You’re selling your home as a FSBO (for sale by owner) and you get annoyed when real estate brokers call you, right? That’s a reasonable response when you’re doing all the work to market your property to save thousands of dollars in broker commissions˳ However, when a “buyer broker” calls, you might want to listen˳
Why Listen
To understand why I say that, we need to understand the functions of “listing brokers” and “buyer brokers˳” Real estate brokers can and do serve both functions, though some specialize˳
Some brokers who call you are interested in listing your home˳ They want to market your home for you˳ The amount of commission charged for this service varies, but where I live, most brokers list homes for a commission of 6 percent of the sales price˳ When the home sells, if another brokerage firm has brought the buyer to the deal, the listing broker pays the selling broker half or 3 percent˳
When you’re successfully operating as a FSBO, you’re getting folks to come and look at your house, or condo, or whatever, and you don’t need a listing agent˳ However, what if you’ve been doing this for a while and none of the lookers has been converted to a buyer? What then?
Well, if a broker calls you and says he or she is working with buyers and they’d like to be able to show your home, maybe you should consider it˳ They probably only expect about half the typical listing commission˳ That still allows you to save serious money˳ Perhaps you can even negotiate down a bit from half˳ This is especially true if your home is appropriately priced above the average price for a home in your area˳ In my area where 3 percent to a selling broker is frequently acceptable, I’ve seen brokers accept 2˳5 or even 2 percent˳ It doesn’t hurt to ask˳
As a bonus in that situation, you get someone who is knowledgeable about the process with an interest in getting the deal to settlement˳ True, they don’t represent you˳ They represent the buyer, but the buyer wants your home and the broker wants a payday˳ In short, the buyer broker has incentive to put an oar in when problems arise˳
Don’t misunderstand me˳ I’m not for one second suggesting that you pay more than is necessary to sell your home˳ At first, take names and phone numbers of “buyer brokers” who call you˳ Then, if you find you need to, call back the ones who impressed you˳
There is a middle ground between going it alone and listing with a broker˳ If you find you need to, this middle ground can be worth exploring through buyer brokers˳
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