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'For Sale by Owner' Means Cutting Commission, but at What Cost?
Daphne Lin and Michael Mou put their Arlington condo up for sale, with an agent, but took it off the market. Now they are going for sale by owner.
(By Lois Raimondo -- The Washington Pos)
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Hout said her attempt to market her three-story brick house for $1.95 million has drawn some flak in the tony neighborhood. "I've had real estate agents say, 'You can't do it,' meaning it's just not done here. That it's tacky or low-brow or something," she said.
But she has bought and sold houses FSBO before, and the incentive to keep going with this one is strong. "The commission on a house like this would be about $120,000," she said. (Paying a commission to a buyer's agent would cut into her savings or those of any FSBO, and most buyers have agents. In a typical transaction, the sellers pay 3 percent to their agent's company and 3 percent to the buyer's representative.)
Hout said she did her own market analysis and believes her house is the only one in the eastern part of Georgetown on the market for less than $2 million. Three neighborhood houses sold in the past year for $1.3 million to $1.5 million, and all had to be "totally gutted," she said. "Ours is move-in ready."
She has done other homework, including checking with a title company, getting the proper legal forms for sales and disclosures, and preparing ads. She has also agreed to "one-time showing" arrangements in which agents offered to represent her house to a client at a higher price so that they could get a commission.
Agents have been persistent in trying to get the listing, she said. "These people drive you nuts. They keep calling. . . . A lot don't even identify themselves when they come by. Or they will tell you that they have a client and then try to get you as a client."
But her goal is to stay FSBO. "I don't think they can make me any more money than what I would get if I sold without them," she said.
Norma Hetrick in Bowie is not quite as gung-ho about FSBOs as she was in January when she put her four-bedroom, 3 1/2 -bath home on the market for $699,500. She has reduced the price to $659,000. But she's not in a rush yet, either, because she and her husband are moving into a retirement community that's under construction.
"I'm not worried about it," she said. "Maybe a little anxious but not worried."
Hetrick said she doesn't find the time needed overwhelming. "You get phone calls and set up the appointments when it's convenient."
Stevens, the president of the Realtors association, concedes that FSBO sales are possible. "Hey, it can be done. But I can tell you I wouldn't do it, and I have my home for sale in Great Falls right now." With an agent, of course. "My wife and I don't have the time to do it."
