Letter to the editor re: discount brokerages and FSBO marketing companies
by Matt Difanis
Published in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette June 24, 2001
Click here for Matt's Article Archives
To the Editor:
The June 17, 2001 edition of The News-Gazette
featured two articles about companies that provide various real estate services
to property owners who wish to sell their homes with little or no assistance
from a real estate brokerage. The
article about Blue Edge Realty quoted homeowner Terry Schuldt as saying that
selling a home isn’t nearly as difficult as people think it is.
The other article stated, “Little Picket Fence operates on the premise
that a for-sale-by-owner transaction isn’t difficult with the help of a good
lender and real estate attorney.” Readers
could easily be left with the impression that full service real estate
brokerages charge huge sums of money for services that a seller or a real estate
attorney can do equally well and for a much lower cost.
In addition to performing a myriad of crucial
behind-the-scenes tasks on behalf of buyers or sellers, good real estate
practitioners act as consultants and confidants throughout the entire process,
dispensing expert advice, negotiating zealously on behalf of their clients, and
providing market research data from the Multiple Listing Service—a rich
database to which only REALTORS® have access.
While real estate attorneys have an important role to play
in real estate transactions, their role overlaps very little with the role of
REALTORS®. I have had more than
one attorney tell me that for-sale-by-owner transactions make attorneys
appreciate competent real estate agents. For-sale-by-owner
clients often make mistakes and unwittingly violate various laws throughout the
process. They involve the attorney
after the damage has been done, or they try to make the attorney play the role
of both REALTOR® and lawyer. This
can ultimately prove far more costly than a real estate brokerage fee.
Even for ambitious veteran home sellers and buyers, the
benefits of retaining a full service real estate brokerage and a competent
REALTOR® are worth every penny of the cost.
Matthew I. Difanis
REALTOR®
Matt's Article Archive
- June 2004: Why Comparison Shopping for an Agent May Cost You More
- June 2002: Improving Real Estate Through Technology
- November-December 2001: Just Say No to Dual Agency
- September-October 2001: Making a Living in a High Stakes Profession
- August 2001: In defense of REALTORS®: Matt's Letter to The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette
- June-July 2001: To See a FSBO Property, Call a REALTOR®
- April 2001: Consider Risks of Selling on your Own
- March 2001: Real Estate Secret Revealed: The Name on the Sign May Be the Only Person Who Can't Help You
- February 2001: 2-1 Buydowns Can Make Payments Affordable for Buyers