Do not sell your house FSBO – you will be robbed, raped or God forbid – worse. The NAR has been promoting this alarmism for years. Here is a direct quote from a “Realtor” ezine article (note that the author refers to himself as an “experienced real estate broker”) titled “NAR(r) Broker Will Swear It – Real Pro ‘ Agents Share It – FSBO “Truth” – and I quote – “Sometimes the ‘Truth’ hurts. However, getting scammed, raped, or even worse hurts a lot more. Ask any police officer if home sellers should throw their doors wide to strangers.” Are you serious? So, is that why we pay a 6% sales commission to sell a house? Security/Background Checks? Now it all makes sense: I finally understand the There may have been a time when realtors would “screen” clients before taking them into their home, wasting valuable realtor time. that I can schedule an appointment, through a realtor to view a house within the next hour, they will take my first name – PERIOD!
Our friend, the “experienced realtor” must be from the “old” school. The new NAR scare tactic (which recognizes that realtors don’t “screen” their clients) now claims that FSBO homes sell for up to 15% less than existing realtor-assisted home sales. They have developed a clever little “media” based formula that demonstrates this and of course the real estate agents that make up their association believe the propaganda and diligently and naively spread it to potential FSBO homeowners. The problem with their calculations is that they use a faulty formula to support their argument: they use a MEDIAN price instead of an AVERAGE price. The median is a “middle number” in a series of numbers; the average is the sum of all the numbers divided by the total number. Have you ever looked at the “middle” mark on a test and felt something to yourself?
The real “TRUTH”, as this author so eloquently puts it, is that realtors are absolutely scared at the prospect of FSBOs cutting off their income stream. The fact that the internet is eliminating them as a real estate sourcing tool manifests this fear to the point that they have to relive “old wives’ tales” – can you imagine being “ripped off, raped or even worse” to save a measly 6% – me neither. With that being said, I would love to see the face of the real estate agent who is asked to confirm that all prospective clients have undergone a background check before viewing their property. Realtors “used” to ask for ID, they don’t even do that anymore.
Also according to this author – “Every year, dozens of real estate agents are kidnapped, robbed, raped and murdered” – My God, they should get endangerment pay. I cannot think of ANY other profession that is subject to such crime and potential danger at work. Did you say “dozens”? Another question: why would someone “kidnap” a real estate agent? Excuse my ironic response to this article – I find it strange that this tactic is still being used, or worse, has been “reborn”. On a more serious note, my mother is a 35 year old real estate agent, she has NEVER had a “bad” client experience. However, her house was robbed two days after a real estate agent from the city showed her house to two gentlemen in a white van (can you say “red flag”)? When the police investigated, the real estate agent didn’t even have her names, now that’s well leaked.
The reality of selling your own home comes down to this, and this alone. If you can put together a decent marketing plan, price your home appropriately, and be semi-nice without being pushy, you can sell your own home and save a significant amount of dollars. You have to be careful who you are letting into your home, of course. Is there a risk? Yes, there is always risk. Is there reward – of course – significant. The trick is to mitigate risk by being careful and using your instincts and, as always, be careful who you’re letting in your front door.