forsalebyowner.com reviews for NYC

I can't speak for them, but you should in general be careful about "national" for sale by owner websites that claim to cover all 50 states.

They'll claim to list you in your local MLS. What does that even mean for NYC? There is no dominant MLS here .. only the RLS (REBNY Listing Service).

If you're taking the "quasi-FSBO" route go through a company like Hauseit that will actually get you on the RLS and local search websites that matter like StreetEasy, Brownstoner etc.

Thanks, I've been doing a lot of research lately. It seems listing it "for sale by owner" is actually a completely different thing than doing a flat fee RLS or quasi FSBO as you say.

The latter route seems to avoid the heavy dose of broker harassment you'll receive as a regular FSBO ... and it seems you do have to be on the RLS to not get boycotted by buyers' agents.

Just want to make sure I don't waste money and end up in the NY State MLS or something :-)

There aren't many sale listings in NYC. Buyers probably won't spend a lot of time on the website, but might find the link/advertisement through another website

As an FYI - Corcoran.com is the #1 most visted real estate website in the US. If you're trying to sell in NYC, it might make sense to meet with an agent from Corcoran to talk about maximizing your listing's exposure :)

For what it's worth from the perspective of a prospective buyer (and from talking to other buyers): unless you are buying for investment purposes, from my anecdotal experience, it seems that most prospective buyers basically either (I) look at Streeteasy (or perhaps some other website that aggregates listings, although I stick to Streeteasy) OR (ii) hire a broker to do the searching. I think that in a city as dense as NY, it is too time-consuming for most amateur buyers to use multiple listing resources. I personally never go to a broker's or a FSBO website unless I'm linked to that site by Streeteasy or Trulia.

UESbuyer, when StreetEasy was started, the site invited brokers to submit little write-ups of buildings -- you'll often find, if you read down far enough, that a broker is "credited" with the write-up. That having been said, there's no incentive to update the building blurbs, so as facts change about a building, they become out-of-date. (One easy example is that I just sold in an Upper West Side building whose board had changed its flip tax a few years ago ... SE still has the old, "per share" flip tax as opposed to the new percentage flip tax -- which on a one-bedroom is a difference of more than five thousand dollars. )

That's one reason why some brokers specialize in very specific local markets -- I'm sure if you decided you wanted to live in a Third Avenue postwar brick that there's a broker (not me) who could compare the finer points of 1160 Third and 205 East 77th and lay them out for you.

ali r.

Also, Elleinad85, what? It's a great website, sure, but did it surpass Re/Max, Zillow, and Realtor.com when I wasn't looking?

We started RealDirect in 2011 so that sellers had an option that saved them a lot of money - similar to a FSBO - but also provided the distribution that a brokerage has - i.e. in RLS, Streeteasy, NYTimes, Zillow, etc. Yes - one of the benefits is that you will not be bothered by brokers trying to get your listing, but the biggest benefits are the buyer reach as well as the guidance our team gives each of our sellers all the way through closing. ForSaleByOwner .com is not a good option in NYC.

Doug Perlson
www.realdirect.com

I'm wondering if realdirect has removed its flat fee service. I can only find a .5% option on the buyer side.

Never mind. I'm mistaken. I just saw that it's $395 per month.

Remember that for buying or selling a coop apartment, you will need help with the board package so make sure whom ever you use as a discount broker offers board package services.

RealDirect gives a $395 for 3 months rate for people that mention they saw us on the Streeteasy message boards.

If a fsbo ĺwith a $2.5mil++ price tag) lists themselves on streeteasy, and makes clear that buyer-brokers are welcome and that they guarantee a 2.5% commission to them if a deal is struck, will buyer brokers who do see the listing (or whose buyers with brokers request to see the property thru them), be willing to deal with that fsbo-seller, or do they avoid fsbo's completely (regardless of the 2.5% offered) and perhaps even make up a story to their buyer as to why they shouldnt bother to go see it (ie: I previewed it already...it's not good for xyz reason, etc...)? Just trying to learn if most "upscale" buyer brokers will completely avoid fsbos. Any feedback would be very appreciated.

When you say "upscale" I assume you mean luxury. Which to some can mean $5mm plus and others more traditionally $10mm plus. Buyers are these levels are 99% to 100% represented by highly competent buy side brokers.

And you're right, why would we show a FSBO and risk a 3% payday? Even if you promise to pay and write that in the listing description, who are you? Is there a contract? No.

Plus, what if my client finds the address? How easy is it to loop me out? Just Google the address?

So no, unless it's in RLS we aren't touching it.

You must not be doing this very long.

I'm surprised that a broker would be permitted under the licensing rules to not engage on a property otherwise appropriate for a client just because of the broker's self-interest, but I confess to not knowing those rules at all.

A lot of Brokers have no clue what the term "fiduciary duty" means.

We've done a number of deals with owners offering anywhere 2.5% Commission. In my opinion most Brokers would happily show this listing. That said you may have to fend off a certain percentage of brokers who view this as an opportunity to pitch their services to.

I find most buyers are looking on sites like streeteasy even if they're working with a broker. So if the broker doesn't see your listing, most buyers will and send it to their Brokers attention. You may lose a portion of the buyer pool as there are clients that are not tooling around the internet for listings and depending solely on their broker to provide them. But I believe those clients are in the minority these days.

Keith

While I don't totally disagree with Keith, I think there is a bit of confirmation bias going on this site. Anyone who is here thinks that everybody else must also be here. The latest statistics that I could find from the National Association of Realtors say it's about 50/50 in terms of the buyers finding their house on the internet.
https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/quick-real-estate-statistics

Wow some pretty interesting statistics in this article. I was surprised to see only 51% found their home via the Internet. So I would guess that number is higher in urban areas especially big cities like New York.

Even so interesting that only 30% Nationwide found their home via broker recommendation.

Internet: 51%
Real estate agent: 30%
Yard sign/open house sign: 7%
Friend, relative or neighbor: 6%
Home builder or their agent: 5%
Directly from sellers/Knew the sellers: 2%
Print newspaper advertisement: Less than 1%

I think the numbers suggest something I have been saying for a while - it used to be that buyers were Guided by Brokers recommendations, but in recent years a lot of buyers have become more like Waiters - letting the buyers find properties on their own and simply "taking their order". And while there are a good number of buyers Brokers specialists who know what they're doing, there are way too many brokers who that's all they do - sit around waiting for their buyer to make the decision, "place the order", and then expect the seller's broker to do all the work.

Sorry, I meant to say "Buyers Brokers have become more like Waiters"

Lauren, most professionals agree that somewhere between 75% to 90% of all buyers are represented. I think the stat is that 90% of deals in the city are done between a buyer agent and a seller agent. If you're selling a $2.5mm property, that percentage of buyers that are represented rises much closer to 100%, probably 95%.

So yes, you need to be able to contractually co-broke. That's why the MLS (RLS for NYC https://www.hauseit.com/rebny-rls-nyc/) is still around and is so effective.

Writing that you'll pay 2.5% to buyer brokers on your FSBO listing description is just not going to cut it. Do you think brokers are keen to negotiate a FSBO commission agreement (https://www.hauseit.com/fsbo-commission-agreement/) for each listing they see? What if they send the listing to the buyer and the buyer simply Googles the address?