There’s always something to howl about.

The FSBO and BUBBA variety hour: How to make the buyer’s agents dance . . .

Our friend, colleague and personal marketing god, Richard Riccelli is getting ready to FSBO his Boston townhouse. He’s spent a year planning this down to the last detail, including condo-izing his property into two apartments so that they can be sold separately — or together if someone wants a residence plus servant’s quarters.

Richard was all over the idea of being a risk-loving seller, offering “broker participation” in such a way that a buyer can choose what, if anything, to pay for representation. This is the language he’s using on his promotional materials:

Buyers or buyer-designated brokers receive 2.5% of sale price at closing.

Perfect! A 2.5% commission is normal in Boston, and agents are always looking for that “broker participation” rider on a FSBO sign before they’ll invest any effort. But if a buyer wants to come in as a BUBBA — a buyer unrepresented by a buyer’s agent — the money’s there for closing costs or whatever.

It’s not quite right out there that the buyer can decide how that money is to be divided, if the buyer hires an agent, but there is nothing to keep the buyer from figuring it out. Either way, Richard gets what he wants: Avid interest either from buyers or from their agents.

With three exceptions, the silence from the real estate community on the idea of paying the buyer to pay the agent, rather than paying the agent directly, has been deafening. But there is more to real estate than Realtors. Unrepresented and semi-unrepresented sellers aren’t going to be invited to the Association of Realtors golf tournaments anyway. Writing their “broker participation” language the way Richard did makes perfect sense for them.

And that’s why it makes sense for Realtors, too. Whether they are correct or not, many people believe they can buy a home by themselves. In states where one or more attorneys are going to be involved anyway, they just might be right. Even in Arizona, if you have identified the property, agreed with the seller on terms and have effected the due diligence amicably, a title company will do all the necessary paperwork in exchange for title insurance premiums that the parties are going to pay anyway. On a $300,000 home, is the risk premium of working without a Realtor really $9,000 and not a penny less? If it isn’t, you just lost every potential FSBO buyer who can do math.

Why should you be empowering your buyers by putting their money in their hands, then negotiating back a reasonable fee? Because it already is their money, and as soon as they figure that out, they won’t talk to you at all.

To repeat: I think there should be a lot of discussion about this now. Even if there isn’t, I think the FSBO sites and the flat-fee brokerages should jump on this idea right now. In states where buyer agency is the norm, we could be done in six months.

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