Here's a simple reason why you should be wary of most "for sale by owner" websites, especially the larger ones who spend a lot of money on advertising. They all usually offer a "free listing." That's a red flag to begin with. Keep in mind that it's all about traffic and how many buyers are using your website to search. So in that case what good could a "free listing" on a for sale by owner website possibly do you?
What's more deceptive is you have a few sites promise to list you for free to a variety of sites plus your own. And that you can add an MLS package on for an additional fee. Be VERY careful of these sites. The reason is, many of them openly advertise to buyers on that same website that their website is a good source of "off-market" listings. Basically listings that don't have full exposure to buyers and thus have lower competition and potentially a cheaper price!
The only NYC for sale by owner company that's been honest and more focused on helping home sellers than ripping them off that I've found have been the team at Hauseit. The difference with these guys is they'll actually pair you with a normal listing agent in your area who'll get you the same exposure and "co-broke" for you in your local interbroker database. What's critically important is Hauseit has server level filtering rules set up so leads are automatically forwarded to you without there being a chance of them being intercepted by the broker.
This is actually a critical distinction as I've had many brokers offer to list me for free on StreetEasy etc. That's called an "open listing," which means if they find a buyer they'd ask me to pay them probably 2-3% as a fee! That's so egregious as those were my leads to begin with!
So with that said, tread very carefully next time you're on the website of some company claiming to be a "national for sale by owner company" with operations in every state. They've essentially made a livelihood of scamming home owners with a product that's been proven to not work. There are so many stories of brokers who say they know exactly who posts for these large websites and they treat them exactly as a FSBO. So in that case you're not really getting any benefit then are you?
Sorry I'm so worked up about this but I've just about had it with people basically stealing money from me and my loved ones. People, please investigate carefully before you buy, and feel free to ask me any questions you have.
What's more deceptive is you have a few sites promise to list you for free to a variety of sites plus your own. And that you can add an MLS package on for an additional fee. Be VERY careful of these sites. The reason is, many of them openly advertise to buyers on that same website that their website is a good source of "off-market" listings. Basically listings that don't have full exposure to buyers and thus have lower competition and potentially a cheaper price!
The only NYC for sale by owner company that's been honest and more focused on helping home sellers than ripping them off that I've found have been the team at Hauseit. The difference with these guys is they'll actually pair you with a normal listing agent in your area who'll get you the same exposure and "co-broke" for you in your local interbroker database. What's critically important is Hauseit has server level filtering rules set up so leads are automatically forwarded to you without there being a chance of them being intercepted by the broker.
This is actually a critical distinction as I've had many brokers offer to list me for free on StreetEasy etc. That's called an "open listing," which means if they find a buyer they'd ask me to pay them probably 2-3% as a fee! That's so egregious as those were my leads to begin with!
So with that said, tread very carefully next time you're on the website of some company claiming to be a "national for sale by owner company" with operations in every state. They've essentially made a livelihood of scamming home owners with a product that's been proven to not work. There are so many stories of brokers who say they know exactly who posts for these large websites and they treat them exactly as a FSBO. So in that case you're not really getting any benefit then are you?
Sorry I'm so worked up about this but I've just about had it with people basically stealing money from me and my loved ones. People, please investigate carefully before you buy, and feel free to ask me any questions you have.