Additional information
by Veronica Silva (Author)
When it comes to homeowners selling their house without an agent representing them (a.k.a. FSBO or For Sale By Owner), you will hear many stories, but they all can be put in one of two categories - those that did well and succeeded at the sale, making a much bigger profit than if they would have sold with an agent, and those that failed miserably and left so much money on the table that agents who were witness to it are shaking their heads from a distance! During the Covid 19 pandemic the stories of success might be more popular, as the real estate market turned into an extreme sellers market during 2020-2023 in most parts of the country. However, even in an extreme seller's market, many FSBOs still failed to sell and/or walked away with much less money than they could have (even after paying agents' commissions). When it comes to this type of book, you will be hard pressed to find one that is written with a balanced and fair approach, without taking a position one way or the other or having "an agenda" behind it. In my experience, most of the books written about selling by owner are written by agents and other people in the real estate industry only to fulfill their own goals. You will find books on both sides of the aisle: some go hard on trying to convince you that selling by owner is super easy and that you only need common sense (these are usually written by someone who has a company that targets people willing to go the FSBO route, to sell them products to use during the FSBO sale, for example, selling them marketing products and advertising); and other authors take the opposite view that selling by owner is pretty much impossible or the dumbest thing you can do (clearly they want to discourage you from selling by yourself and steer you towards hiring an agent). Well, this book will do neither. The author's aim has been to present you with facts and straight up knowledge every step of the way, so that you can be well informed and make your own decision as to whether selling FSBO or hiring an agent is the way to go for you. It is a very personal choice. Both methods of selling real estate work, if done well. Both methods can fail or fall short, if poorly executed. Only you can make the determination of which path suits you and your situation best, because you have to decide for yourself if the effort and time is required of you to sell as a FSBO is something you are willing to give and put into it. You might be wondering how come some FSBOs can sell and have a great experience while doing it and others deeply regret their decision to go the FSBO route and wish they would have hired an agent from the start? The difference is in the amount of research and education these sellers have done before getting into the real estate selling game. Of course it is not a game, it is a serious matter with large financial implications, but to succeed in real estate sales, you have to know the rules of the industry! This is why those homeowners who dedicated the time and effort to learn how to do what real estate agents do, win every time! The homeowners who understand that you have to play by the industry rules get ahead and win big time. Those who dig their heads in the sand and refuse to learn and only whine and complain, those will most likely fail while making fools of themselves. 92% percent of sales are done via a real estate agent. If you think you can go against 92% of the industry without learning how the 92% of sales are done, you will be mistaken and confused when things do not work out. This book will share in detail what are the most significant aspects of selling real estate that you need to focus on in order to have a successful sale. Every minute you spend learning the best strategies real estate agents use, will be a profitable use of your time.
