With the market hot, it seems like a seller can save some serious coin if selling a without a realtor. By looking at the comps , a savvy seller should be able to piece the property accurately. Especially if you’re in a desirable area , you might not need a realtor to get you offers. Or am I wrong and one should use a realtor to sell?
OT: For sale by owner ?
- Thread starter Plum Street
- Start date
Oh boy- that is a tough one...First and foremost- you are limiting exposure to 50x potential buyers. And 9 out of 10 times, people really do believe they know more than the experts, and they really don't. But, in the right situation and property, it could still work out for the best.
Also- having a really good realtor can be huge during negotiations. Both to get what you want and sometimes, keep your expectations in reality.
Realtor's do nothing in NJ but show you the house. We sold our last house, and bought our current house, without realtors being used.
probably still need to pay buyers realtor or you won't get traffic and offers.
I may be wrong but if you do a fsbo and a buyer comes in with a realtor, you are not obligated to pay them but it may be something the buyer tries to put in the offer.
No realtor in their right mind is goin to show a FSBO without knowing if they're going to get a cut, or not, I can tell you that firsthand.
I am not a realtor so no skin in the game but a blanket statement like this is kind of silly. Isn't it similar to saying- I hope schooled my kid, paid teachers don't do a thing in NJ...
There are some very worthless realtors- I have seen some showing houses that completely look like crap and they have no back ground information. On the other hand- when you have a true professional, they are worth every penny.
Nothing? Really? Okay. Come spend a week with me and I'll show you "nothing." What an ignorant comment.
P.S. - you can respond to all of my post 11PM and pre-7AM texts and calls while we're at it! SMDH
So basically you’re gonna have to pay the plus/minus 3 percent commission anyway to the seller’s realtor .
Seems like the only way it would work is if you had a buyer lined up without realtor ? Which is in most cases not the case .
This was coming directly from a close friend of over 20 years who is the #1 realtor in one of the best markets in NJ for over a decade. Lawyers write the contracts in NJ.
Agree- they would most likely require a buyers agent contract in place. And you would know better than me but I would assume that a buyer could put 1/2 that fee into their offer? Is that legal? thanks
I should have been more specific. But they do not write the contracts, the lawyers are the necessary part of real estate transactions in NJ.
WRONG. Lawyers DO NOT "write the contracts." WE DO. Lawyers handle any additional provisions in a "rider" during Attorney Review. Apparently your "friend" is either a) made up or b) full of ****.
Realtors write the offers but of course a lawyer writes a contract...what legally binding agreement is not written by a lawyer?
Not made up at all. And we sold our house and bought our house without agents, and I have sold and bought with agents.
But yes good agents can be a huge benefit, but in NJ are not necessary.
I've actually never done one (tried to avoid FSBO's if at all possible; the owners tend to be complete PITA's) so would have to defer that response to another agent here who may be more familiar BUT I believe that's how it would work.
It’s always amazed me that agents have managed to withstand tech/evolution and at the same time somehow continue to charge commissions that are way too high given the amount of work they typically do.
you may be correct here...lawyers are at least reviewing and then doing revisions/provisions. Most that work in the business actually say lawyers are the ones that are least needed. lol
I'm not saying that you can't sell your own home without an agent (and congrats on doing so...). I'm talking about your comments above, which I clearly quoted, regarding lawyers "writing the contracts." That is, factually, 100% INCORRECT.
By the way, I’m not saying agents don’t serve a role. I’m just saying I would expect tech to largely displace them or force commissions down.
I write contacts all the time so, yes, I am "correct" lol! Lawyers do very little in NJ, actually, as the Title Agents do as much if not more than they do.
When we were selling last year and also looking- we did look at a couple of FSBO and you are 100% correct. Usually the most arrogant ignorant people around. They know better than everyone and can do everything better. Usually, not willing to negotiate at all.
"Tech" has been trying to do this, for a decade now, and not succeeding very well to be 100% honest.
I apologize for the confusion. And in previous purchases we did use a very good real estate agent (the one I mentioned before). I should have been much more less absolute with my wording.
Crazy thing is there are parts of the country that charge a much higher % than we do in most of NJ!
Totally agree - real estate agents are one of the few industries that have managed to give tech the middle finger. IMHO, while I value the role of a real estate agent, I do feel that commissions are most times not commensurate with the amount of work involved. Also, not saying it matters, but there are little to no barriers to entry. My buddies wife was a hair dresser for 20 years and now she’s handling million dollars sales.
All good buddy; just wanted to make that very clear! Essentially in a purchase it goes like this:
Agent - educates buyers on the entire home-purchasing process and takes buyers out (I'll start doing monthly "First Time Home Buyer" seminars again next month!); submits "offer to purchase/sell" contracts; connects with preferred lawyer and lender of choice: offers multiple (legally MUST do this) inspection contacts for buyer inspection; acts as intermediate between buyer/lawyer/lender/title during inspection/appraisal/closing process
Lawyer - reads over contract and adds pre-written rider. Typically there will be a couple of changes made to rider, between lawyers, and AR is concluded quickly. If there are inpsection issues, however, they will be hashed out between buyer and seller via lawyers
Appraiser - appraises
Lender - lends (kidding just a bit; they've got a ton of paperwork and paper trail stuff to do that I do not envy)
Title - assures that property is clear of any and all leins, etc., and puts together paperwork for closing; typically conducts closing along with lawyers
I've purchased two homes FSBO and will look to do it again.
Agents and realtors fill in the blanks on contract templates that were written by...lawyers.
Agents and realtors fill in the blanks on contract templates that were written by...lawyers.
Last edited:
How are title companies still relevant? I once read that something like 2% of all fees collected go towards claims, meaning that unless something is REALLY screwy there is almost never a title issue. I’ve been waiting for blockchain to put title companies out to pasture.
In a hot market you might get lucky and find someone local willing to do a direct sale, but otherwise its free to the buyer to have a realtor act as their agent and make sure they aren't getting screwed in any number of ways. I tried FSBO - actually had fantastic traffic, perfect pricing, and the house showed well. I was even offering buyers realtors a commission. The second I gave in and handed it to a realtor we had an offer at asking price. The fix is in.
I have a family member that's an agent. No chance I would ever do that job. She deals with so many crazy people who either think their house is worth more than it is, or people who want a house but don't want to pay up. She can spend hours on a deal, and if it falls through she doesn't get a dime.
We sold without a realtor. We asked our Lawyer before hand and she said, Realtors do absolutely nothing but turn a key. That she's the one who writes all the contracts and where to send payments for escrow and such.
So we simply hired our Lawyer to do the real estate work and buyer agreed to do the same on their end. Buyer hired inspectors and such we negotiated ourselves. Lawyers hashed it out and handled everything from there. We made out without the 5% going to the person turning the key.
Try dealing with renters in Hoboken the past 6-7 months. Complete insanity and the expectations from these kids, graduating college the last 2 years, is stunning. They want everything for absolutely nothing.
Sold my first 2 properties w/o broker. One in the city and one in Hoboken. Very commoditized markets during housing boom. Sold my third lace in Hoboken in 2012 with realtor. Challenging housing market and needed to sell fast. It all depends on the situation and market you are in. Also, finding a good broker is hard. I interviewed 6 brokers for my listing in 2012. I was impressed with 2 out of the 6.
Simply not true, again. A "contract of sale" is pre-written for the most part, a standard contract used in NJ (like most every other state), which we (the realtors, NOT the lawyers) fill out and includes details for escrow which is sent to the attorney's address that is listed on their website. Dear Lord lol!
"Turning the key.' Again, an ignorant statement from your lawyer (who, BTW, made $$$ on the deal, correct?).
I bought 4 properties and the first thing my attorney does is void the contract the realtor prepared. A good realtor isn’t about the legal stuff. A good realtor needs to understand the market and have a list of buyers.
My Lawyer handled all of that they didn't need you to sign anything or fill anything out. We didn't need a Realtor for any of what you're saying. Yes $1200. There would have been a lawyer's fee even if a relator did the transaction on top of their 5%. So ignorant, No. There's nothing the parties involved needed from a Relator except accepting our 5% to turn a key.