When deciding on a strategy for selling their home, one will often consider the option of selling it on their own.  Selling For Sale By Owner, or FSBO, is not a bad idea as a home seller could potentially save thousands of dollars in agency commissions.  But then again, they might not.  There’s a risk-to-reward threshold that a home owner must completely understand, and be ok with, before going onto a non-multi-list website hoping to market your property.  If a seller knows what you’re doing and does it right, they could save money and potential legal issues. 
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          Firstly, if saving money is a seller’s primary motivation, keep in mind that most home buyers are represented by an agent.  In rare cases, the buyer might be willing to pay that agent for their work, but again, it’s rare, and it’s not even allowed for VA loans.  In most cases, you should presume that a buyer will make you an offer with their agent’s one-party commission agreement to have you pay the broker a commission even though they’re representing the purchaser.  There are exceptions but with the standard listing agent commission at 6%, let’s say an $18,000 charge for a $300,000 home, even a $9,000 savings isn’t anything to scoff at. 

         But for that potential $9000 savings, what seller services does the listing agent provide that the seller will have to do by themselves instead, and what are the risks?  At minimum, a FSBO will need to:

1. Generate the listing details including square footage, features, legal description, lot size & dimensions, school code, zoning, any deed restrictions, etc.
   1. Denotes potential  legal and financial woes if inaccurate
2. Research comparable currently listed and past sales activity to establish pricing
   1. Denotes a potential financial loss if inaccurate. A National Association of Realtors® 2016 report showed that the average sales prices of a FSBO was $60,000 less than an agent represented sale.  Many factors contribute to that price disparity, not just initial pricing.
3. Collect all association, tax and mortgage payoff information
4. Research property's ownership & deed type and place pre-title order or hire an attorney
   1. Possibly incur additional costs, esp. if hiring an attorney
5. Establish a marketing plan
   1. Possibly incur additional costs.  Set a budget and know where & how spending your advertising money will yield you the best results
6. Stage the home
   1. Possibly incur additional costs, esp. if hiring a professional stager
7. Take professional pictures
   1. Possibly incur additional costs, esp. if hiring a professional photographer
8. List the property and follow marketing plan prospective buyers
   1. Takes time and possibly incur additional costs, esp. if posting on a for-fee website or printing flyers/mailers
9. Field all calls and/or emails
   1. This is a headache  but only costs time
10. Verify identities & show the property
    1. Denotes safety concerns if not showing to a licensed agent
11. Verify purchaser’s qualifications
    1. Denotes a potential financial loss if buyer is not qualified or qualified with an untrained mortgage representative.  Know what questions to ask.
12. Know how purchaser’s loan terms might impact you financially
    1. Every loan has minimal criteria the property must meet and FHA/VA loans may require more stringent favorable conditions
13. Negotiate pricing and terms
    1. Denotes serious financial loss if negotiating against a trained agent
14. Prepare a “net sheet” to estimate the proceeds following the sale after taxes, fees and mortgage payoff
    1. Takes care to include all costs associated with the sale
15. Prepare appropriate legal documents to protect yourself such as the purchase agreement, addendums, personal property sales contracts, amendatory clauses and disclosures
    1. Denotes a potential financial loss and/or legal issues if not executed properly and to your benefit. A buyer’s agent has no fiduciary responsibility to you in a one-party commission agreement.
16. Know what you must legally disclose and what you do not need to disclose
    1. Again, this denotes a potential financial loss and/or legal issues if not executed properly.  If, for example, a seller discloses something not desirable about their house but it’s not a required issue to disclose, that seller will have decreased the value of their home.
17. Establish an escrow agent for purchaser’s deposit, perhaps the buyer’s agent or an attorney or title company
    1. Denotes incurred costs
18. Once the property is under contract, allow the inspection of the home
    1. Denotes financial loss if discovered issues are not effectively negotiated
19. Allow the appraisal of the home
    1. This in itself is a risk. The seller will want to know how to effectively rebut a bad appraisal.  The type of loan will have a serious impact on what can be done.
20. Order well, septic system & termite inspection, if applicable
    1. Denotes financial loss if discovered issues are not effectively negotiated
21. Maintain the property in the same (or better) condition as it were during the inspection
    1. Denotes financial risk if the sales process is delayed
22. Track the loan process with the lender
23. Assist in solving any title problems (boundary disputes, easements, etc) or in obtaining Death Certificates
    1. Denotes financial risk if title issues delay the sales process
24. Obtain a final water bill and forward to attorney or title company
25. Obtain and review final closing figures from closing agent (attorney or title company)
    1. Denotes financial/legal risk if incorrect
26. Confirm purchaser has received title insurance commitment
27. Allow a Final Walk-Thru prior to closing

          I won’t spend too much time on this next point because this blog post is getting too long as it is.  But every prospective home seller should keep in mind that many websites who promote the idea of selling FSBO do so because they have a triple-dip business model.  Their goal is to either charge sellers to post their home on the website or charge them for “legal forms” for sale on their website, wait for the sellers to get frustrated with the lack of momentum on the FSBO listing because their website isn’t connected to the MLS, and when the seller gives up, the website encourages them to use one of their agents who not only pays them for “leads” but also likely pays the website a 25-40% referral fee on a commission they charge the homeowner after all.  This triple-dip business model makes a sucker out of naïve homeowners and the poor agents who can’t operate their business by referral, and have to resort to paying for internet leads.

          But this is about selling your home by yourself the right way.  If time is not an issue, going FSBO is a great idea.  A home seller doesn’t have to worry about pushing out the listing to a maximum number of potential buyers as quickly as possible as an agent has an obligation to.  Follow my 27-point list, do your homework and with a little luck, you’ll probably be just fine.  Or call a good, reputable, solid, honest, caring agent who has the experience to do this for you.  Yes, you’d end up paying them, but no one works for free nor should they.  In all likelihood, you’ll end up paying more as a FSBO anyway.  

The three principles of Macomb Township’s Bricks & Minifigs is Rebuild, Reuse, Reimagine.  For a Lego® resale shop, they seem like fantastic pillars so let’s talk about them to determine how this national franchise founded by David Ortiz and John Masek in 2010 has done since opening the first Michigan location in 2018. 

Rebuild: the Macomb Township location has six large table stands filled with Lego® pieces, not just bricks but wheels, windows, wings, and a host of other parts.  They allow visitors to come in and rebuild projects from the past (if you can remember the instructions and find the pieces) or create new ones.  It’s a great way to burn an hour of time with your little one after school or over a weekend.  They don’t require a purchase but good luck getting out without buying something! For a father, I have to say this is is an A+ service.

Reuse: their stated business model is to buy, sell and trade Lego® parts and “pay top dollar” for it.  Ok, let’s be real, any survivable business model will not be able to “pay top dollar” for anything and stay in business for long.  You are guaranteed to get maybe 20-30% of value on the dollar if you attempt to sell your Lego® pieces to this store.  It’s no different than any other resale shop.  They cannot pay top dollar when they have overhead.  There must be a margin.  With that said, reselling on Amazon or Ebay costs time, listing fees and shipping costs – so weight your options if you want to sell your pieces.

Another part of the Reuse pillar, is selling. To sell, one must have good selection and this shop does.  From fantasy minifigs, to Star Wars® to super-hero, their inventory is impressive.  They also sell new kits, old instructions and accessories.  Now, if there were any complaints about this store, it would be their pricing.  Minifigs are about $5 on the low-end, and can go up dramatically from there depending on its rarity.  You can probably find better deals at online resale shops.  But again, there are other considerations.  Though in almost every case, you’ll pay more in this store than going online, you will have to go through the work of finding that item you’re looking for online, have to bid on it, pay shipping costs and of course, shopping online is not as environmentally friendly.

Reimagine: This pillar is similar to their rebuild – and seems to emphasize only that they also sell new sets.  It’s up to the individual to reimagine so this pillar is just marketing fluff.  It’s great they sell new sets but if I were their CEO, I’d use this “R” from their promos and change it to “Relax” or “Relate”, either to emphasize that one can just walk in, relax and play – or, that this store relates, by offering birthday party celebrations and even posts shopper’s creations on their website.  How proud would your little one be seeing their hard work posted online?  This is a really cool service they should promote more.

By and large, Bricks & Minifigs is a great local business to visit if you or your children like Lego® products.  They don’t charge to come in and play, have a great selection and offer other services for kids.  Don’t look to make money by selling your old Lego® and find a deal of a lifetime when buying, but their prices aren’t outrageous considering their overhead.  If one were to spend an hour there playing and buy a $5 minifig, I’d say it’s a fair deal.  Your kids will love it too. 

Verdict: Check it out!