Is FSBO safe?

Safety is often raised as an issue in FSBO (For Sale By Owner) real estate sales. Some real estate agents try to scare homeowners into listing with them by claiming that is unsafe. Some homeowners are unsure how to show their property safely.

By taking a few sensible precautions there is no reason why selling your home FSBO (also known as private sale) should be any less safe than selling through a real estate agent. In fact selling FSBO should be safer. There is nothing that a real estate agent does to vet buyers that FSBO homeowners cannot do for themselves.

What does a real estate agent do?

Real estate agents claim that they vet prospective buyers before they visit your property but what does this mean? Does the real estate agent check whether the buyer has a criminal record for violent crimes or theft? Of course they don?t. At best, the agent may get a name, address and contact number of the buyer before they visit.

Getting a contact number for buyers is easy, just ask when the buyer calls to enquire about viewing your property. Before the buyer visits call them back to confirm that they are still coming. This lets you confirm that the contact number is genuine and also reduces the likelihood of no-shows.

FSBO advert contact details

It is advisable to limit the amount of information that you make available through online FSBO advertising. Some homeowners include their full name, telephone numbers, e-mail address, street address of the property for sale and times when they are at home. Whilst including this information is not enough to forge documents such as a passport it is enough to gain unwanted attention from confidence tricksters.

A potential buyer only needs to know your first name to make polite initial contact. There is no need to include your surname and titles in your FSBO advert.

Choose an online advert that protects your email address. There are programs that trawl the web looking for published email addresses. If you post your email address in your FSBO advert you are asking to receive spam.

The better FSBO sites such as www.smartvendor.com.au have online messaging systems that allow buyers and sellers to communicate online while keeping email addresses private

When selling your own home a mobile (cell) phone is invaluable. Not only are homeowners less likely to miss a call from a potential buyer but also a potential thief cannot cold call the property to check whether anybody is home. Open house inspections

We don?t recommend holding an open house viewing when selling your property. Open house inspections are hard to supervise and many buyers find viewing a property with lots of other buyers unproductive and frustrating.

Real estate agents use open houses as a way of getting leads about other properties that are for sale. Often the real estate agent will stand at the front of a house to make sure buyers receive details of their agency. But once inside the property buyers are allowed to roam around unsupervised.

Potential thieves can use open house inspections to check out security systems and case the properties if left to roam unsupervised. Don?t provide too much detail relating to your home?s security system to a buyer on their initial visit.

Common sense rules

When you are holding viewings of your property follow these common sense rules:

Remove all valuables from the property. Take them off site preferably in a safe deposit box. Don?t just put them in a drawer.

Make sure there are two people in the property at all times. Ask a friend or family member to accompany you. Only one of you need conduct the viewing.

Keep blinds and curtains open during viewings this allows people outside to see in to the property and will potentially deter somebody thinking of getting up to no good.

Showing your property after dark

Allowing buyers to drop in for viewings without a prior appointment is not recommend and especially not if the buyer is requesting an impromptu viewing after dark. Politely explain that you?re happy to show your home during daylight hours, when the buyer can fully appreciate your home?s wonderful features. Offer a flyer or information sheet to take away.

FSBO may not be for you

FSBO is not for everybody. In order to sell your own home you must be prepared to show potential buyers around the property. If you are uncomfortable doing this or feel that your circumstances would make you especially vulnerable it would be wise to consider using a traditional real estate agent.



Posted by Pat Mote on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About Pat Mote
Pat Mote is affliated with Pat Mote Real Estate, which is located in Benton, AR. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.



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Local Information for Benton, AR

Latitude: 34.570773 -- Longitude: -92.577025


ZIP Codes for Benton, Arkansas 72015  72018  72022  72158 
Area Code for Benton, Arkansas 501
Time zone for Benton, Arkansas CST



Other Area Cities:   Bryant, AR  Hot Springs, AR  Benton, AR  Little Rock, AR 

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As of the census of 2000, there were 21,906 people, 8,713 households, and 6,186 families residing in the city. The population density was 471.5/km² (1,221.2/mi²). There were 9,315 housing units at an average density of 200.5/km² (519.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.98% White, 4.08% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.56% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. 1.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 8,713 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. -- Source: Wikipedia.com




Arkansas 2000 Census Population Profile Map

Benton Arkansas United States
Population 21,906 2,673,400 281,421,906
Median age 35.9 36 35.3
Median age for Male 34.2 34.6 34
Median age for Female 37.7 37.4 36.5
Households 8,713 1,042,696 105,480,101
Household population 21,469 2,599,492 273,643,273
Average household size 2.46 2.49 2.59
Families 6,183 732,261 71,787,347
Average family size 2.95 2.99 3.14
Housing units 9,315 1,173,043 115,904,641
Occupied units 8,713 1,042,696 105,480,101
Vacant units 602 130,347 10,424,540

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