Compiling my YTD business numbers, surprised and gladdened to realize I had a new category of properties to track-FSBOS!

FSBOs-For Sale By Owner-are properties sold without the representation of an agent or brokerage. There may be a few reasons a seller chooses to go this route, but not paying sales commissions is almost always a big part of it.

Getting a property sold in Westchester County  is much more than 2 parties agreeing on a number, and for the record, The Refreshed Home never, ever recommends a seller go it alone. I actually dedicate a good amount of time in the Staging classes and workshops I give to explaining the agent-seller relationship. But, like any of my suggestions, they are just that, suggestions; ultimately clients make their own choices.

In recent years FSBO properties were both plentiful and panned: sellers often priced by need>not their market, and were rarely of the mind or ability to make the property look its best,  a deadly combination in a down market.

Realtors had numbers on their side, too.  NAR reported  9% of homes sold in 2013 were FSBOs, but the typical FSBO sale of $184K was still 14% less than the agent assisted sale of $230K – i.e. a net sale of $216,300 after deducting 6% sales commission.

Now, about that surprised and gladdened part about these two houses being sold..it’s much more that just being part of good numbers. Like crocuses in early March,  this Westchester County Home Stager sees it as a  harbinger of continued good things to come for sellers, buyers and YES< REAL ESTATE AGENTS in Westchester County-namely buyers and sellers doing what it takes, and the return of balance, reason, and reality-based transactions.

• Surprised and gladdened because both properties were nice, average houses in areas where there was a reasonable amount of comparable  inventory, and buyer interest/activity. Neither would be considered a trophy or luxury property; each had been lived in, but maintained.
• Surprised and gladdened because combined, their average price of $659,250 is impossibly close to the 2Q median selling price for single family homes in Westchester County of $651,250, and well below the average of $874,026.
• Surprised and gladdened because their average DOM was about 1/4 of Westchester County’s average of 142 days.
• Most of all, because I got to know the parties involved pretty well during this process-I am uber-gladdened-but not surprised!-to know that 4 sets of  nice, average, reasonable people worked out all the practical logistics of these sales, and are now quite happily getting on with the rest of their lives.

How you buy or sell-and at what price is your business. My business is to help you make your best decisions, so you will have the best and most options, to move on and enjoy your next adventure.

Will Staging consults for FSBOs be sweeping the nation? Not likely, but how cool is it that it proved to be a viable and successful option for some sellers in my little part of the world??

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Selling, buying, or staying and fixing up?  Coop or condo; an estate, divorce, distressed, or  FSBO sale, downsizing or upsizing;  a home or an investment property?

An interactive consult will help you untangle your thinking, make the most of what you have, and get you going in the right direction. The Refreshed Home is Westchester’s most innovative source for specific, realistic and reasonable solutions for your buying, selling and decorating needs.  Talk to me TODAY about how I can help make your space work better for you!