For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Is It Worth It?
Selling a house without a Realtor is an intriguing thought, especially in the Vancouver area. There’s plenty of demand and countless stories of properties selling in record time for over-asking. So how hard can it be? Here are some things to consider before selling your own home in Vancouver.
The first thing people get excited about is saving on the realtor commission. When selling your own home you must factor in the costs to do so. These costs are often proportional to the cost of hiring a Realtor. Hiring a Realtor also provides access to a professional network beyond what you may have access to from a simple post online.
Open houses, professional home-staging, walk-through pictures and videos, signage and more help get your listing in front of as many eyes as possible.
The main benefit though is having a professional that’s in your corner, fighting for the best possible deal for you. With a realtor this is happening 24/7 while you live your life, work and play. Taking on the responsibility of selling your home adds more stress and takes up your limited amount of available time.
Selling your house without a realtor is an intriguing thought, especially in the Vancouver area. There’s plenty of demand and countless stories of properties selling in record time for over-asking. So how hard can it be? Here are some things to consider before selling your own home in Vancouver.
The Cost of Selling a house without a Realtor in Vancouver
High-end real estate is all about presentation and marketing plays a primary role is distributing that message to potential buyers. In today’s market there are many marketing costs to consider when listing a home:
- Media production: professional real estate photography + professional video listings → cost about $750-$1000
- Drone footage – $400
- Floor plan/3D floor plan of matterport virtual tours – $500+
- Home design consultation, As a realtor we offer a free consultation for our clients: $300
- Legal documents:
- Title search
- Strata plan, if you are selling a strata unit, condo development the prospective buyers will ask for strata-related documents. The cost is between $300-$400 to the management company to obtain these files.
- As you can gather the initial cost/investment to gather the marketing elements are between 2500-3000 and you haven’t stated to market your home yet.
Marketing Channels for Selling a House in Vancouver
If you decide to sell without the help of a realtor here are some marketing channels you can try:
Exposure is the name of the game…you would want to expose your listing to as many potential buyers as possible:
- Social media exposure: FB/Instagram/marketplace
- Local Directories
- Home and Garden publications
- Targeted paid marketing like google pay-per-click campaigns.
- Network groups a personal connection reach.
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Selling a House Without a Realtor: Should You Offer Compensation to The Buyers Realtor?
If you’re a home owner who has decided to sell a house without a realtor it’s usually try to save on Real Estate Commission. Although the commission is paid by the seller it is typically split between the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent. If you try to sell without a realtor, for sale by owner still would benefit from offering 50% compensation to the buyer’s representative.
- Buyers would feel more comfortable dealing with an independent representation
- Defer liability on disclosure topics you may or may not be aware of. The exposure to potential law suites is something to consider.
- Buyers agent, naturally would be motivated to introduce your home to their clients only if they get paid.
Pricing: For Sale by Owners in Vancouver Save on Commission But Often LOSE on Sale Price.
One advantage to listing with realtors is the MLS exposure – the reach to over 15,000 realtors in Greater Vancouver that might have a buyer for your home. Realtors also have more long-term and in-depth knowledge of average home prices in your area. This could factor into your selling strategy.
- Price it right: using a realtor you can assure to have a list price that is data-driven and accurate.
- Potential of capitalizing on a sellers market and generate multiple offers and above asking.
Case Study:
Recently we introduced home buyers to a house for Sale in Kitsilano – a highly sought-after neighbourhood in Vancouver’s Westside. The house was on a very small lot and had few challenges. The list price was purposely low to generate a lot of interest from the listing group.
The results: sale price $500,000 above asking and about $100,000 above the true market assessment.
Professional Skills and Expertise Selling Real Estate
Any property or home for sale by owner should be aware that selling real estate is not like any other product you may have dealt with.
- It is the very emotionally loaded process for prospective buyers.
- By separating the sellers and the buyers directly dealing with each other the chance of the deal going sideways due to emotion is much lower.
- Legal documents knowledge and execution → complex process that require expertise.
- Personal network and connection of the realtor and the brokerage
- Vast network of highly-receptive audience.
Conclusion
We here at Jacob + Jacky recognize the appeal of saving thousands in commissions by selling privately.
However, after the potential sale is complete you still need to provide 50% commission to the buyers Realtor. So when envisioning the potential savings you’re actually saving only 50% of the potential commission. From the 50% typically reserved for the sellers realtor you must now pay for all costs mentioned above such as marketing, listing costs, and fees. This potential loss can be further compounded if the property perhaps could of been sold at a higher price if a more prime pricing strategy was applied by a knowledgeable Realtor like the ones found here at Jacob + Jacky.
