By Tim Ford – REALTOR©

This month I have included sales numbers for local Real Estate in the area, but I came across a story that grabbed my attention and I had to write about it. This story is an interesting example of how more and more people are finding the help of a professional Realtor to be beneficial in the current market. The peak of For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sales was in 1997, at 18%. The number has been decreasing ever since. According to the National Association of Realtors, FSBO sales reached a record low in 2010, at 9% of total sales.

The interesting part, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, is the story of Colby Sambrotto. Sambrotto is the founder and former COO of ForSalebyOwner.com, a website that helps owners sell their home without the help of a Realtor. He had tried to sell his personal apartment in New York for six months with no success. Sombrotto ended up hiring a Real Estate Broker to list the property. His agent actually asked him to increase the asking price, and ended up selling it in July of this year after attracting multiple offers. The Broker sold the property for $2.15m, which was $150,000 more than asking price.

After the Wall Street Journal’s article ran, many other publications reported on the story. Sambrotto has since sued the Brokerage that helped him sell his home, claiming that the Broker interfered with his business and violated their contract by leaking the story to the Wall Street Journal. Apparently admitting the use of a Real Estate Brokerage to sell a home wasn’t beneficial while promoting a company that helps people sell without the help of a Brokerage.

Locally, Real Estate sales are still chugging along despite all the bad news in the National media. Between January 1st and September 1st of this year, 387 single family homes have sold in the Bozeman area.
The included data reflects sales of homes in the greater Bozeman area, including Four Corners, Gallatin Gateway, Bridger Canyon, and Bozeman city limits. It includes sales of single family homes and does not include townhomes or condominiums. The data includes home sales reported through the local Southwest Montana MLS, and does not include private party sales.