The FSBO Blog

How is it that some real estate agents (including Realtors), those individuals who claim to be tireless public servants with only your safety and best interests at heart, can be so unconcerned with the desires and wishes of their customers??

It seems like the only reason some agents put what little information online they do is so they can get the contact information from visitors to their site, by hiding it behind registration forms. And in some cases sprouting up, even hiding it behind costs - such as this MLS (Multiple Listing Service) in the Northeast. (note: this link will only work while the listing is active. If you get a “listing not found” page, just go to the “Property Finder” link and search for a property to see an example)

Buyers want information. They want information about your house, and they want to be able to find it easily. Realtor.com and most agents are not delivering, so buyers are turning to different sources where they CAN get lots of information. One of the biggest reasons buyers and sellers are attracted to the “For Sale By Owner” option, right behind cost savings, is that For Sale By Owner real estate sites are doing a much better job of making the most information about a property easily accessible to buyers, for free and without registration forms.

If you’re a home seller, you want to get information about your home in front of as many potential buyers as you can. And agents aren’t delivering. A content survey showed that an average of 30% more property information was available from For Sale By Owner sites than from real estate agent sites. Fewer and fewer buyers are looking where only limited information is hidden behind registration forms and fees.

The more information buyers get, the happier they are. And the less they have to give in return, the even happier they are. That is confirmed by this newspaper’s online poll concerning the previously mentioned Northeast region MLS, which found that 92% of people say they should not have to pay for access to property data.

For getting loads of information to buyers, sites like FSBOzone.com and ForSaleByOwner.com are unsurpassed, even by real estate agents.

Why do most agents hide the property information about their listings? Because they think they own it.

(to be continued in next post…)

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

It was inevitable. For those not relocated due to Katrina, life still had to go on, and new controversial issues had to take over the front page headlines. I, for one, am glad not to be the first one to do so, but now that it’s been done we’ll follow.

Thursday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR), challenging a policy that harms consumers by keeping information out of their hands, and out of the hands of innovative people and companies. In other words, it’s about MLS data.

The real issue here is who owns information about your house, as a home owner / seller. Realtors, and even some FSBO advertising companies, think they do. That’s why in some cases they’ve started charging consumers for the ability to search it.

This gets into a whole issue of freeflow of information and what consumers want. Because of that, rather than make a massive post, I want to cover this over a couple of posts I’ve been preparing for a while.

But for more detailed information about the DOJ / NAR legal battle, check out this summary by Steve Kerch at Marketwatch.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

There is a flurry of real estate activity of all sorts in the southeast states, following hurricane Katrina. No doubt this will prove to be a timely post for many buyers and sellers, though it is timeless information.

You’ve advertised your property by owner successfully, you’ve found a buyer, and you’re ready to proceed. Or…you’ve found a property For Sale By Owner, and you’re ready to buy. As you proceed through the transaction, you will very quickly come to one of the most intimidating steps of the process: the paperwork.

The paperwork should not intimidate you. Depending on how comfortable and familiar you are with real estate transactions, different solutions below will seem attractive to you. Each option is rated will be rated on a 5-star system. Regardless of what option you choose, when it comes time to sign the contracts and close the deal, you should absolutely obtain the services of a closing attorney or title company (this is actually required by law, in most areas).

1 star = ideal for people not at all comfortable with real estate paperwork
5 stars = ideal for people completely comfortable with real estate paperwork

Fee-for-Service Agency Contract Work ( * - - - - / * * - - - / * * * - - )
Unfortunately, most real estate agencies have not embraced the fee-for-service model, where you pay only for the services you need/want. But if you happen to have a company locally who provides these discounted services, you may look into it. The going rate completing paperwork and closing a sale like this is somewhere between $500-$1500, depending on the company and location.

Have a Closing Attorney or Title Company Complete All Paperwork ( * * - - - / * * * - - )
If you have a local For Sale By Owner assistance company, call them and ask who they suggest for closing assistance. If you don’t know of a local company, pick up the phone book and call an attorney or title company and ask who typically handles real estate paperwork. They’ll be happy to explain to you the local process, and you can then choose an appropriate company to hire.

Complete the Paperwork Yourself, Take to Closing Company for Closing ( * * * * * )
If you feel confident with the real estate process and just need a brush-up of the laws and forms, you can check your state’s real estate commission website for appropriate forms to download. Forms are also available for some states from mortgage companies, closing attorneys, or FSBO websites like FSBOzone.com.

For the convenience of anyone in areas with the most, fastest activity related to hurricane evacuees, here are links to some of the appropriate real estate commission sites:
Louisiana Real Estate Commission
Mississippi Real Estate Commission
Texas Real Estate Commission
(Alabama is a buyer-beware state, with no property disclosures and no official standard forms)
(Tennessee does not have forms on their real estate commission site)

Once you have the contracts / forms / disclosures ready that apply to your property, talk with the involved mortgage company to make sure financing is ready. They will probably take the lead in scheduling a closing with the appropriate entity. If no lender is involved, then you will just schedule a closing directly. Call the closing attorney or title company, as appropriate, and arrange a time to go over all the documents and then close on the sale.

As locations for state-specific forms appear, I’ll post them.

This blog hasn’t had any postings the last couple of weeks due to all of the current contributors helping out Katrina victims and recovering from the comparatively small impact on ourselves. In light of such urgent needs, somehow FSBO real estate transactions just didn’t seem to be quite so important.

Though now that that the urgent needs have been addressed, the housing needs of those who live(d) on the coast has brought up a whole new wave of questions and issues owners may run into. Not only that, but this has been a very newsworthy week, with the Dept. of Justice filing suit against the National Association of Realtors, and some new technologies and service announcments in the real estate world.

So starting tomorrow, we’ll begin catching up on all these issues.
In the meantime, coming from someone who personally traveled to MS to help and who personally saw all the supplies and people coming in to help those in need: if you gave money or supplies to the Katrina rescue and recovery effort, thank you. Your contributions are making life comfortable for evacuees.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

I know there are tons of sources (much bigger than this blog) saying tons of things about anything related to Katrina and housing for evacuees, but just in case, I want to get the word out about an awesome resource for anyone needing to relocate, long- or short-term:

http://katrinahousing.net/

From their website:

KatrinaHousing.net takes housing postings from all over the web, and puts them together for your easy access.

They have a completely map-based search of available housing from multiple sources, and that site represents everything good about technology and housing. It’s a sign of things to come……

[UPDATE: Another aggregating service for Katrina evacuees is Relief.WelcomeWagon.com. I’m not sure which one is larger and more comprehensive - this one says that among the sites already aggregated are: HurricaneHousing.org, KatrinaHousing.org, HomeRentalAds.com, Katrina-Relocation.com, and KatrinaHome.com.]

Michael Poythress