Selling a home without the assistance of a professional Realtor is known as a for-sale-by-owner, colloquially known as a FSBO (pronounced “fizbo”). Over 85% of all FSBOs do not sell themselves, but end up listing with a Realtor. Why? What is so hard about selling a home oneself? Here’s a simple graph that presents complex truths about why FSBOs lose so many potential buyers. I thought a picture might be worth more in this case than 1,000 words. Click on this image for an enlargement.
Last Updated on July 27, 2012 by Chuck Marunde
It is always amazing how many FSBO eventually call a realtor. They think they can market the home but the best marketing is the MLS.
I appreciate your contribution Ashlee, but I would add that the best marketing for real estate today is not the MLS, but many other Internet marketing tools I use for my clients. I do think the MLS is still an important tool to broadcast listings, and other agents may have buyers, so every home should be listed in the MLS, but there is so much more to marketing these days.
Chuck, perhaps you should also enlighten your readers with the reasons why going FSBO is really an “un-safe” way to go. From un-qualified buyers to scammers.
I think this alone (the safety aspect) is a great reason why you SHOULD knock on all the FSBO doors 🙂 and let them know the risks they might be taking.
[Sharon, excellent point. Thank you for the reminder.]
Informative post. Real Estate is having a big part on the business world, on real estate, selling is not as easy as eating peanuts, you need to have the guts, proper marketing and being honest on what you are selling but definitely real estate is really a great investment because it gives a lot of opportunity.
Selling one’s own home is not something an inexperienced person should try without a great deal of preparation and planning. There’s no question that a professional and experienced real estate agent has learned a lot over the years that the FSBO has not. There’s more to selling a home than most homeowners realize.