FSBOs Drop In Craigslist Listings – As the Housing Crisis Continues
In the early days of the housing crunch, the number of houses “For Sale By Owner” were legion. As I have continued to monitor this and the housing crunch continued, the number of homes listed by owner on Craigslist have visibly declined.
Why? Those who really HAVE to sell in this market have realized that the services of a professional are warranted, as a real estate agent skilled in the area and neighborhood bring value that was previously unrecognized. Every advantage is needed to sell for the best possible price in a down market.
Also, the properties that represented “casual sales” have all sold at this point in time, and now, no one is listing a property for sale that is not a serious need. Serious needs call for serious methods – that means a traditional realtor with proven methods.
Although Craigslist continues to be a viable method for getting attention for a property on the market – most listings on Craigslist in the last several weeks have also been MLS listings – a dramatic deviation from the early crisis days when sellers thought they would have an edge by selling themselves and cutting out a realtor “deal”.
The good that will come from this shift is this – many will realize that there is great value to be had by enlisting the services of a professional – while still realizing that the traditional methods of selling real estate put too much of the profits into the pockets of the “old-school” realtors. Under “old school” methods – roughly 9% of the selling price of your home ended up in pockets other than yours.
Enter Redfin – with a fresh new approach – and lowered commission rates. As the French say, “Voila!”.
As everything in their world becomes streamlined through the Internet and the housing crisis deepens – WHY would consumers stick with the “old school” approach that costs them money?
The answer is that they won’t – any more than the buyers of the 1920s would continue to buy buggies when the new Model Ts became available.
