Has anyone heard of or used http://savvylane.com/ Seems like a welcome upgrade to FSBO. And something that should benefit a lot of experienced sellers in strong markets like PA, LA, Cupertino etc.
Haven’t heard of them. But over the years I have seen a few similar offerings. The biggest problem with DIY selling is when things go wrong and there is nobody to pass the blame. All RE agents buy error and omission insurance. If anything goes wrong, there are two lines of defense for agents:
- Insurance
- Broker
For DIY sellers there are none.
Their ad compares themselves with selling thru traditional agents who charge 6% commission. That’s highly misleading. Listing agents is highly competitive. They will sell your house for 1% commission or less. Sellers need to pay the buyer’s side no matter what. That’s 2.5%. So DIY potentially only saves 1%. If you pick a good listing agent, there is good chance she can sell the house for a higher price, easily earning her 1% and then some.
Is that the norm in SF BA now? I wasn’t aware, not saying it’s not true 
I met someone recently who is using savylane and I pointed out the exact same thing - you are saving 1% only. And his response was that it still is close to 10k given the price of property and ~$500 he’ll pay savylane. In a strong sellers market, this guy couldn’t see any disadvantage of using savylane as long as you offer the full commission to buyer’s agent.
Redfin charges 1.5%. So that’s an upper bound. Given the dearth of inventory agents are desperate for business. Plus working for seller is guaranteed money, compared to working for buyers. I am pretty confident people can negotiate commission down to 1% on a $1M listing.
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If I was an agent, I’d focus on representing sellers and charge very little to do it. Most homes close in 30 days. That’s pretty easy money. Representing buyers who have to bid who knows how many times before winning is a LOT of time investment.
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The good ones offer free staging, free interior design consultation, free inspection plus minor repairs, … rather than charge less commission… sell faster and at higher price 
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True. Like this ad on the cover of a Chinese real estate magazine:
This guy offers 10 free services:
- Minor repair
- Staging
- Gardening
- Cleaning
- Professional photos
- Color brochure
- Inspection
- Moving
- Newspaper & magazine ad
- Trash hauling
Reading local Chinese RE mags is pretty fun. Besides houses in Bay Area some advertise houses in Sac and local businesses. Are there Indian equivalents?
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Might as well go with Redfin for selling at that point.
(I thought they had a flat fee… Something like $5K)
While you’re there you might as well check out Homebourse - Revolutionizing Real Estate Transaction Online
It seems like they made it possible to buy and sell real estate online and they are based in Miami. Buyers needto pay a 1% deposit to make an offer or initiate a buying process that they support with title companies. It’s probably more tailored to investors I guess. Interesting concept. What do you think?