Is FSBO the right strategy for every Silicon Valley home owner?

Are you tempted to sell your Silicon Valley home yourself?   Would you bother with a FSBO sales if you could net the same amount you expect?

A recent survey of Marin County home owners in March 2014 showed 59% of home owners would be interested in exploring for sale by owner.  But why then FSBO.com only shows a total of 47 homes for sale in California?   Perhaps the same reason why you no longer mow your own lawn applies to why you will opt to sell your own home either cause you simply are not equipped to get the same results.

With that in mind, let’s explore some of the critical items associated with a FSBO (For Sale By Owner):

Pricing:  Most home owners have an emotional attachment to their home which blinds them to the utility value of a home from another buyers perspective.  Our neighbor in Los Gatos refused to take our recommendation to list his home for $1.3M and watched his home stay on the marketed for 9 months after listing it for $1.6M.  The home sold for 1.4M after 3 price reduction.   He would have been able to fetch a higher value within 1 week if he had allowed us to list his home for $1.3m.

Unqualified Buyers:  How can you tell the difference between a wholesale buyer or a real buyer?  Do you have experience in completing due diligence on buyers and their proof-of-funds?  There are plenty of fake proof-of-funds in the market that investors use to hold up properties.

Marketing Challenge:  MLS is still the best marketing channel for selling residential homes.  In fact, homes listed on MLS are selling at 97% of the list price.   Some FSBO services do offer MLS listings but your home might not be included in broker tours that generates huge interest among the locally active agents.

Disclosures:  If you are unable and willing to disclose the problems associated with the property, the buyers have up to 5 years to file a law suit for recovery of fees and commissions along with damages.  Do you want to take that risk? and challenge.

Lack of Experience:  Odds are that selling your home is your largest financial transaction but it’s not your full time job.  So, what will be your strategy to deal with low-ball offers?  How will you know which offers are worth countering ?!  How will you negotiate the terms of the contract?  How will you handle request for credit on the problems discovered during inspection?

Contact Us if you would like to discuss your Silicon Valley home sale.

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