OT** FSBO Purchase Agreement ** OT

We sold a condo in Chicago (on Craigslist) 10+ years ago. The buyers had a realtor, so they submitted the offer. Our backup was to use a standard template available online. We did have a lawyer review it before accepting, to cover our bases. The lawyer cost ~$300 at that time, but was far less than what we would have paid a realtor.

Used a realtor on my 1st home purchase and wrote him a check for $16,000 for showing my house twice and showing up for closing. That's like $4,000 an hour.

On my 2nd home purchase we met the seller at our lawyers office and wrote a check for $300. No realtor.

As a seller I'd never use a realtor again.

Visit a transaction brokerage real estate office or just use a title company. If an agent isn't going to represent either party, they can just act as a transaction broker for a flat fee. They can use the local board forms and make it easy. I've done plenty of deals like that for local folks where they just needed me to do the paperwork for them.

Yeah I'd usually charge like $400-500 if it was a piece of property between family members....cash deal, no inspections, that kind of thing. More like $1000-1500 if it was going to be work though. Theres still liability and duties for me even as a transaction broker.

@ColtsFan where you at? I can see if we have an office in your town. I'll can call the broker and see if it's anything they can help with.

You do not understand the costs or hours associated with listing, advertising, contracts, etc. Not to mention the commision splits involved in a transaction. I have generally found a good realtor is able to maximize my selling price limit my liability, and ensure everything happens in the required time lines. There are a lot of "door openers" who are definitely not worth their commision, that is why you should interview first and understand what they are providing.

I have bought 2 FSBO houses and was very happy. The homes sat on the market even though they were priced under market value, but lack of exposure, poor presentation, and hard to reach sellers worked heavily in my favor when it came to final negotiations. A good realtor would probably have sold their house months sooner and easily 5-10% higher on price.

With that said, if I was in @ColtsFan 's position and I was happy with the price I would find a transaction coordinator or a realtor who would work the deal for $500 or so. Let them schedule everything, do the paperwork and coordinate with Title.

*Full disclosure, I have friends who are escrow officers, title officers, real estate attorneys, loan officers, brokers, and real estate agents. I have seen deals go side ways and they can get messy. I find representation beneficial, but then again I also use a CPA and a tax attorney instead of TurboTax. I may just be old school.

Here's somebody that gets it......Anytime I've listed a house, I've more than paid for myself with the 3.3% that we get on the listing side. We advertise the hell out of the listing, advertise the good points, get great photography, stage the house, negotiate with the other side (keeping the emotional buyer and seller out of it), and then save the seller money by negotiating the inspection resolution & title fees. Good Realtors pay for themselves 2x over.

On a $300K house, it's $10K for the sell side.....but I maybe got $20-30K more for that house than you would have on your own. Not because I'm snake or anything, I just have access to a lot more places to target advertise and have the credentials/experience to back up the listing price. Buyer's agents don't want to deal with the seller directly. Regardless of how nice you are, you're labeled as cheap, uneducated, and unreasonable on the price. Plus, that agent gets stuck with twice as much work, liability, etc, and only one side of the commission. So, buyer's agents do NOT want to show FSBO houses and that's a major problem for sellers.

Yes, there are a lot of crappy realtors out there......tour guides and chauffeurs with a license. Get a referral and do your homework before hiring ANYONE to be your fiduciary. Just because somebody's "friend" is a realtor, doesn't mean they are any good at it. And just because they have a billboard, radio ad, or other flashy advertising, that doesn't mean anything either.

Great thread, thank you for posting.

I have garnered significant insight on an exercise I have had some concerns about which we will be considering, as we move towards retirement.

In a neighborhood such as ours, where homes receive offers, and typically are agreed upon in less than 24 hours after being listed, it really makes you reconsider how you may wish to sell your property.

This has been a very interesting read for My Beautiful Wife and I.

I certainly appreciate the shared experiences and insight.