The FSBO Blog

I haven’t been able to confirm these numbers yet, but a press release from a large For Sale By Owner advertising site presented data showing that the number of homes being sold by owner is up signficantly. One of the sources cited was the largest maker of “For Sale By Owner” yard signs - who reported 20% growth in sales of that item in the last year.

If I can find or confirm this information from a source other than some company’s marketing department, I’ll post more details.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

I almost hesitate to point out this release, for fear of giving it more attention/credibility than it deserves. But this press release yesterday from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is just so comically desparate that I have to. Even if only for its entertainment value.

It’s entitled, brazenly, “NAR: Buyers Need Real Estate Professionals in the Internet Marketplace.” Of COURSE the NAR would say that!

The picture comes to mind of a grade school bully chasing his former “punching bag” classmate who, during summer break, went through a growth spurt and now towers above the bully - emphatically trying to convince him he still needs to give up his milk money “for his own protection.”

We as consumers are the ones who have undergone a growth spurt called “the internet.” The internet has liberated information only agents had access to for decades — what houses are for sale.

I would offer advice to the NAR on how to better communicate their message and not seem so desparate, but…how would you advise the horse-and-buggy makers to convince people not to use cars, back in the early 1900’s?? It’s just technological progress, and there’s nothing they can do about it. Time to adapt and move on.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Bloh

Scott Wenger, a reporter for the NY Daily News, set out to sell his Manhattan apartment “for sale by owner”, and chronicle the whole experience in his article “For Sale By Owner.”

“How did I do?” he asks. “The outcome was much different than I - and countless brokers - predicted.” In other words, it was smooth and very successful.

I wrote in this post just 2 weeks ago that if you give “FSBO” a shot, you’ll be hooked. Mr. Wenger’s experience is a perfect example of that, and I’m thrilled to have his 1st person account out for everyone to read.

See? The truth is starting to get out.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

I recieved a press release from Sellsius today. They have opened up their website where more information is now available, and they will be unveiling their new service in December and January. The website (and full press release) is located at www.sellsiusrealestate.com

Looks to be right along the lines of what we’ve been advocating, and very similar to The HomeNet (announced a few weeks ago).

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

Home Owners, if you are contemplating selling your home, you will probably think through the 2 primary options you have: 1. Sell by owner (FSBO), or 2. sell with an agent.

You may have noticed there is an all-out war going on in the real estate industry, between agents, discounters, and FSBO sellers. The industry is in flux, though in a definite transition for the better (for us as consumers, anyway). The battleground is the media - that’s why you see stories like the 20/20 piece last Friday, and almost weekly discussions on the Today Show with the authors of Freakonomics, and why you see sometimes conflicting stories in newspapers from week to week. Each side is fighting for the high ground, which isn’t coming easy for either side.

As consumers, we have the truth on our side: that we can sell our own homes ourselves, just as effectively as a real estate agent. Agents have lots of money and power relationships on their side. Over time, however, the truth always prevails - because we develop creative ways to getting the truth out - such as this blog.

So if you’re noticing the war and wondering who is right and which way you should go, think about this: the only reason just about everyone doesn’t sell By Owner is they have been only been presented the “Agent” side for decades. They have been scared to try selling FSBO because of the Realtor-funded propoganda. The truth, however, is that FSBO is the fastest growing method of selling real estate, because Americans are trying it with the new tools available thanks to the internet, they’re liking it, and they’re talking about it. If you know someone who has sold their home By Owner, you will probably hear from them how simple it was and be encouraged enough to give it a shot yourself.

Many agents will argue that the free market will prevail, and if FSBO was so good then fewer people would be using agents. Not so. Remember that war I mentioned, and how much money and political/media influence the agents have. We are no longer in a free market. Agents have worked very hard to create laws that guarantee their necessity in the world.

John Stossel, co-host of ABC’s 20/20, thought so much of this topic that in addition to the show segment last week, he took the time to write a full-blown op-ed on the subject - “Let the free market be free“, because the TV time didn’t give him enough freedom to say all of what he wanted to say. His article is extremely well written, and does an EXCELLENT job of making the case for freedom of choice in real estate, and that freedom in real estate is something we don’t have right now. It would be nice to “reprint” John’s entire article here, but a link is sufficient - I definitely recommend you go read it.

Wonder how fierce this war is, and how far some agents are willing to go to protect their stake and keep us from having a choice? Read this Wall St. Journal article from today, entitled “Discount real-estate brokers spark a war over commissions“.

The real estate industry is no longer a free market. This, dear reader, is why the Department of Justice has sued the National Association of Realtors.

So as you are trying to decide whether or not to sell By Owner, consider this: there can’t be so many articles from so many sources (which are being chronicled by this blog) about FSBO ease/success without there being a whole lot of merit to what those stories (and this blog) are promoting. And question why agents would tell you how hard it is to buy/sell real estate. Think about it: they’re human, just like you. If they can do it, so can you.

Go ahead…give it a shot - sell By Owner, help your family’s economy by getting thousands of dollars more from the sale of your home! You’ll like it - and then you can be the one on the cutting edge, and have all your friends thank you for the suggestion when they too sell By Owner successfully.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

A few days ago (last Friday), 20/20 ran a segment entitled “Getting Real About Real Estate.”

I thought it was a pretty fair story, though very brief. Yet another sign FSBO is becoming mainstream. Check it out.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog

The Real Estate Cafe has started a 10-day series of posts proposing a “Real Estate consumer’s Bill of Rights.”

If it is credible enough, they’ll submit it as written testimony to the upcoming (October 25, 2005) Competition Policy and the Real Estate Industry workshop being put on by the FTC.

So far the justification for such a bill has been thoroughly presented by the Cafe, so I’ll be watching with great interest (and possibly participating in discussion) as this develops over the next few days.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog