WHAT'S A 'FIZBOW'?
In today’s world where we all seem to be moving at the speed of sound, attention spans are short and acronyms are king. LOL, or laugh out loud, for example, is probably the most used. Followed by IMHO (“in my humble opinion”) and BOGO (“buy one get one”), one of my personal favorites. Make no mistake, acronyms have been around for a very long time and some have even become part of our lexicon, such as “NATO” or “TGIF”. As Realtors, one acronym we see and hear far too often is FSBO. 'For Sale By Owner'.
Most agents will tell you that just about everyone wants to talk real estate. The other day one of my neighbors was telling me he is getting ready to put his home up for sale and was quick to mention the many brokers who have knocked on his door, stating “There is not one chance in hell I would hire a real estate agent just to pay them a commission for doing nothing…”
After gently reminding him what I do for a living, I asked, “How do you plan to attract buyers? How will you market your property? Are you planning on hosting multiple open house events?" His responses came in the form of shoulder shrugs...
“These days there sure is a lot of paperwork to deal with. Do you have somebody you trust who is comfortable with the legal language contained in the documentation related to selling a house?” I queried. “Sellers want the very best price for their home and buyers want the very best value, so how would offers and counter-offers be handled? Any thoughts on who you or your prospective buyer(s) might want to use for Escrow? Title insurance? Appraisals? Contingencies? Repairs? Home warranty? Retrofit inspection? 9A inspection? Termite inspection? Plumbing inspection? Inspection inspection?” The shoulder shrugs were now replaced by a blank stare…
The plain and simple truth is just putting a For Sale sign out on your front lawn does not guarantee your house will sell. In fact, most buyers use the WWW - while agents use the MLS - to find an SFR or MFR. Very few are out driving around on a Saturday and/or Sunday looking for that needle in a haystack (NIAH?). Because they fly so far under the radar, FSBO's are difficult to find and in some cases dealing with an owner/seller can prove to be frustrating. End of the day, serious home buyers and sellers fully understand the necessity of having an experienced Realtor in their corner.
After a few minutes of discussion, my neighbor relented, “There is quite a bit to think about, I guess,” and then confessed, “you know, I don’t even know what my house is worth or what I would plan to sell it for.” By the end of the conversation my neighbor was asking about the commission when I represent someone who is selling their home. The answer did not bring a shoulder shrug or blank stare. Instead he said, “That doesn’t seem so bad. When can we get started?”
"ASAP" I exclaimed.
Scott Goldman is a California Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California.