FSBO’s keep more money selling on their own

There’s no doubt about it. More home sellers are choosing to take matters into their own hands and sell their homes by themselves. Two changes in the way property can be marketed are making them more successful.

One, the Internet allows For Sale By Owners (FSBOs) unprecedented access to the marketplace. No longer are home sellers at the mercy of local real estate agents who once stood at the gates to the real estate transaction with their control of information about which properties were for sale. Promoting a property nationally is now as easy as posting on a web classified site like Craig’s List or even creating your own web page.

The second factor increasing FSBO’s success rate are the availability of "a la carte" real estate services. No longer are real estate tools and services available in a "one size fits all" model whereby sellers pay a real estate broker a relatively large commission for a suite of services. Now, in most states, (see limited service article) home sellers can choose which tools and services they want from a variety of models.

Most importantly, FSBO’s now have access to the Mutliple Listing Service (MLS) through online companies offering flat fee MLS listing. Companies, like InSightMLS.com, offer a way for home sellers to list their property alongside traditional real estate agents properties in the MLS for a one-time, flat rate. An MLS listing provides the greatest marketing exposure possible by promoting homes to all of the area real estate agents and their buyers.

For added exposure, most MLSs also provide listing on Realtor.com, the number one real estate website in the world with over 6,000,000 unique visitors per month.

With the marketing exposure problem solved, it’s a matter of home sellers educating themselves enough to handle the more subtle aspects of the real estate transaction. Many online guides are available to assist the FSBO seller. As they say in real estate licensing school: "It ain’t brain surgery".

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