FSBOs: Few And Far Between But Worth Checking Out
Time to check in on homes that are for sale by owner (FSBO) in Berkeley and north Oakland.
The obvious advantage to a homeowner of handling the sale of their home is that they avoid having to pay real-estate agent fees. But there are potential benefits for a buyer too, so it’s always worth keeping an eye on these listings.
As a buyer you may also end up saving money as the seller often factors an agent’s commission into their asking price. This isn’t a consideration for a FSBO. Your questions about the house will be addressed to the seller, not a middleman, and subsequent negotiations will also be between the two parties. (Depending on how much you enjoy negotiating, this could be seen as a benefit or a disadvantage.)
Of course real-estate agents will argue that there are many reasons why it is preferable to have one of them on board when you are looking to buy. And I’m not one to disagree. It’s just horses for courses as far as I’m concerned, and if one of these homes grabs your fancy there’s no reason not to pounce:
1840 63rd Street (between Dover Street and MLK ) is a 1/1, 900 sq ft apartment for $415,000 ($461/sq ft).
17 Neva Court in Montclair is a freshly listed 4/3, 2,452 sq ft single family home for $1,395,000 ($569/sq ft).
6041 Fairlane Drive also in Montclair is a 4/1, 4,200 sq ft modern-Tudor home priced at $1,995,000 ($475/sq ft).
[Photo credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org]
David said:
I happen to think that with an MLS listing and half a brain to preparing your house for a sale, just about anyone could sell his/her house. I did.
But then again, I see these pictures of people’s houses that are being sold by an agent with appliances and food (!) out on the kitchen counter, towels on the floor in the bathroom and an exterior that hasn’t been touched up in 30 years and I wonder who has any common sense out there.
June 11, 2008 8:06 PM
tracey.taylor said:
David: I agree and disagree. I think there is something to be said for putting the whole business into the hands of the experts. A good agent will be able to offer precious advice on presentation, pricing and timing — not to mention organize stagers, open days etc. And there are people out there who need — or at least are willing to pay for — this sort of guidance.
On the other hand there are those, like yourself, who have the savvy to do it themselves.
I would love to see some stats on how people fare financially when they go it alone rather than with an agent.
June 12, 2008 9:23 AM