For Sale By Owner

[brentmatheson]

Just wondering if sellers are having any luck selling through Comfree or other private methods. MLS sales seem to be normal, but Comfree sales have significantly dropped off over the last few months. Comfree seemed to be real popular last winter when listings were low. With the massive inventory now, it seems that buyers are preferring to work with realtors.

Brent

 

[TerryKruse]

QUOTE (brentmatheson @ Mar 6 2008, 10:50 PM) Just wondering if sellers are having any luck selling through Comfree or other private methods. MLS sales seem to be normal, but Comfree sales have significantly dropped off over the last few months. Comfree seemed to be real popular last winter when listings were low. With the massive inventory now, it seems that buyers are preferring to work with realtors.

Brent

I have put a couple of houses on Welist over the last couple of years with very little response. Since buyers can work with a realtor for free and realtors mostly work with mls we went weeks without a call or had callers wanting the house with 0% down (Seminar Grads). Maybe others have had more success with these methods but we haven`t.

Personally, what annoys me with Comfree and Welist is that I never know how old the listing is. We didn`t use Comfree but Welist used to keep listings for a really long time and I am not sure if they have changed this.

Cheers, Terry

 

[RedlineBrett]

QUOTE (TerryKruse @ Mar 7 2008, 09:35 AM) I have put a couple of houses on Welist over the last couple of years with very little response. Since buyers can work with a realtor for free and realtors mostly work with mls we went weeks without a call or had callers wanting the house with 0% down (Seminar Grads). Maybe others have had more success with these methods but we haven`t.
Cheers, Terry

This is easily the biggest reason the MLS continues to be the big dog when it comes to selling houses. When prospective buyers find out that they can have me work for them for free (buyer`s commission cheque is built into asking price) it is a much easier sell to have them work with an agent.

Many real estate novices think they have to cut their buyer rep a cheque at the end of the day and it`s just not so.

Welist, comfree etc did the job well when it was an extreme sellers market in `06. I`m not surprised in the least to hear people are having trouble selling FSBO these days.

 

[kanabel]

Fortunately for me, I did sell my condo through Comfree last September when slowdown in Edmoton`s market already happened. Out of total 9 visits, 2 were competing with offers. I think if you make proper presentation, RIGHT price and give your best, esp. in first few weeks, you are on the right track to sell it. Otherwise hire a good realtor since there are many out there who would do worse than any of us.
Dejan

 

[randy]

I have sold succesfully with comfree. It was a little more work than I thought and in the end the people buying got a $9000 discount. Comfree is great if there are a few listings in a complex on MLS, you want yours sold fast drop $15000. I went to buy a bareland condo just did a drive by in the complex ther was 8 MLS for sale none sold 1 comfree sold. But it was priced 289,900 and the MLS were 310,000 plus now prices are being reduced to around$295,000. I think if you use comfree don`t expect to put $15000 in your pocket but it can help sell fast.
Alot of the comfree listing are way overpriced so it is hard to buy comfree when you can buy MLS cheaper. I also try to buy from the realtor after I have started looking but I always tell him if a cheap comfree comes up I will buy that and he can sell me the next one

 

[Eric Peters]

Selling 101 - The less you pay - the more you work.
MLS, ComFree or FSBO on your own - they all work fine IF you understand your market and actually market your property. There are trade offs however. If you find a good realtor - they will earn their commission and you will need to do very little other than insure the home is in good showing condition.
If using an Internet Marketing method, select the one with the most visits (ie in Edmonton ComFree) then be fully prepared to supplement the listing with other advertising and be responsible to insure you are ready to show and follow up.
There have been several good observations about Internet listings
1) The are often overpriced (true) 2) Don`t expect to pocket the commission money, give it to the buyer to insure a quick sale (True in a buyer`s market but not so true in a sellers market like a 18 months ago) 3) Realtors will, almost without exception, ignore non MLS listings (You can offer to pay a finder`s fee for such listings to improve your chances - though a good number avoid non MLS listings on the principle that they don`t want to encourage the perceived competition)

What`s right for you - can`t say. That is an issue for you to decide.

 

[Gene]

Comfree
Worked for me in Fort McMurray. Only took one day to sell.