A real estate for sale by owner is often performing a private real estate sale because they believe real estate agents do not offer any value to the sales process for real estate. A real estate for sale by owner often overlooks is that real estate agents always have a dynamic and current database of potential real estate and property buyers.

A real estate agent usually specialises in a particular geographic area and has a certain amount of real estate and house for sale in the suburbs around that area. How real estate agents build their database of property buyers is through the enquiries they receive for all the property they have listed and also through attendees at open house inspections they hold.

If a real estate agent has 20 property listed in an area, when they receive an enquiry for one property they will have another 5 property similar to that property which match the preference of the person making the enquiry. What I am getting at here, is that by using a real estate agent a property owner is getting access to the entire database of potential buyers which a real estate agent has and could prove to be quite fruitful in selling the property belonging to the property owner.

I am not saying a property owner should not perform a for sale by owner or private real estate sale but each property owner should at least contact their local real estate agent and ask them if they have any potential real estate buyers. If the agent doesn’t then the property owner should try and organise an agreement where if the real estate introduces the property owner to a buyer than the property owner will pay the real estate agent a fixed referral fee.

By the property owner entering into such an agreement with the real estate agent allows the property owner to sell privately through a private real estate sale or for sale by owner but still allows the property owner access to the real estate agents database.

Just something to consider as a property owner in the future before you choose to write off a real estate agent.