your property than you have access to, including highly qua lifi ed sites such as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), Zillow, or Realtor.com. Zillow no longer allows FSBOs to post listings directly to their site. A licensed agent has to post the listing in their MLS, then let the system syndicate to Zillow. As an FSBO, you’ll have to work within the con fin es of your accessibility on unknown or unqua lifi ed sites. Th is can be expensive and even confusing and scary. If you’re acting as your own sales agent, how will you determine who is a credible buyer and who is just browsing? Shoppers who cruise the FSBO section of your local newspaper are usually the type of shoppers who are looking for a deal at rock-bottom prices. A seller’s agent has been trained to ask the right questions about the qua lifi cation of the inquiry in order to save time showing to “looky-loos” who aren’t really serious or fin ancially equipped to buy a house. Let’s imagine that you do manage to fin d your perfect buyer on your own. Now, you’re in water so deep that you might be in over your head. Th is is where you need help from an experienced professional, who will attend to every detail, mandatory disclosures, inspection reports, title searches, etc. At the very least, you have to engage a real estate attorney to satisfy all legal requirements. Real estate agents take care of it all, and you can relax, knowing that you aren’t going to face any potentially serious legal repercussions. Th e intent of this chapter is to provide the non-professional with a broad overview of what’s needed to get organized for selling a home — and the diffi culties — without the services of a licensed real estate agent. FSBO is not for the faint of heart! Many fin d it far more productive to partner with a real estate agent because once you start infusing money into preparing your home with the upgrades and repairs, your budget for marketing might be lean. It’s to your utmost advantage to hand the task over to a professional 22
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