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It must officially be spring – while driving around today I noticed three homes near me that have put up the good old trusty “For Sale By Owner” sign in the yard with the illegible phone number. It’s not surprising to see FSBO’s finally coming out – especially when you know that people need to sell their house and when the economy is rough it’s likely they want to save every single possible penny they can.
But I’ve noticed after doing a quick Google Trends Search, the term “FSBO” for searches is down almost 50%. And according to the NAR, the number of FSBO’s have also dropped from 19% of all home sales nationally to only 13%. No doubt the uncertainty of the real estate market has a lot to do with this. When selling a home isn’t as easy as putting a sign in the yard and trying your luck with struggling print media, a professional real estate agent can certainly come in handy.
A lot of agents think the FSBO is only something a newbie agent would “waste their time with”…but truthfully an experienced agent with a little patience could convert that FSBO rather quickly. And it’s probably a safe bet that the majority of FSBO’s right now are selling because they need to – not just for the heck of it. A motivated FSBO is always easier to turn into a client than one who doesn’t need to sell anytime in particular.
The FSBO’s are out there – and they need your help. And more likely now than ever before in the past few years, they might just be happy to hear from you with some reassuring words and advice. Woo them with your real estate blog, your use of Adwords, exposure on hundreds of IDX fed websites and maybe even your creative craigslist ads. They’ll be impressed. And they might realize a professional could end up saving them money in the long run.
4 Comments
I have a feeling that buyers are out to look for good deals with distress homes and REO, so in their minds only Real Estate agents will have access to this information, which is true. This and combined with the fact that many potential buyers are reading about real estate and mortgage scams, so they wisely chose to work with Agents.
With regards to your comment about converting FSBO in this market. I think that is so true, I really don’t think some that doesn’t need to see will try to list their home in a buyer’s market. So good luck and go close some deals.
I think Ann makes some good points. The majority of people that contact us through our website are looking for bank owned properties because they think they’ll get the best deal. Usually they’re right. I think the market is going to be extremely tough for sale by owner.
Yeah, I am getting the same questions to from people in my area, too. I think everyone is looking for a good deal now.
As we see more fraud and scams with regards to real estate, I think even more people will turn to agents.