What does For Sale By Owner refer to today?
In the old days (pre-internet ) homeowners had two choices when selling their home. They could sell by listing with a local broker for a commission commonly set at 6% or 7% (or higher) or they could sell as a For Sale By Owner with no commission but with extremely limited marketing exposure, usually through the classifieds section of the local paper. It was an all or nothing proposition, either you listed at a high commission and received wide market exposure through MLS or you paid no commission and had a yard sign from the hardware store and a classified ad.
Today, For Sale By Owner marketing has become synonymous with a savvy, self-directed homeowner, who is well informed on real estate issues and is taking steps to sell their home quickly, for the highest price possible, and with the lowest cost of sale. Even marketing channels like MLS and Realtor.com are now available to For Sale By Owner sellers creating a hybrid method that uses a mix of For Sale By Owner and realtor marketing.
Critical concepts for anyone considering selling by owner
The first step in successfully selling as a for sale by owner is to become informed.
There are hundreds if not thousands of for sale by owner and flat fee mls companies that you can find online. It is easy to feel overwhelmed when doing searches related to for sale by owner services.
Always keep your goal in mind, -you want to sell your home and you want to do so with the lowest possible cost of sale. Many homeowners who want to sell by owner do not take the time to become informed and simply sign up with the lowest cost for sale by owner or flat fee mls website that they find online. Most of these websites live in internet obscurity, have no brand name recognition, and generate very little traffic.
The value in a for sale by owner website can be measured in their brand name recognition and the traffic
they generate. If you are using a flat fee mls service along with your for sale by owner marketing you still want to give yourself the best opportunity to sell by owner and pay no commission ( assuming you are offering a commission to buyer agents in MLS)
In terms of pure For Sale By Owner marketing, the website with the greatest brand name recognition and highest traffic count is ForSaleByOwner.com. They offer several levels of service but I highly recommend that you consider the packages which also include exposure on Realtor.com.
Being listed on both ForSaleByOwner.com and Realtor.com is an extremely powerful combination and will give you the best marketing exposure for the money. Although the service is more expensive than many other for sale by owner or flat fee mls services, their brand name recognition and expansive marketing reach makes it a better value than any other service.
Please browse our other articles and postings for more information and advice on selling for sale by owner.