2005 National Association of Realtors? Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
Nine out of 10 home buyers use a real estate agent in the search process
7 out of 10 homebuyers use the internet to look for a home
81 percent of buyers who use the Internet to search for a home buy from a real estate agent.
The number of US internet users has just passed the 100 million mark (half of the adult population.) Just one year ago, that figure was 69 million.
The wealthiest Americans ($100K or greater per year) are the largest group of online users.
Baby Boomers and seniors are the fastest growing segments of Internet users.
Also, 63 percent of non-Internet users buy through an agent.
The level of FSBO's is on a sustained decline and is now at a record low. Only 13 percent of sellers conducted transactions without the assistance of a real estate professional in 2005, and 39 percent of those FSBO transactions were ?closely held? between parties who knew each other in advance.
8 out of 10 FSBOs eventually list with an agent.
The median home price for sellers who use an agent is 16.0 percent higher than a home sold directly by an owner; $230,000 vs. $198,200. While many unrepresented sellers are motivated to save on paying a commission, the commission is significantly offset by the sale price difference.
______________________________________________________________
From personal experience, negotiation skills are crucial in purchase or sale. ie: I recently sold a home in which the first offer that came in was a ridiculous lowball offer. My seller was insulted and didn't want to counter but took my advise and put the ball into play. The home closed at full price. The emotional attachment of many FSBO's is their downfall.
In Walton county and many other resort areas with low resident populations, people are here for a week, sometimes a day. They don't have the luxury of driving around looking for FSBO's for 3 months. Also, many high end buyers and sellers are sucessful people with limited time as MackBayou mentioned. In areas with high populations of full time residents and lower socioeconomic demographics, I would think that FSBO's would be more effective. It's certainly everyone's right to do a FSBO and some are successful but the stats look like they're gonna have to put a lot more effort and creativity into it in the future.
Shelly's post: "Owners got fed up paying 6% to someone who would "sell" their home within 30 minutes of listing"
I felt exactly the same way before I was in the business but understand the other side now. First only half generally goes to the listing broker and then as little as half of that to the listing agent so 4 entities are usually getting a piece of the pie.
The information that Joe, myself and other realtors post on this forum cost us a lot of money. I'm a member of 3 different Florida associations and MLS systems which cost me over $3,000/yr just to get access to this data. This doesn't include trend reports, advertising, office overhead, transportation, lunches for clients etc. which is tens of thousands. (or the 60-80 hrs a week of my time)
Don't misunderstand, I'm not complaining because I love what I do but there are justifications for the commission for many agents who work real hard. Yes, there are some that pay their mls fees, have the gift of gab, dump your listing into the mls and that's it. The unfortunate part of it is that a recent NAR survey reports that most real estate sellers and buyers perceive no difference in realtors. I used to be a pharmacist and someone once told me they didn't understand why I was "degrading" myself selling real estate. To me it's a sad state that many people place so little value in the professional guidance available when making decisions that could make or break them financially.
Nine out of 10 home buyers use a real estate agent in the search process
7 out of 10 homebuyers use the internet to look for a home
81 percent of buyers who use the Internet to search for a home buy from a real estate agent.
The number of US internet users has just passed the 100 million mark (half of the adult population.) Just one year ago, that figure was 69 million.
The wealthiest Americans ($100K or greater per year) are the largest group of online users.
Baby Boomers and seniors are the fastest growing segments of Internet users.
Also, 63 percent of non-Internet users buy through an agent.
The level of FSBO's is on a sustained decline and is now at a record low. Only 13 percent of sellers conducted transactions without the assistance of a real estate professional in 2005, and 39 percent of those FSBO transactions were ?closely held? between parties who knew each other in advance.
8 out of 10 FSBOs eventually list with an agent.
The median home price for sellers who use an agent is 16.0 percent higher than a home sold directly by an owner; $230,000 vs. $198,200. While many unrepresented sellers are motivated to save on paying a commission, the commission is significantly offset by the sale price difference.
______________________________________________________________
From personal experience, negotiation skills are crucial in purchase or sale. ie: I recently sold a home in which the first offer that came in was a ridiculous lowball offer. My seller was insulted and didn't want to counter but took my advise and put the ball into play. The home closed at full price. The emotional attachment of many FSBO's is their downfall.
In Walton county and many other resort areas with low resident populations, people are here for a week, sometimes a day. They don't have the luxury of driving around looking for FSBO's for 3 months. Also, many high end buyers and sellers are sucessful people with limited time as MackBayou mentioned. In areas with high populations of full time residents and lower socioeconomic demographics, I would think that FSBO's would be more effective. It's certainly everyone's right to do a FSBO and some are successful but the stats look like they're gonna have to put a lot more effort and creativity into it in the future.
Shelly's post: "Owners got fed up paying 6% to someone who would "sell" their home within 30 minutes of listing"
I felt exactly the same way before I was in the business but understand the other side now. First only half generally goes to the listing broker and then as little as half of that to the listing agent so 4 entities are usually getting a piece of the pie.
The information that Joe, myself and other realtors post on this forum cost us a lot of money. I'm a member of 3 different Florida associations and MLS systems which cost me over $3,000/yr just to get access to this data. This doesn't include trend reports, advertising, office overhead, transportation, lunches for clients etc. which is tens of thousands. (or the 60-80 hrs a week of my time)
Don't misunderstand, I'm not complaining because I love what I do but there are justifications for the commission for many agents who work real hard. Yes, there are some that pay their mls fees, have the gift of gab, dump your listing into the mls and that's it. The unfortunate part of it is that a recent NAR survey reports that most real estate sellers and buyers perceive no difference in realtors. I used to be a pharmacist and someone once told me they didn't understand why I was "degrading" myself selling real estate. To me it's a sad state that many people place so little value in the professional guidance available when making decisions that could make or break them financially.