I signed with a neighbor realtor and the first person who saw my house online and paid full price cash. I paid over $35k in fees. We are going to try to sell our new home soon and want to try FSBO.
Check out zillow.com, which is mostly linked to the MLS and provides free listing. I used it to sell my last house FSOB, very easy.
I’ve sold real estate myself and with agents. I tell people to find a top local agent and ask for 2%. If you can find the right fit at a reduced rate, often times it’s just better to let them handle everything. I’ve done several deals where it turned into an absolute s show and wished there was an agent there to just handle everything. If in a state where the buyer will have an attorney, like NY or Northeast, then you should also hire a real estate attorney. Never skip the attorney in these areas. But if one is experienced in real estate and determined to sell FSBO, here is what I have done with success. The single most important thing is to get the property on the MLS. There are flat fee MLS listing services in every state. Most range from $300-$500. The MLS is what will sell the home. Offer 3% to a buyer agent, nothing less. The other most important aspect is pricing it right. One must do a thorough search of comparable sales in the area and price accordingly. If too high no matter what you do, it won’t sell. The MLS listing will also be picked up by Zillow, Realtor and all the other relevant websites. Do not bother with any site that specializes in FSBO, they are a complete waste of money. Hire a professional photographer or take professional looking photos and a lot of them. The max limit for the MLS is typically around 25 photos. Use every slot. Spend serious time on crafting the listing description and use up to the max character limit. Review listing description tips, blogs, etc. online to find keywords or phrases that sell and include them in the listing whenever applicable. Really highlight anything that makes the property unique. There is an art to creating a good listing description that hits key points and flows well that even many real estate agents don’t posses. Some should lose their license for the crap photos and descriptions of their listings. Days should be spent fine tuning the description. If it is a vacation rental property or high end property consider branding it with unique name and custom website. A property near the beach becomes “The Seaside Beach House” with it’s own website, custom URL, graphics, professional photos, long listing description, nearby attractions, rental history and rates, amenities, etc. The key is to make the property very unique and very special. If you really spend the time on the listing and create something unique and special, it shows, it creates excitement, it creates value. If you skimp, put together something quickly or amateurish, that also shows and it will have a better chance of just languishing.