GTA Real Estate​

For Sale By Owner

One thing that everyone has in common is the desire to save money. In Real Estate saving a
commission translates into big dollars. It is hard to blame anyone for wanting to save the type of
money that is made when a Realtor sells a home or condo.



While commission rates are negotiable, in most areas around GTA someone selling their home
will more than likely be paying a Real Estate commission between 4%-6% on the sale price of
the property.



On a $400,000 home a commission of 5% is $20,000. There is no question that is a lot of money!
Selling a home for sale by owner is not an easy task and that is why most people end up using
a Realtor. Nationally the success rate of a for sale by owner (FSBO) is very low. Over 90% of
all FSBO’S end up listing with a Real Estate agent. Why is going the for sale by owner route so
difficult to pull off? There are a number of reasons why selling a home on your own is a hard
thing to make happen.



The Wrong Price



It is the most critical element when selling any product, but especially so when you are talking
about something as large as a home sale. Over 75% of a homes marketing is about setting the
proper price. Homes that are listed with a Real Estate agent and are overpriced stand a less
chance of selling for top dollar. Overpricing as a GTA for sale by owner (FSBO) makes it next to
impossible.



Many sellers seem to either do their own market research and end up choosing the wrong price
or have a Realtor help them with appraising the property and ignore their advice. If more for
sale by owners priced their homes based on comparable market data there would be a higher
success rate. Doing extensive research of what like homes in similar neighborhoods are selling
for would go a long way!



Often times people want more money for their homes because they have done some kind of
recent improvement. Unfortunately many projects for the home do not have a high return. For
example if you replaced a roof, a septic system, or added a pool don’t expect to see all the
payback on the money you invested.



Lack of Exposure



Some for sale by owners do nothing more than throw an old beat up for sale by owner sign in the
front lawn and expect that will do the trick. Then there are others that think that going in one of
the for sale by owner sites like I sold my house.com, for sale by owner.com or buy owner.com
is going to bring lots of traffic. Wrong!



These sites generate a pittance of Real Estate traffic in comparison to the sites some of the top
web savvy Realtors use to promote homes. Their sales pitch is always “we will give you world
wide exposure and save you thousands of dollars!” This could not be further from the truth. If
you were to go to Google or any other major search engine and type in a local search with Real
Estate keywords a buyer would use.



Key words such as the name of your town, state or homes for sale. Using my home town as an
example would be Mississauga Homes for sale. Do you think a for sale by owner site is going to
come up in the results? Not a chance! Go ahead and try it with your town. It will be dominated
by sites that show homes listed by Real Estate agents. These FSBO sites promise the world and
deliver empty promises the majority of the time.



A Realtor that knows their way around proper internet exposure can change the traffic going
through a home exponentially when compared to a FSBO site. The cold hard facts are thousands
of buyers will not even know a FSBO home is for sale.



Buyers Want to Save the Commission



One of the major factors associated with selling a home by owner is the fact that many of the
people viewing the home are going to want to share in the commission savings. Many of the
potential buyers who will be looking at for sale by owner homes are bargain hunters. The line of
thinking is that since the seller is not paying a commission they should be able to offer less for
the home. Sellers end up receiving low bal l offers on many occasions. Buyers will often take 5%
right off the top regardless if the home is priced well or not.



Home Accessibility and Buyer Qualifications



These last two reasons are often overlooked by someone trying to sell their own home. It is
hard to sell a home if a buyer cannot get in to see it. Often times when a FSBO is trying to sell
they need to match their schedules with the buyer which sometimes is not that easy especially
for those that work full time. A Realtor of course makes this part of the home sale process go
much smoother. Lastly, home sellers need to be equipped with the knowledge of knowing how
to qualify potential buyers. There is no point in having unqualified foot traffic going through a
home. This is also part of a Realtors job. Most buyers that view homes today are pre-approved.
As a FSBO you need to make sure that the same holds true when showing your home.

If you can sell your home on your own all the power to you! You will be in the minority but you
can make it happen! Above all else remember how important pricing and market exposure is to
your home selling success.



If you are a GTA for sale by owner and find you do want the help of a Realtor, I would welcome
the chance to be interviewed.