[Tyga11]

We are considering putting our house up for sale. I don't see the point in hiring a Realtor since the market is so hot here.

Is there anything I'm missing? I can post the ads on Zillow / Redfin / etc and the contracts will be handled by the buyers' agent I assume. They're all cookie cutter anyway. I can negotiate directly with the buyers' realtor, I don't need my own to negotiate for me.

I do see the value in Realtors' but I feel the market is unusual here in Phoenix and I don't need one...anyone want to play devils' advocate?

[Our03z4]

If the market is that hot I would use a Realtor. You'll most likely get a bidding war which would more than pay their fee.

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

If the market is that hot I would use a Realtor. You'll most likely get a bidding war which would more than pay their fee.

Why can't I just do that myself though? What value is the Realtor providing other than MLS? I'm genuinely asking

[CarMan77]

In my market Redfin charges 1.5% of the sales price. They offer the buyers agent 2.5%. To give up 1.5% is worth the hassle, most buyers want representation and will have a realtor. BTW, my wife and I sold our first home ourselves, our house was right across from the model home, so the traffic would go to the model and then stop by our home. 😁

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by CarMan77

In my market Redfin charges 1.5% of the sales price. They offer the buyers agent 2.5%. To give up 1.5% is worth the hassle, most buyers want representation and will have a realtor. BTW, my wife and I sold our first home ourselves, our house was right across from the model home, so the traffic would go to the model and then stop by our home. 😁

Who handled the contract paperwork for you? The buyers' agent?

[Bc2005]

The negotiations and sales contract is usually handled by the real estate agent or buyers agent. Sometimes it’s very simple, but other times it goes back and forth multiple times to negotiate the price and terms. The final purchase paperwork and title is handled by a title company or real estate attorney.

[DETRoadster]

We've wondered the same thing. Crazy market here in Seattle and we'd love to eek out as much as we can from the sale to fund the new house. Our situation is a little unique in that we have good friends who want to buy our house, and, my Mother in Law is a recently retired agent who will help us with the paperwork. Please keep us posted so if you do go through with it we can learn from your adventure.

From my perspective there's a couple reasons to go with a realtor and avoid FISBO:

1) Better exposure, marketing, etc. through the MLS.

2) General distrust of FISBO by buyers who dont want to deal with any possible hassles. IOW, what's in it for ME as a buyer?

3) Anonymity in the transaction. With FISBO you've gotta deal with the buyers 1v1.

4) The paperwork and legal hassle. Yes, it's all boiler-plate stuff but do you know every document that's required by your state, where and when it must be filed? I think this is the part that freaks out most potential FISBO folks.

5) In my state, the seller pays the buyer's agent fees. I wonder if buyer's agents will dig in and refuse to be part of a FISBO transaction or perhaps their contracts state that they arent allowed to do it.

6) Possible the buyer's bank might take issue with FISBO and the loan? Total guess there on my part but it did pop into my head.

[CarMan77]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Who handled the contract paperwork for you? The buyers' agent?

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Who handled the contract paperwork for you? The buyers' agent?

It was a neighborhood with new construction. The buyer did not have representation. I used a title attorney to draw up the paperwork.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Why can't I just do that myself though? What value is the Realtor providing other than MLS? I'm genuinely asking

MLS gets you the most exposure. If you are in a hot market with bidding wars happening, having more exposure (potentially more bids) in the game will lead to a higher sale price.

A good sales agent can easily pay for themselves. I recommend you find a good agent, treat them like they have value (because they do) and expect great results from them.

Good luck!

[E92 M Sport]

Aren’t you going to have to pay the buyers agent? The seller pays for their own agent and the buyers in AZ.

[amus3d]

Disclaimer, my wife is realtor. It may be different in other states but asking the buyer's agent to do your portion of the paperwork is basically asking someone to work for free. If you can't do your own paperwork, then please hire a realtor.

[Alfisti]

To me it depends on the sale price. They charge a fortune here, 2% each agent, which is insane. At say $2M that's $80K out of pocket. At that point i'd handle it myself.

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

To me it depends on the sale price. They charge a fortune here, 2% each agent, which is insane. At say $2M that's $80K out of pocket. At that point i'd handle it myself.

6% here - which is exactly why I'm considering this if we sell ourselves.

[Alfisti]

That's a fucking joke given the price of houses.

[Toddbmw]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

We've wondered the same thing. Crazy market here in Seattle and we'd love to eek out as much as we can from the sale to fund the new house. Our situation is a little unique in that we have good friends who want to buy our house, and, my Mother in Law is a recently retired agent who will help us with the paperwork. Please keep us posted so if you do go through with it we can learn from your adventure.

From my perspective there's a couple reasons to go with a realtor and avoid FISBO:

1) Better exposure, marketing, etc. through the MLS.

2) General distrust of FISBO by buyers who dont want to deal with any possible hassles. IOW, what's in it for ME as a buyer?

3) Anonymity in the transaction. With FISBO you've gotta deal with the buyers 1v1.

4) The paperwork and legal hassle. Yes, it's all boiler-plate stuff but do you know every document that's required by your state, where and when it must be filed? I think this is the part that freaks out most potential FISBO folks.

5) In my state, the seller pays the buyer's agent fees. I wonder if buyer's agents will dig in and refuse to be part of a FISBO transaction or perhaps their contracts state that they arent allowed to do it.

6) Possible the buyer's bank might take issue with FISBO and the loan? Total guess there on my part but it did pop into my head.

All this, and the agent knows the sales/buying process in the area, and has a standard/template sales contract and knows the ins and outs of how buyers may get out of the contract. Also, will know the questions to ask the buyers agent (if they are not the listing and selling agent), to ensure the buyer is qualified and will not tie up your listing, then are unable to get a loan.

As will all types of transactions currently, the Realtors in this area charge 6% and an additional fee for "paperwork/office work", something like $300.

The buying Realtor typically will have the buyers sign an exclusive contract, with an additional fee for "paperwork/office work", something like $300, paid when the house is purchased.

[dreamingat30fps]

We tried selling our house in the before times using a realtor. Even then I didn’t really see value in it. Don’t get me wrong, yes there is SOME value in even just handling the paperwork, but not $20k or $30k worth of value. They just hired a photographer for like $100 to take pics and then listed it on Zillow and such. Didn’t really seem like they did much else. When someone would want to see it we would have to clean it all up and prep it for them to show and just based on the few things I saw they didn’t do much “selling”. Needless to say at that time the house didn’t sell after a couple of months and we decided at that point not to sell, but in this insane market, seems like an even worse value proposition.

In fact it seems like a market ripe for the picking by some clever real estate attorneys to market some kind of DIY/hybrid package. You find the buyers and they handle the paperwork/legal stuff to make sure it’s all correct and charge some flat fee.

[King_Leonard]

Sold our house a few years back using a realtor. Believe it or not, we had a multiple offer situation and the realtor F**ked it up. BIG TIME! I have no idea what she said to the other parties but we ended up not geting anywhere near the initial offer.
She apologized profusely over the phone and said she would follow up as soon as she got back from Disneyland with the family. Which ended up being a request to connect via LinkedIn, asking for a positive online review and then adding my email to her weekly newsletter without my consent.

Realtors, worth every penny of commission.

[Bc2005]

One reason some buyers and agents don’t like FSBO is that there is nobody to take the “emotion” out of the sales negotiation on the seller side.

Many sellers love their homes (although it might be ugly to others) or remember every dime they spent to improve it, and they believe they should be justly compensated. An agent sometimes has to help them see the bigger picture.

However, all this might be a moot point, considering the current hot market in some areas.

[Bonk!]

I've sold two houses and a condo without a broker and with a good real estate lawyer. All were listed in favorable markets (but nothing like what's going on now) and sold within days. There are tons of online tools available today, so if you are well organized and can treat the sale as a business transaction then I see no reason involve a broker. You can also specify in your listing what you are willing to allow for a buyer's broker.

[spazzyfry123]

I used MLSmart to sell my home myself a few years back. Super easy process and had a bidding war that I handled on my own. Cost me like $400 to get it on the MLS and the listing was cross-posted on Zillow, Realtor, etc.

Saved me thousands. Take a look if you're interested.

https://mlsmart.com/

[ZL9M2]

The only thing a realtor gets you is a window onto the MLS. Paperwork can be handled by a good real estate attorney along with the title company you'll need anyway. Use MLSmart or similar if you want onto the MLS system. I'd RATHER deal with the buyers than leave this to an "agent" who knows nothing about the property.

[ASAP]

I cannot speak on selling but as a current buyer... i have found 0 value in any of the realtors that I have worked with.

Not a single one knew "any secrets" as to what was available prior to mls.
Not a single one went out of their way to help me find anything.
Not a single one knew the area better than I knew.

Realtors are leeches for the most part that get paid for something that offers limited value...

On the sale side, like someone said Title Company + Basic Attorney...