[Boomer]

The house I am referring to with my question about Zillow is not in TV. It is the northern house.

We have FSBO’d some houses in the past and used agents for other houses, depending on the market and the location. Our last 3 houses sold quickly. We do not play games when pricing and preparing. We know how all that works.

But if we sell the northern house, it would be just to downsize there. We would, of course, use our attorney for the contract, closing, etc.

A realtor/brokerage commission on the house would be a healthy 5 digits which seems rather absurd, especially considering we know how to get things ready and to price to sell. We would possibly be open to an agent bringing an individual potential buyer for a reduced commission.

I realize that savvy FSBO buyers expect the lack-of-commission to be factored in — unless the market is really hot and then all bets are off.

We are only in the thinking-about-it stage for now because it would not be easy to move during the pandemic — although people are doing a lot of it.

Anyway — just looking for suggestions from anyone who knows of successes and/or problems with FSBOing with Zillow, etc.

(We once sold a house by putting a “For Sale Soon” sign in the yard while we were getting ready.)

One of the reasons FSBOing appeals to me is that I like being able to communicate directly with potential buyers. (Yes. I know. Some people don’t like doing that.)

Thanks for any suggestions.

[JohnN]

I've done a FSBO in the past and it worked great.
I agree with you about interacting with potential buyers.

Zillow didn't exist then, but if I were to do it again today, I'd list on zillow for sure.
Good luck.

[Smodakman]

The last 3 homes I’ve sold have been using a flat-fee service. For ~$250 an agent will list your property on the MLS service and forward the contacts to you. You have to do all the details and photos, arrange for showings or provide lockbox, etc. You can set the buyer’s agent commission at whatever % you want. No additional commission is due to your listing agent. Basically, you’re paying for your listing on MLS which will show up on everything. Just Google it and many services will show up, assuming it’s legal in your state.

[Boomer]

. . .

[zmarkp]

Have the house professionally appraised. Then you will know exactly what a bank will loan on the property. Part of that report will be recent comps in the area.

Zillow is not your friend.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by zmarkp

Have the house professionally appraised. Then you will know exactly what a bank will loan on the property. Part of that report will be recent comps in the area.

Zillow is not your friend.

I understand the need for getting a professional, detailed, written appraisal, and I understand the comps, too.

But I would like some clarification on your last sentence, “Zillow is not your friend.”

Is it because Zillow’s Zestimates are often ridiculously high, like realtor.com and others are, too. Or is it because the advertising on Zillow is so wide that it could invite situations that are not what you need or want? (But Zillow picks up the MLS anyway so there is that.)

Btw, does Zillow have a separate section for FSBOs or are they in a section with only other FSBOs?

Thanks for your help.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Boomer

I understand the need for getting a professional, detailed, written appraisal, and I understand the comps, too.

But I would like some clarification on your last sentence, “Zillow is not your friend.”

Is it because Zillow’s Zestimates are often ridiculously high, like realtor.com and others are, too. Or is it because the advertising on Zillow is so wide that it could invite situations that are not what you need or want? (But Zillow picks up the MLS anyway so there is that.)

Btw, does Zillow have a separate section for FSBOs or are they in a section with only other FSBOs?

Thanks for your help.

Zillow is unreliable. Example from my personal experience:

We sold our home through a realtor. Disclaimer: the agent was horrible, I hate him, we went through hell for almost a year trying to sell the damned house. That said, this is one thing he did NOT do wrong. He did this right:

He listed it with the MLS system, and zillow absolutely had the listing, because when I went to the zillow website and plugged in my address, it showed my house, with the photos I took (yes, I had to provide the photos because the realtor's photos sucked, and the listing price and the paragraph I wrote about it (because the realtor couldn't write a sentence to save his life).

HOWEVER

When I did a google search for my address, the zillow's entry on the google results showed it was not only not for sale, but the last sale was when we purchased the home 18 years prior. Anyone doing a google search for our property would have seen this "NOT FOR SALE" result, and skipped on by to some other property.

When I told my agent, he claimed that he got in touch with zillow and it was fixed. It wasn't. So I clicked on the "Is this your home?" link on the website and sent a note to Zillow telling them they were costing me around $40,000 in taxes, mortgage payments, utilities, and the inconvenience of possibly having to move in the middle of a snowstorm, by telling everyone it's not for sale and that my lawyer might be a little grumpy since I don't pay him enough to deal with this nonsense.

It was fixed 24 hours later.

In short, zillow will be accurate ONLY if you are 100% on top of things and follow up on EVERYTHING with them. Don't wait and see a few days. If you don't see exactly what you want to see upside down and backward, with every possible search option that should result in the correct information, be on top of them within 24 hours. Even on bank holidays and weekend.

[dewilson58]

Zillow alone has worked great for me.
Just make sure you have quality pictures
I will use Zillow listing again.