'For Sale by Owner' savings when cooperating with Buyer agents.

Through conversations with home owners who are attempting to selling their homes by themselves, rather than listing their retaining a realtor and interestingly, it never occurred to them that you can have agents bring in potential home buyers even when you are doing a "f.s.b.o." They thought it had to be either all (agent for both sides) or nothing (no agent for selling or buyer side). The fee which sellers pay buyer agents at successful settlement is determined up front. If the seller does not agree to pay the buyer agent a commission, then the buyer agent and buyer must come to an agreement on compensation if the buyer purchases their dream home, which happens to be a for sale by owner. There a number of benefits to telling buyer agents that you will cooperate with. In fact, home sellers who are not listing their homes for sale with realtors should still advertise on the internet and on their yard signs that they are cooperating with buyer agents. I saw a sign in my neighborhood that says owner will cooperate with buyers and said to myself that the sellers are smart business people to be so forward thinking. 1. Many prospective buyers are inexperienced at real estate transactions and need a lot of handholding when buying a house. Buyers' agents are good at this. We are talking about first time home buyers and buyers from out of state or out of the country even, who have never bought locally before and or never bought locally. 2. Many prospective buyers are already working with real estate agents, and are expecting their agents to show them all available houses. Unless you offer a commission, these buyers may never learn about your from their agent, unless the agent and his/her buyer make a compensation agreement if the seller will not cooperate with buyer agents. 3. Some prospective buyers are so frightened of making a mistake that they become paralyzed with indecision. A good buyer's agent can help allay their fears and coax them into making an offer. 4. Agreeing to cooperate with agents doesn't prevent you from selling to an unrepresented buyer. You can still work with buyers who don't have agents. It is just important that the seller and buyer both understand and can go smoothly through a contract and the sales process through settlement. 5. By offer to cooperate with buyer agents, you may be able to purchase from a limited service's broker/company the right to place your home on M.L.S. for sale and advertise the home for buyer agents to notice. If your home isn't in M.L.S., you are missing a huge pool of potential buyers who have agents looking out for them. All realtors should put their listings in M.L.S. and many more real estate websites to grab the biggest pool of clients, with stronger internet marketing, which is a great value. Still, if you decide not to list (at least try yourself first), put in a full effort to get your home in M.L.S. 6. You can always accept or reject any offer based on price, terms and conditions if you aren't happy with what you might net from the sale or the conditions are too severe. By cooperating with buyer agents, at least you have one person in the transaction that sells real estate for a living, has access to and knows the sales contract very well. Furthermore, the agent can coordinate and open the door for appraisal and inspections so seller doesn't have to coordinate his day schedule, which could involve staying home from work, cancelling other plans. Agents earn their commission not just through having a buyer, but being involved in the entire sales process from contract signing to settlement. I am meeting an owner tonight to review and hopefully execute a contract from one of my buyers. He is delighted that I found a buyer for his home and hopefully the deal works. Any time you want to chat about real estate, either as a seller, buyer or renter, whether you are thinking of moving, have questions or even have friends to referral, please let me know. I am here to help and make a difference. Adam Call: (301)943-4370 (301)718-4100 adambashein@mris.com www.basheinhomes.info Adam Bashein Licensed in MD & DC Weichert Realtors