Want to sell your house on your own? That is what the founder and former CEO of ForSaleByOwner.com Colby Sambrotto attempted to do. Like the websites say "why hire a realtor when you can save thousands on commissions for something as easy as uploading pictures to a their sites and answering a few phone calls. Well after six months and no success Colby hired a professional real estate agent who charged a standard 6% comission to help with the sale. The agent convinced Colby he needed to RAISE the asking price because at his current price point he wasn't attracting the right buyers. Colby finally agreed and the apartment had multiple offers on it and went into contract in May of this year. The contract price of his 2 bedroom Chelsea apartment was $2.15 Million, which was $150,000 above his original asking price. Mr. Colby hired a professional and still made money in this deal because the agents brokerage fee was less than the extra 150k made on the sale. Another point to be made is that if Mr. Colby marketed his apartment with an agent from the start it most likely would of grossed even more.
Originally reported in the Wall Street Journal.
