How FSBO Sellers Can Miss the spring market
We are in peak real estate season right now and despite what
has been a somewhat slowing market the last several months, the spring seasonal
rush is on and many "For Sale by Owner" sellers miss a large chunk of the
spring buyer population.
Why is this?
1) Much of the seasonal growth in sales transactions comes
from buyers and sellers relocating to and from Ottawa and a very large
proportion of buyers coming from elsewhere will be working with a Realtor on
their purchase. These out of town buyers
definitely need a local real estate professional to advise them on their search
and this is a huge % of the spring market.
DND personnel moves alone move 1,000-2,000 people to or from Ottawa and
most of this happens between April and July.
2) FSBO seller properties may or may not be readily
available for daytime showings, which is
mandatory for out of town buyers, particularly those moving on the government
relocation program where these buyers only have 5-7 days to buy a house. MLS®
listed properties and MLS® buyer representatives are well equipped for these
buyers and MLS® sellers go out of their way to accommodate the access and
timing needs of these buyers who are working on a very tight time deadline.
3) An out of town buyer may not be aware of the different
places to look for property listings online.
So if they don't find it, you don't have a chance to sell it to them.
Some for sale by owner organizations in Ottawa are local only and therefore out of town buyers may not find listings or those websites.
4) FSBO sellers have limited time to manage their sale-after
all they do have another full time job-so their availability and response time
is unlikely to be able to match that of a full time professional Realtor who is
managing a listing for their seller.
5) FSBO sellers do not have the access to market data to
stay abreast of what develops in the market on a daily basis. Listing inventory
is running 22% above the 5 year average for residential listings and 77% above for condo listings and this means increased competition
for every listed property. MLS® sellers
with their Realtor's assistance can be on top of new listings, selling prices
and price changes daily to ensure their properties remain competitive.
If you have been trying to sell yourself for 30 days or more
at this time of the year with no success-you might want to ask yourself whether
you are getting enough buyer exposure to your listing and if it is time to get
a fully Realtor supported listing on MLS® so you can properly capture your
share of the potential buyers. If you would
like to discuss if this is the right time to change your selling strategy,
please feel free to give us a call. (not intended to solicit those with existing representation agreements)
Gord McCormick, Broker of Record
Dawn Davey, Broker
Oasis Realty Brokerage
613-435-4692
oasisrealty@rogers.com
www.oasisrealtyottawa.com