Understanding the benefits.
For Sale by Owner?
260-312-0714
What are the benefits of buying directly from a home owner?
There are many benefits from buying directly from the home owner without using a Realtor. The biggest benefit? You don't have to pay a Realtor their fees. Standard commission paid to Realtors averages from 6% to 7% in this area, depending on who you use. This means that you are paying them quite a bit for their services. And if you finance your loan through a bank, the amount you pay to a Realtor is essentially trippled over the life of your loan (by what you pay in interest).
But Aren't Realtors Necessary?
Yes, Realtors help navigate the ins and outs of the closing. But mainly, Realtors provide the marketing for the home owner to find a suitable buyer - because the marketing is the hard part in selling a home.
Basically, Realtors help home owners market their homes.
But what if you don't need the marketing services from a Realtor? Say, for example, you are able to create your own website and do your own marketing to find a buyer (like we have done here).
Then, what benefit would a Realtor provide?
Other than marketing, what benefits do Reators provide?
The second benefit (first being marketing) that a Realtor provides is helping to navigate the logistics involved with the closing of the home, such as the sales contract. The title work and mortgage recording will all be handled by your mortgage company and the title company you hire - this is exactly how it works when a Realtor is involved. This means that a Realtor really provides two main benefits: 1) they market the home for the seller and 2) they help with the sales contract.
We don't need marketing, so we prefer not to pay for it.
As we have made our own website and are handling the marketing on our own, the first benefit of a Realtor really isn't needed. And frankly, we really don't want to pay for it. Therefore, we can look to see if the second benefit is needed.
And maybe it is. It probably is.
As I have worked in the mortgage/loan industry for over a decade, it is easy for me to understand the ins and outs of a home purchase. But a buyer (like you) may not have that benefit.
So we have a solution.
Our Alternative to Using a Realtor for Marketing
We have partnered with a Realtor who is willing to assist with the sales contract portion of the transaction - leaving the marketing to us alone.
Yes, a Realtor is willing to help us with the sales contract and reduce their fee since they won't be helping with the marketing.
This means that the fee to the Realtor is much, much less than the average 6% or 7%.
What Additional Resources are available for FSBO Buyers?
Fortunately, as a buyer, you have many resources that can assist you in buying a home directly from the owner. For example, www.forsalebyowner.com has a great guide for buyers - click here.
Who Are We?
Our names are Adam & Jessica Witmer and 308 W Gale St was our home for over 9 years. As you can guess, we are creatives who wanted to dive into the world of FSBO (for sale by owner) and try to do marketing on our own. Maybe it won't work and we will get a Realtor. Fine. We just wanted to give it a shot as we love online marketing, have experience with mortgages/lending, and have sold homes on our own before with great success for both the buyer and seller.
There are two ways to contact us: call the number listed above or submit your e-mail address in our form. Whatever works best for you.