The Debra West Team

FSBO vs. REALTOR®: It’s Not Just Where You List - It’s How You Enter the Market

Selling a home isn’t simply about putting it online or on a marketplace and waiting for a buyer.

One of the biggest advantages of working with a REALTOR® is access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) — and the ability to strategically decide how and when a property enters the market.

Why the MLS Matters

The MLS is much more than a place where REALTORS® enter listings. It is a cooperative marketplace where real estate professionals share property information so agents and their buyers can see available inventory.

That creates something that’s difficult for a FSBO seller to duplicate: market-wide exposure and the opportunity for buyer competition.

Recent research from Doorify MLS found properties marketed through its MLS sold for approximately 13.4% more — about $51,000 on average in that market — than properties not marketed through the MLS.

Researchers estimated FSBO sellers in their study left approximately $406 million on the table. These figures represent that particular market and don’t mean every seller will achieve the same result, but they illustrate why broad market exposure matters.

Going Straight to the Open Market Isn’t Always the Only Strategy

This is one of the biggest conversations happening in real estate right now.

• Should every property immediately receive maximum public exposure?
• Should some homes begin as Coming Soon?
• Is there a legitimate reason to delay public marketing?

New MLS policies give sellers more choices in certain markets, including options that may allow a property to be entered into the MLS and shared with real estate professionals while broader public internet marketing is delayed for a limited period.

That’s where professional representation becomes especially important.

A Coming Soon period may sometimes help build awareness before showings begin. In another situation, immediately exposing the property to the full marketplace may be the better strategy.

There isn’t one answer for every seller.

A FSBO Can Advertise. A REALTOR® Can Strategize.

A homeowner can put a house online.

What a homeowner doesn’t have is the same combination of MLS market data, professional buyer-agent exposure, showing activity, competing inventory, and real-time feedback that an experienced REALTOR® uses to make marketing decisions.

Before I bring a property to market, I’m looking at more than a suggested list price. I’m looking at:

• What are buyers buying?
• What is sitting or reducing its price?
• What is our competition?
• How much inventory do we have?
• How do we position this property to create the strongest possible response?

That’s the difference between simply listing a house and strategically entering the market.

Exposure Creates Opportunity

The goal isn’t to get your home in front of a buyer. The goal is to position it so the market has the opportunity to respond.

When multiple buyers have access to the same property, the seller has a better opportunity to evaluate not only price, but also financing, contingencies, concessions, appraisal risk, and contract strength.

Price matters. Terms matter. Strength matters.

Experience Matters in a Changing Market

I’ve been selling real estate since 1994 and have been involved in thousands of transactions. Markets change, technology changes, and marketing strategies change.

Because the strategy that worked yesterday may not be the strategy that works today.

Markets change. Experience teaches you what to do when they do.