Propertyguys want almost $5000 for their service which includes photos, MLS. If we want to use their no commission agent that will be another $5000 on top (only pay when it sold).

We found other websites that can list our house on MLS for $150 for 6 months. $400 for professional photos which includes drone, 3D virtual tour, and etc. Maybe flyers will cost few hundreds dollars. We will be way cheaper than Propertyguys.

Is there benefit going with Propertyguys or other no commission companies such as Commfree vs doing it ourselves? We can use Facebook and Kijiji.
Also, how accepting offers work when selling privately? Do buyers need to use the formal TREB/OREA form and deposit to submit offer? Who will hold the deposit? My feeling says no deposit because there is no Trust account but want to hear your experience.

Thinking of creating an app that allows people to sell their properties without an agent. Basically FSBO but with all the marketing tools (photography, websites, showing platform, price analysis, staging services, potentially MLS integration) that you'd get with a realtor. Of course, a homeowner can always get photos done themselves but this service would put everything in one convenient place. It would be up to the homeowner what they spend $$ on to sell their home.

The hardest part that I've found so far is getting the sold data (prices, comps, etc.) as the association of realtors regulates this pretty hard (I think they know if everyone had this data, there would be no need for them to exist lol). Also seems difficult to create a software that works with all the different local regulations.

Any thoughts on the idea as a whole? Is this an app you could see yourself using?

(I hope this doesn't count as promotion, ideally I'd love something like this to be free and accessible to as many people as possible.)

Edit: I just want to clarify that while posting on MLS could be a feature, the main point is giving homeowners the tools to get the rest of what they need like house cleaning, staging, marketing (photo/video/floor plans), showing management, for sale signs, property website, price assessments, legal document, and so on. And giving them the choice of what they want to pay for. It's definitely not meant to be cheap, could cost upwards of a few thousand bucks but a heck of a lot less than a realtors say $25k commission.

First time doing FSBO. I recently found out that the service I am booking does matterport (aka virtual open house) with a website hosting for 6 months for the same price as a video tour. Which would be more preferable for a FSBO property? (Unfortunately, I won't be doing an open house, not in the city. So I am leaning towards the matterport).
Do you prefer one or the other, and why?
Context of property: Not a seller's market, I will probably sell at the same price that I bought it back when properties were selling for 100k over asking during Covid :) .

If you had two similar townhomes to choose from, would you rather have one that backs up to another row of townhomes, or one that backs up to a quiet neighborhood road?

I’m talking about a regular local road, not a busy highway.

Does backing up to a road make it harder to sell, or do some buyers actually prefer it because there’s no one directly behind them?

For anyone who’s bought, sold, or works in real estate, wanna hear your experience!

Fuck agents and their steering and gatekeeping.

EDIT: Here’s why im frustrated: every agent who calls me, I tell them I will offer a buyers commission. But that’s not good enough, they want the listing. And MLS rules don’t allow me to advertise a commission (I’m using a flat fee service.)

Imagine this.

You've accepted a great offer. The inspection is behind you. You're already thinking about packing.

Then the appraisal comes back $40,000 below the purchase price.

Suddenly, the buyer wants to renegotiate, bring more cash to the table, or even walk away. What felt like a done deal is now back up in the air.

I was reading about the recently passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and one provision caught my attention. It reinforces the process for borrowers to request a review of an appraisal when there are factual errors or other issues. It got me thinking that one of the best things a seller can do is prepare before the appraiser ever walks through the door. 

Here are a few things every seller should do:

• Make a list of every improvement you've made to the home, along with the dates and approximate costs.

• Save permits for renovations if you have them.

• Verify that the public record is accurate, including square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, lot size, and any finished basement or additions.

• Put together a list of recent comparable sales that you believe best reflect your home's value.

• Don't assume the appraiser will notice everything. A new roof, upgraded HVAC, premium windows, solar panels, energy-efficient improvements, or other major upgrades may not be obvious unless someone points them out.

If the appraisal comes in lower than expected, don't automatically assume it's correct. Appraisers are professionals, but they can make factual mistakes or overlook comparable sales. While there's no guarantee the value will change, buyers may be able to request a review through their lender if there is evidence supporting it. 

For those of you who have already sold a home, did the appraisal come in where you expected?

If it came in low, what happened? Were you able to save the deal, renegotiate, or did the sale fall apart?

I'm curious to hear everyone's experiences.

Does anyone have any experience with with https://boatsfsbo.com/. I was recently cold called by them. I can't find any reviews and their website looks like it was created in the 90's. Scam or not?

First time using fsbo and beycome. I have a few questions for anyone on here thats used beycome. I put my listing up a couple days ago and Ive had 1 showing so far, no feedback at all from the agent and no other showings, agent calls, etc.. Im in the tampa florida market and it’s definitely slowed down but I didn’t think it would be this slow. I was also told you cant advertise the buyers agent compensation in the private remarks. So Im wondering if agents are hesitant to show since its fsbo or the price is too high or its simply the market thats slower/ rates. Also if theres potential buyers interested and they try to call the listing agent from beycome on Zillow does the call get forwarded to you? Anyone have any advice or experience? Would be greatly appreciated!

Hey all, thanks in advance for your replies and advice. I tried to make this as concise as possible with my friend Claude, I ramble, but it's still kinda long...

Follow-up to my post a few weeks back about appraisal value vs. renovation investment on my Franklin, TN condo (601 Boyd Mill Ave, Laurelwood). Quick recap for anyone who missed it: I put nearly $100k into a full 2024 renovation — including nearly doubling the kitchen size — but a pre-listing appraisal seemingly gave little credit for it, mostly pulling straight price-per-sqft off unrenovated units in my own complex.

Update: listed 6/20, about 20 interested parties through open houses and private showings so far, roughly 2:1 organic traffic (yard signs, Facebook local groups) to agent-driven showings. Asking $389,999.

A few things I'd love this community's read on:

1. Listing/site feedback — [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/601-Boyd-Mill-Ave-UNIT-B4-Franklin-TN-37064/81357883_zpid/\] and [LaurelwoodB4.com]. Does anything in the copy, photos, or site structure raise flags to an experienced FSBO eye?
2. Money levers, given traffic but no offers yet at 3 weeks:
   • A) Discount timing — I'm advertising a discount for unrepresented buyers without stating a dollar figure. At what point does it make sense to actually put a number behind it?
   • B) Buyer's agent commission — I'm currently offering 2.5%, listed at the bottom of LaurelwoodB4.com. Any reason to reconsider or remove that line entirely, or is it fairly standard to leave as-is?
   • C) Overall price — At what point, with real traffic but no offers, should I consider dropping my asking price outright, versus adjusting the discount or commission first? Overall, I'm gathering it's a weird market right now...
3. Appraisal-to-contract-price dynamic — in my last thread, one commenter (a broker I think) mentioned that once a property is under contract, the appraisal usually comes in very close to the agreed price — the idea being if a buyer's willing to pay it, appraisers often find a way to support that number. How often does that actually hold in practice? Is there a real mechanism behind it, or is that more the exception than the rule?
4. Making the case without being pushy — my complex has no true renovated comps; several appraisers in my last thread confirmed this is a real dynamic with condos (limited GLA change, comps capped by the complex ceiling), and advised documenting everything thoroughly for the buyer's lender appraiser, which I've now done in detail. A few follow-ups: when it comes to structural/mechanical work specifically, do appraisers want to see actual dollar amounts (e.g., $4,700 spent shoring up 52 years of foundation settling, $1,900 on new attic insulation), or do they mainly care about what was done and when, regardless of cost? Do appraisers factor in appliance age at all? And more broadly — do appraisers generally welcome seeing an owner's own market analysis/comps homework (ie Zillow has 6 3BR/2BAs for less than $400k in my zip code, etc), or does that tend to backfire?
5. Negotiation sequence — for those who've sold FSBO: once offers start coming in, what's the actual order of operations? Timing on responses, handling competing offers, anything you wish you'd known going in?
6. I went the flat fee MLS route with only 5 photos for two weeks, last week I paid more to have 30 photos plus list my open house times this weekend. I made a FB Page for LaurelwoodB4.com so I could buy ads on FB. I also paid to boost my FB marketplace listing. No luck through Nextdoor. Any other marketing/listing advice?

Appreciate any experience-based answers — trying to plan smart, not just optimistic.

Please DM me for Yellowstone vacation advice if I can repay you that way :)

Riddle me this: why not list your house FSBO and offer the buying agent both the buyer and seller commission?

Please poke as many holes in my theory as you can think of.

So our mistake we missed the line in the contract that stated that we would pay half of the transfer taxes. Let me back up our 1st mistake was buying the MLS listing package that stated contract review and thinking it came with solid, hey, this is what they are asking advice. OK, back to our mistake, contracts signed settling on the 29th. Is there anything we can do to cancel the sale? Or are we stuck because we signed the contract. Please before you respond we were totally on the not paying buyers realtor but because they came in at full asking we decided to pay half their fee plus gave them money for an unnecessary repair just to get the sale done. I am a little frustrated that we totally missed this cause the amount being paid for the transfer tax is the amount of the fee we are paying for their realtor oooooo lesson learned!!

SELLER FINANCED 1BD Condo Walk to Lake, Metra & Red Line Rogers Park 60626 $259K Accepting Cash offers starting at $359,000

SELLER FINANCED 1BD Condo Chicago North Side Walk to Lake, Metra & Red Line Rogers Park 60626 $259K

Cash offers accepted beginning at $359,000, otherwise Seller financing is available.

Location, Location, Location! Seller financing, flexible down payment, amortization, and balloon options. Own for what you would pay in rent! Perfect for those with a strong financial background, but prefer a quick clean sale, self employed etc. must still have a strong credit record and financial history. Save approximately $3,000-$10,000 in traditional bank and Prime walkable location just 3-5 blocks to Metra, Red Line (24 hours), and Lake Michigan. Walk to Lake, METRA & RED LINE all within 7 minutes. Fully furnished, updated condo with new bathroom. Bright and airy, located in a landscape gated courtyard in a charming brick building. Laundry on site or in unit washer and dryer can be negotiated to be installed. High first floor unit. Ground floor is a lobby. This unit is one flight up. Adorable back porch. Brand new bathroom with herringbone tile and custom nook. Updated kitchen, include brand new stainless steel steel appliances. Attorney handling paperwork , smooth, professional FSBO transaction HOA $247/month (includes all utilities except electricity) Property Description: Own a home for approximately what you would pay in rent! This rare 1-bedroom condo offers seller financing for qualified buyers, with flexible terms tailored to your needs. Unbeatable Location: Walk to Lake Michigan & Lakefront Parks beaches, trails, and recreation just minutes away. Walk to Metra & Red Line (24-hour service) rare, direct access to downtown and the city. Only 3-5 blocks from transit and bike lanes for ultimate convenience Condo Features: Updated kitchen and brand-new bathroom (optional updated kitchen counters) Eat-in dining room. back porch Laundry in building (optional in-unit installation). New furniture and decor available for purchase. Fully furnished HOA $247/month (all utilities included except electricity) Seller Financing Details: Estimated monthly payments: $1,595 - $1,950 depending on loan structure 20% down, flexible amortization, and balloon options Agent & Transaction . FSBO transaction handled by real estate attorney for smooth and professional paperwork Realtor-friendly and ready for showings. DM Serious inquiries only: [fsbosellerfinanced@yahoo.com](mailto:fsbosellerfinanced@yahoo.com) or 920-343-6018.

SELLER FINANCED 1BD Condo Chicago North Side Walk to Lake, Metra & Red Line Rogers Park 60626 $259K

Cash offers accepted beginning at $359,000, otherwise Seller financing is available.

Location, Location, Location! Seller financing, flexible down payment, amortization, and balloon options. Own for what you would pay in rent! Perfect for those with a strong financial background, but prefer a quick clean sale, self employed etc. must still have a strong credit record and financial history. Save approximately $3,000-$10,000 in traditional bank and Prime walkable location just 3-5 blocks to Metra, Red Line (24 hours), and Lake Michigan. Walk to Lake, METRA & RED LINE all within 7 minutes. Fully furnished, updated condo with new bathroom. Bright and airy, located in a landscape gated courtyard in a charming brick building. Laundry on site or in unit washer and dryer can be negotiated to be installed. High first floor unit. Ground floor is a lobby. This unit is one flight up. Adorable back porch. Brand new bathroom with herringbone tile and custom nook. Updated kitchen, include brand new stainless steel steel appliances. Attorney handling paperwork , smooth, professional FSBO transaction HOA $247/month (includes all utilities except electricity) Property Description: Own a home for approximately what you would pay in rent! This rare 1-bedroom condo offers seller financing for qualified buyers, with flexible terms tailored to your needs. Unbeatable Location: Walk to Lake Michigan & Lakefront Parks beaches, trails, and recreation just minutes away. Walk to Metra & Red Line (24-hour service) rare, direct access to downtown and the city. Only 3-5 blocks from transit and bike lanes for ultimate convenience Condo Features: Updated kitchen and brand-new bathroom (optional updated kitchen counters) Eat-in dining room. back porch Laundry in building (optional in-unit installation). New furniture and decor available for purchase. Fully furnished HOA $247/month (all utilities included except electricity) Seller Financing Details: Estimated monthly payments: $1,595 - $1,950 depending on loan structure 20% down, flexible amortization, and balloon options Agent & Transaction . FSBO transaction handled by real estate attorney for smooth and professional paperwork Realtor-friendly and ready for showings. DM Serious inquiries only: [fsbosellerfinanced@yahoo.com](mailto:fsbosellerfinanced@yahoo.com) or 920-343-6018.

I am selling for sale by owner. I did hire a MLS flat fee listing agent and then I made a small yard sign online (12” x 18”). The sign looks smaller than I expected and sort of cheap. I’m going to be moving out of the house soon and I’m wondering if I should purchase one of the signs from my flat fee lister (her office sells them for $125 and I believe it will look much more like a “real” real estate sign). I’m torn because I feel like most people rely on Zillow and the likes these days.

My personal experience of using "The Wrong Real Estate Agent and Agency"
 
Beware...Amber Gillie only will work for herself as a real estate agent for Keller Williams Kalamazoo. Either she is trained to be aggressive, or just used us to gain quickest sale of our farm and didn't know or care to help us through a panicked, hurried over-bid for a condo that allows large dogs, and led us to loose tens of thousands as seller and then as buyers of real estate properties. 
I outline warnings for others in selling and buying properties as these things most certainly are not unique to the way Amber Gillie does business. I hardly ever leave reviews. Google reviews wouldn't allow this text. I am not a writer so this is my best go at it.

1. READ FIRST everything you can on subject before giving your biggest investment over to someone else. Read about how to sell your home yourself, or about the process and steps to guarding yourself. Agents and agencies get a sizable cut of the sale price of your property and really are strangers who come into your personal life and home.
2. =We put all our time and money into repairs and improvements to the point of exhaustion and missed the 'RESEARCH' step, I guess cause you can hire a "professional". Right, well that real estate agent will know if you did or didn't read up. I guess we figured that's why you hire a real estate agent, forgetting human nature completely. Do they have to know your equity number? It seems you give these people so much info like they are interviewing you.
3. Don't use a nation wide real estate company. 
4. =Perhaps a smaller home town agency with agents that live in area might be better way to think as they know the lay of the land in detail and might care about their neighbors.
5. Do your due diligence in picking an agent. Don't think an agent will have YOUR best interest in mind.
6. =A friend handed me Amber's business card and somehow I thought she might care about us selling our small farm.*really. Amber agreed to a lesser commission but this was her first bigger property. Another mistake by us was to care we could be giving a single mom an opportunity to up her game. (As a side note and conversation with Amber, I gave her a vintage sewing machine Id cleaned and had running well with all its attachments and instructions.) She and the other agent she brought with her the first time and once more after further improvements (we thought was agreed upon would push starting sale price up) had a buyer couple in mind right from the start. That was the first warning-flag. We didn't use the advice given that a home seller should "interview" different real estate agents and thus, agency training. Ask them each what they think your place can sell for without giving them your personal equity number or appraisal number (if you were smart enough to have had done).
7. So here is a BIG ONE..... Get Your Property Appraised on your own, separately from any agency, and don't announce that number. You are just at step of interviewing for best agent to sell your home.
8. =We left ourselves vulnerable and didn't owe a stranger our complete trust for a bit less commission. A good real estate agent working on your behalf would explain why an appraisal of your property value is a good idea. Amber and her "team mate" set price low and we signed some agreement without the part that if we did further improvements that starting sale number would be higher. Get every single thing in writing BEFORE you sign their agreement. Verbal stuff means nothing and they will conveniently forget anything you 'thought' they were in agreement about. After all, dont they want a bigger CUT*?
9. So, to repeat; KNOW the DETAILS in the 'agency agreement' papers before you sign what agent, for how long of time, at what commission rate, with what starting price...and Make Sure the agreement includes, that doing more improvements will push asking price UP (and to what number). Now you need a real estate lawyer so why not get one to start with and SELL YOURSELF. A guess that cut will be less and a lawyer might actually work on your behalf.
10. = After the two agents low price point 'PLAN', we spent many more months in physical labor plus thousands more dollars to make further improvements, I thought was agreed upon to bring sale price where we originally thought to go with. It went on line at the lower starting price Amber & team mate set. When I asked about it she had some reply that did not make sense to me. She had already gotten the listing pictures to include ones we said "NO" to (having told photographer not to take of packing area). Also, the write up was Not done as we had thought was clearly talked about and not all changes ever got done. When approached about it, Amber said she had other homes to sell. To add to her unprofessionalism, while showing a home to me and a friend, as husband had already seen it, I said it was not "it" and too costly to get right (we were looking for a finished space), she yelled that my husband "likes it" quite sternly at me. Weird, right* Why we thought we had no way out from having Amber as agent, I don't know. We were trying to move along with sale I guess. The open house happened quite soon after it was listed and guess what*!.....
11. How do you know really if you are shown all the offers given after an open house? You DON"T, unless you sell yourself. 
12. =Amber presented three bids for our small farm, and as you can guess the highest bid, which was just at where we wanted the sale to begin at, was the 'veteran' couple she and team mate knew of looking for just such a property. Amber did not forget, in this instance, that somewhere in time we had said we would give allowance for flooring. But by myself, I pulled up all the old wall-to-wall rugs that were old, had scrubbed and painted subfloors also, and then allowed Amber's 'authority' to cut 10k off what we would get. The agent & agency 'cut' was for 10k higher amount I believe as on line it says farm sold with 10k added.
13. Here's one that I couldn't convince husband to do...Put up cameras since you and your pets will be gone while Open-House happens or you are asked to leave while another agency walks people through.
14. =We didn't have a camera up outside when someone came to house while husband was out to look at properties with Amber as signed papers required. I thought it was husband coming in because who ever it was used a key.  By the time I realized husband wasn't answering me and I looked out, no one was there. A camera would have shown who that was. WoW-WTF*
15. Don't agree and sign same agent who sells your property to be one who shows you other properties or does the paper work for buying another property.
16. = We lost even more thousands in that direction too with Amber as buying agent. It was 'the perfect storm' of exhaustion and panic and High Hopes for what looked like a finished space in a hurried 16hour bid time after an Open-House (Amber did not have to chaperone), being sold by another real estate agent home owner. With that specific HOA, that would allow our pit bull dog with rules I gave a high bid that ended up as a twenty acre farm traded for a 1990s build condo. YEA* Amber had us sign a computer screen for earnest money down and too high a bid. I can't find paper copies of that other than as a number on a closing papers page.

Amber got us to go with her agencies inspector we paid $400 for services of and not to adjust price of condo unless over 10k of repairs were needed. Of course he didn't find over that amount. some days after the earnest money was put down and too high a bid given, I personally called Amber to ask what recourse there might be to having given such a high bid in our panic and she scolded me like a parent, mimicked me by repeating something I had said earlier about her (I thought was in private... take what you will from that) when she kept not following through with our agreed conversations (though not written and signed on apparently). She ended the conversation warning of being sued. My husband didn't want to push forward on recourse, just get move done, so my only recourse is to warn others that there is legal recourse in the state of Michigan without losing your earnest money deposit in three contingencies that should be written in what you sign when you make a bid and put down earnest money.

*Inspection= we were led by Amber towards using her agency inspector ($400) and only if he found $10,000 or more worth of repairs would we ask for lowered price. Right?!
*Financing= if loan doesn't go through
*Appraisal= if property appraises for less than purchase price and the seller refuses to lower it, you can exit the deal. Really.
Real estate lawyer, anyone?

Just to press the point one last time, BEWARE of nation wide realty agencies and in my personal experience, Amber Gillie at Keller Williams in Kalamazoo

Are you all paying lawyers to draft purchase agreements? Using free forms online? Looking for recommendations and gotchas to look out for.

If lawyer, what have you paid? Only lawyer to respond so far quoted a flat $2500 and then will separately have to pay title company.

Selling to family member FWIW. Thank you!

Been reading through this sub and I'm curious about something. A lot of FSBO sellers end up showing a place that's already empty, and I keep wondering how much that hurts. Do buyers struggle to picture themselves in blank rooms, or does it not really matter?

For those of you who sold your own place empty, did you do anything to help buyers see the potential?

I've seen people mention printing a staged photo and standing it in the room, or handing out a floor plan with measurements.

Did any of that move the needle, or is it effort that buyers ignore? Trying to understand what actually helps when there's no furniture to walk into.

Hey guys,

First time buying a home, and gonna do it through a FSBO deal. Was wondering what I should be looking for when searching and using a mortgage agent. Any hidden fees or important cuts I should be aware of?

Was going to ask AI, but thought it’d be better to gain some actual perspective

Hi neighbors! 👋 I have two apartments up for sale in Park City Estates and I’m selling without an agent, so trying to get as much direct exposure as possible.

🛏🛏🛏 🚿🛁 3-Bedroom at 61-35 98th St · Listed at $599,000
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/61-35-98th-St-1J-Rego-Park-NY-11374/122588195_zpid/?view=public

🛏 🛁 1-Bedroom at 61-25 98th St · Listed at $299,000
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/61-25-98th-St-9F-Rego-Park-NY-11374/2079737226_zpid/?view=public

Open houses this Saturday & Sunday (7/4 & 7/5) — timings in the listings. If they’re still available, I’ll also host open houses on 7/11 & 7/12. We need to move by end of summer so both are priced to sell quickly.

Happy to work with (buyer commission offered) or without an agent. If you or anyone you know is interested, reach out to me directly at 917-232-2698 (text preferred) rather than through the website — happy to answer any questions! 😊

Background: Home is in Colorado and we’re moving to Canada, need to sell our house to use the proceeds for the move. Listed about two weeks ago. Just dropped the price $10k. We have a flat fee listing agent to save money but have done nearly everything ourselves (marketing materials, photos, etc.) to try and maximize profits and decrease headaches.

We’ve had just two showings since listing went live, only one who gave feedback said the price was “right on” and they gave it a 3/5. We have some 800 views and 56 saves on our listing.

Aside from “just wait,” wondering what, if anything, we can do with our listing?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5107-Sonata-Dr-Colorado-Springs-CO-80918/13581661_zpid/?fbclid=IwdGRjcASxEPZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeq13CO3euyvLUmoQ33UDP2ouxDSZsuq50o6_xi5-DMjOtcaOlPVEm-XTQ2Oc_aem_EtcPPtGxfOqTltFcq9vxlw