Should You Buy A FSBO?
Posted: under Home Buying.
Tags: Allen Davis, For Sale By Owner, FSBO, Homer Buyer, Multiple Listing Service, Real Estate, Real estate broker, Realestatesearchdirect.com
If you are reading the classified ads looking to buy a house, you are probably familiar with the term FSBO (For Sale By Owner). Should you buy a FSBO?
Homer Buyer thought that he would be able to buy a home at a better price if he bought a FSBO. He figured that if the seller didn’t have to pay a real estate broker’s commissions, he could pass some of the savings on to the buyer.
Homer bought a local paper and started searching the classified ads. He saw many that were listed with an agent or broker, but he skimmed over them. He was searching for those listings that contained the magic letters – “FSBO”.
Homer found several listings in the paper. He noticed there was a wider selection of homes in the ads that he skipped than there were FSBOs. He also saw that the ads for those listed by a broker were usually more descriptive and sometimes even had photographs.
He started calling on ads labeled “FSBO”. He frequently got answering machines and sometimes no answer at all. The seller was probably at work. He did reach one little girl who told him only that “Mommy is sleeping,” and asked “Do you like cookies?” Homer decided to try again in the evening.
That evening, Homer reached a few more of the FSBO sellers. The first man, when he said he was calling about the ad in the paper, asked gruffly “Are you an agent?”
“I am interested in buying your house,” Homer replied. The seller explained that he had been getting calls from agents trying to get his listing ever since he put the ad in the paper. He asked Homer if he could come over right away to look at the house.
Homer still had several calls to make and he planned to take Saturday to look at several properties at once. Besides, he wanted some time to research the properties before he met the seller. He knew that he needed to be prepared to negotiate.
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Jan 29 2009
