Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but you gotta to pay to play. I know it harsh, but that's they way it goes, its like paying taxes.

Calling 20 agents liars without any proof is more a reflection on you than any of those agents. Notwithstanding your obvious bias against an industry, you purport your FSBO to be equal to an MLS-backed listing. Your FSBO is like going to a dentist operating out of van down by the river. He might be a great dentist but has no standing. No accountability if something goes wrong. As the homeowner, you advocate only for yourself.

I have bought rental FSBOs in the past. I never pay the asking price because the FSBO is usually a pain to deal with and I know I'm not getting full disclosure.

Geez Jeff, I didn't know you were a nice guy. :D

6000 is a high rate to sell something
but one I was willing to pay
12000 is out f---ing outrageous
and noway I was going to do that

now days with million dollar homes common
it is way too high a rate
60k to sell a house is nuts

proof is each agent while claiming to have willing buyers waiting
but none would not act as a buyers agent for 3% and show their phantom buyers
they all wanted only a 6 month listing at 6%
to me that is ample evidence of lying or collusion

full disclosure is a myth
you only get a real partial disclosure after a paid home inspections
and that only happens after the offer at the buyers expense
I have never seen an agent pay for a inspection prior to a listing
there simply is never full disclosure on any home at any point
as there are all ways unknown unknowns

Agents are tough to hire.

Selling our house in NY we interviewed one recommended by my wifes long time close friend. The woman was barely in the house 10 seconds before she started talking price reduction. Was obvious her approach to selling was getting clients to rock bottom pricing so the house move before she has to do any work.

Interviewed another realtor my wife had worked with when looking for a new place. She always looked like she'd had a hard night and had slept in her car. She would not negotiate her rate and in fact was asking a full point more than anyone else. We turned her down which was a mistake, she sold the closest comp to our home in a less desirable location for more than asking in under a month.

We went with another agent my wife had worked with and got no action for months. One day we were out while she was holding an open house. We got a call from a friend who stopped by to drop something off. She said "your front door was open so I let myself in. I'm standing in your kitchen looking at your realtor in one of your lounge chairs in the yard with her headphones on sun bathing"

We fired her.

Not soon after I get a knock on the door, she introduces herself as Katie, a local real estate agent. I was just about to tell her to leave when she said "I'm curious, I pass this house every day, why is it still for sale and why for so cheap?"

I invited her in. We signed up. By the following weekend she'd brought a dozen buyers and I had an offer for full price the next week. Ended up booting that buyer because he was a jerk and she found me another buyer who bought the place for $10k over asking.

You're driving yourself crazy trying to find an individual buyer's agent with that "bullseye" buyer, and just paying them 3%. So, you are talking to 20 agents who "may" have a buyer.

Here's what I am picturing:
- You don't put a lot of value on your time
- You're dealing with agents who don't put a lot of value on their time
- It isn't working, but you are "saving" 3%

You can spin your tires endlessly trying to find that ONE agent who has the right buyer for your property. He/she may not even know they have that buyer, by the way. The role of the listing agent is to market your property effectively not only to buyers, but to other AGENTS as well; that last part is more important than direct to buyer marketing or "boots through the door" approaches. And that's the part that you don't want to pay for, and so you are stuck spending your time with bottom feeders and dupes. Enjoy.

I get 2-3 calls or emails a week from people who say that they'll pay me 2-3% if I have a buyer for their home. I have a concise, polite reply that states that when they are serious about selling, give me a call. I'm not going to lose 2hrs to a phone call and on-site appt for a property that I *might* have a buyer for and a seller who has basically made it clear that they don't see value in what I do. My time is far better spent on PPOT

Oh I think I know what you are getting at now.

There are some discount brokerages that will post your property on MLS for a flat rate, but it's not actually searchable to the lical agents in your area.

Here's what happens:
Your local real estate board has a system that they use to enter properties onto MLS, and search for properties for their buyers.

So, when we list a property, we put it in the system. It *feeds* the listing onto MLS, and also gets sent out directly to buyers who may be set up on searches by their agents. When an agent is looking for a home for their buyers, this is where they look (as opposed to the public MLS site)

If you are using a discount brokerage or FSBO system that has MLS rights, they may be posting the listings on MLS, but not through your local real estate board's internal "feeder" system. This means that LOCAL agents who may have buyers don't know about your listing.

It's not about "turf" or hoarding buyers. We just don't see these listings, because your FSBO site or discount brokerage doesn't want to pay the local real estate board fees or carry the professional liability.

Agents aren't conspriring against these listings. We just don't see them, and they're typically a massive pain in the ass to deal with when we do come across them. Most busy agents don't have the time to screw around with them, so they aren't on our radar.

Hey, just because I am not nice to you that doesn't mean I am not a nice guy. :mad::mad::mad::mad:

For sale by owners always think their house is worth a lot more then others on the market. Never have I seen market value minus agent's fee deducted from the asking price.

I made it a rule to not even look at FISBO's.

As a general rule I find owners to be the worst sellers.

They follow and hover and point out all the things that they think are great about the place.

Sorry, that multi colored octopus looking chandelier and that heinous black and gold velvet wall paper will be the first things to go.

Me too. If my agent wants to talk to them, then fine, but she know how to weed them out after the first 3 sentences.

I did not reach out to any agent
they all came to my door
all were told REPEATLY no listing
I am selling the house advertising showing ect
buyers agents will get the standard fee 3%
NO listing agents wanted needed or tolerated

finally a guy WITHOUT any agent
came saw inspected and bought
no agent ever showed the house

the MLS is a scam as it hides the by owners homes
the system is way to expensive
the 2 broker two salesmen split is about three too many

makes zero sense to me
and is exactly like saying
I will only buy from used car dealers
and never look at a owner selling a car
because of chandelier's
and used car salesmen know all about cars

Makes perfect sense when pretty much every FISBO you've encountered has been an unpleasant experience, not a deal or savings simply because it's a FISBO and there is plenty of alternate inventory to pick from.

There never a deal by buying fromn FSBO is there. Unless its a great or good deal to be had, why does anyone want to go through the trouble. Especially if they are in the business like an agent. This is similar to dealers buying from sellers on craigslist then put em' on their lot. Not going to happen, unless its a great deal to be had.

don't get me wrong, I have nothing against you or what you are doing. Agents and buyers will take the easiest route and the deal is done. Just business, that's all. They are doing the same thing you are doing, maximum $$$ in return.

What percentage of FSBO sellers are willing to list/sell below market since they don't have a chunk of money going towards realtor commissions? If they are listing at comparable prices to everyone else, why go through the hassle of working with a FSBO seller?

Our first two homes we sold by ourselves. In both cases, job changes created an urgency to get out and move quickly. First house in Phoenix we owned for just 1 year and sold to the first viewer - first weekend we ran an add in the paper (yes - long time ago) when mortgages were assumable. We had priced the house to sell quickly, yet still walk away with some funds - basically got our own down payment back. Had a title company do closing for us. Second house (Dallas) - took a few weeks longer - maybe a month, but same situation. Again - ad in paper got some interest, closing done by attorney.

But both cases, sold the house under market value and walked away with money, which we would have been out of pocket had we listed with an agent.

sorry..didnt mean for this thread to go this way.

my original intent was to illustrate different selling styles.

i LOVE my selling agent. she is the jason bourne of RE agents. i can barely keep up with her.

I have a couple clients who buy through me, but always sell privately. I always advise them on pricing and marketing in exchange for a bottle of scotch. They take my advice and typically sell pretty quickly, but they know how to deal with buyers and buyers agents. IE, get out of the way and shut up. You can't "sell" someone a house. They'll like it or they won't... taking an hour of their time to tell them about every little thing you've done, and where the morning light comes in doesn't help ONE BIT. if anything, it generally kills any chance of the buyer picturing themselves there. Shut up and let them soak the place in.

The role of a listing agent is to market the property to attract the RIGHT buyers. Once the buyer is through the door, a good agent is pretty damn quiet. It's *nothing* like the BS on HGTV.