prepared to handle some difficult situations. One of the reasons that many owners list their property is that they don't want to be bothered to be around for those annoying phone calls at 8:00 PM on Saturday night asking about the property. You just have to deal with the buyers who call at odd hours and who want to mess up your weekend to see your home.
Important in the FSBO process is preparing your home for sale and preparing it for showings. There is a great deal written in this area, and if you are a serious FSBO owner you really need to learn how to stage your property and learn what turns buyers off.
You also have to be strong enough to take the negative feedback or the low-ball offers that are thrown your way. Home owners hate to deal with buyers themselves and that is one of the reasons for the success of the agency arrangement. If you can suck up the negative comments, learn from them, and understand the process you can make a FSBO sale.
Copyright 2008, Glenn Rigdon, Horizon Village Realty
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