For Sale By Owner (FSBO) - Do you sell or do you yell?

The philosophy of a crusty process.   

There are three types of “For sale By Owner" (FSBO’s) people:

FSBO TYPE 1: Those who want to test the waters to sell before giving up a commission to anyone.  They eventually will list with a licensed professional.  If they happen to find a Buyer they take the risks associated with skipping steps in the buying process because they don’t do it everyday. 

These appear to be the biggest reason people go to court about a real estate transaction.  Court costs always cost more than a commission.

Those who believe in their heart they know and can do anything better than anyone that does it full time.

FSBO TYPE 2: People in the second category do not value time or money and believe in the static world.  They may have no timeframe to have to buy, sell or otherwise do anything with a property so can afford the luxury of not ever selling.  

As a Buyer or real estate Buyer agent, the odds of working with such people is like grating an old piece of cheese you forgot to cover up in the back of your fridge, hard to grate and harder to swallow.  This cheese cannot melt right on their crusty dried bread of thoughts. 

While you the Buyer may think you can "work a deal" with such a Seller, be sure to track your time and choose few words when you try to communicate about making an offer or otherwise.  This type of Seller will not care about time and thus, cares less about the asking price. 

At the end of the day time is always more important than money - for one can always make money, but one can never make time.

With that said, the "time value of money" is what makes people go from being a "for sale by owner" to trying to nail down a specific timeframe for which to sell. 

FSBO TYPE 3: The “Water Testers FSBOs.”

"Water testers" become a viable candidate for a Buyer/Buyer agent to educate that Seller on real sales numbers in real time.  

The personality of the Water Testers FSBO Seller dictates they will analyze real information and eventually trust an Agent or Buyer to work with them.

Dealing with FSBO’s requires an understanding of their perspective of life and need for speed to sell.  No need is first cousin to plenty of greed which translates to “a Buyer who probably will not get a good value proposition now or ever.”

As a Buyer or a real estate Agent, decipher the difference between a FSBO who is willing, able and is motivated first by a timeframe and then money.  Once you know they have limits of a timeframe you can start the discussion of a price and work on a deal.