house or whisked away to the park. Toddlers are parked in a playpen, so you can begin the hurried cleaning process. Maybe your pet gets locked in a crate, sent to the basement, or tied up in the yard. Your dog can’t run around during the showing or even while you clean house. Th e poor pooch is cooped up for hours every time a buyer wants to stop by. Children and pets don’t appreciate chaos. Th ey might start misbehaving or need extra attention to counter the stress. Th e house needs to be spotless from top to bottom. Someone has to rush around frantically cleaning and organizing every time a buyer calls. Chances are, you’re going through all this stress to prepare for someone who was never serious about buying in th e fir st place. THE (IN) EXPERIENCE FACTOR OF FSBO SALES When I started in the real estate business, I made a good living chasing FSBOs. I would call them, fin d out what price they were asking, and determine whether I could sell the home for more on the MLS. I sold a lot of homes and netted the former FSBOs more money in their pocket. Th at’s because I’m a real estate agent, and the sellers were not. It really is that simple. Unless you’re a real estate agent selling your own house, you’re entering a complex fin ancial and legal transaction without competent assistance. An FSBO seller is analogous to self- performed dentistry or putting up a pro se (self-represented) defense in a murder case. Th e downfall of giving it a try yourself is that once you price a house, it’s easy to reduce the price, but nearly impossible to increase it without the herculean e ff ort of starting a bidding war. 20
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