Update: Realtor/MLS vs. FSBO
August 11th, 2006 by Grant in: Real EstateWell, it’s been over a month since the FSBO test started, and very little has changed, other than the fact that the realtor has the competition all wrapped up in this little experiment.
In talking with my neighbors, they’ve had a few people look at their house, but no offers yet. On top of that, of the half dozen people who’ve walked through it, a majority of them are realtors. I suspect that they are scoping out the FSBO market for potential clients.
To make things more interesting, after having their house on the FSBO market for only a month, they dropped the list price by $5,000, and they’re offering to throw in the lumber required to finish the basement.
Note to self: Another advantage of having a realtor is that they can remind you to be patient and hold off on lowering the list price, especially since you don’t have to move and don’t have anywhere to move to!
While this experiment may not be using the best possible specimens on the market, it’s definitely indicative of the FSBO mentality: stick a sign in the yard and they will come.
To be continued…
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August 15th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
We don’t have many FSBO in our neighborhood, but we do in the neighborhood where the rental house is. We’ve noticed over there that the FSBOs take longer to sell, but we don’t know why. At 6% commissions, it can be a bitter pill to swallow to hire an agent. Yet, they do seem to provide value to the transaction. I am betting that Zillow levels the playing field a bit for the consumer.
August 20th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Zillow may level the playing field, but it’s got a long way to go to catch up with the information available with the MLS database.