| Page 4 of 4 < |
ISO: A Sale Without an Agent
Personal Connections
Jasmine and David Ng tour an Alexandria condo Getinet Bantayehu, right, is selling for his brother.
(By Melissa Cannarozzi For The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Bantayehu said both buyers and sellers benefit when they meet directly and bypass an agent, even though buyers don't pay the agent's commission out of pocket.
"I buy and sell, so I'm on both ends and I prefer not to use an agent when I buy, either, because I can get a better deal," he said. He thinks buyers realize the seller is potentially passing along some of the savings. "Ideally they split the savings and each get 3 percent, but that's a delicate balance and it's almost impossible to achieve," he said. "Still they both can negotiate a price they're comfortable with. There's a 6 percent savings on the table."
According to the National Association of Realtors, younger home buyers are more likely to use the Internet to search for real estate than older people. In 2004, 36 percent of home buyers 25 to 34 and 28 percent of those 35 to 44 searched the Web while looking for homes, compared with 17 percent of those 45 to 54 and 10 percent of those over 55.
No figures specifically track the demographics of FSBO Internet users, but a scan of sites such as Craigslist indicates many sellers are young professionals. Their ads tend to highlight assets about their properties that are targeted to their peers, noting for instance that residents in their building are social or that the property is a short walk to Starbucks.
In fact, the real estate section on Craigslist has become so popular that some professional real estate agents are using it to advertise properties as well. Sometimes their ads are almost indistinguishable from those placed by the FSBOs and don't reveal that the contact number is for an agent, not the owner.
"That's going to ruin it," Mitchell bemoaned. "People go on there looking for deals -- and to deal with sellers directly. If it becomes just another way for Realtors or car salesmen to advertise, then it defeats the purpose."
Johnson, who started law school after a career as a teacher, described the process of buying Bantayehu's condo as "low pressure" and said she wasn't worried that she didn't have an agent to look after her interests. She appreciated meeting the young entrepreneur, noting that many real estate agents try to keep buyers and sellers from ever seeing each other.
"Perhaps it was foolish," not using an agent, she said. "But you can do so much research on the Internet," such as looking at comparable properties, finding a title company and getting a mortgage. "When you think about it, it just seems to make more sense to use the Internet than a Realtor."
