As a FSBO seller, below is your fiercest competition, depending on “where” the market is at…
- In a buyer’s market, it is the other sellers.
- In a balanced market, it is the brokers.
- In a seller’s market, it is yourself.
In a buyer’s market, you will be most tempted by the other sellers’ herd-pricing [which does not account for the new market reality]. “Well, this is the price for which everyone seems to be listing, regardless of growing days on market or falling comp sales, so I will list at that price too.”
In a balanced market, you will be most tempted by brokers’ confidence. “I cannot tell which way things are going, so I will talk to a broker who will give me the answers that I need and the feelings of certainty.”
In a seller’s market, you will be most tempted by your own comfort zone and laziness. “I am being rewarded for doing nothing, and the values are going to climb forever.”
Q. “What about the buyers? I thought I was competing against them.”
A. No. The first trick is to realize that, as a home seller, your competition is never against a buyer who is actually going to live* in your home. It only looks that way because the game is sold as zero-sum, i.e. someone must win and someone must lose. But it is easy to see through the game by setting up an obviously mutual beneficial scenario: great price & motivated buyer.
And the easiest way to do that is by removing the weight of the agent’s fees. Moreover, the direct communication between you and the buyer creates the opportunity for optimal clarity. Then, with the space that becomes available, you can see the other person’s needs, as well as your own. And in that fashion go for a win-win outcome.
To get a very general gauge of “where” the market is at, here is Zillow’s Heat Index.
* Other buyers, such as rehabbers, (or especially) paper flippers or wholesalers, bring a completely different dynamic to the transaction whereby they absolutely do, immediately, become your fiercest competition. These guys are savvy and the only reason they are swimming around is because they are hoping to smell blood in the water – which may be fifty to seventy cents on the dollar. This is not to say that you cannot, or should not, sell to them. It simply means that they are playing by a completely different set of economic parameters than a buyer who is actually going to live in the home you are selling.