Agent vs. FSBO: Is there more money to be made by Do-It-Yourself Home Selling?

Why pay someone else to do something that you can do perfectly well yourself?

Every year, approximately 12% of the homes on the market are For Sale By Owner, FSBO for short, which is the process of selling real estate without the representation of a real estate broker or agent. The merit is considered to be, of course, the avoidance of paying commission fees for selling the home. If you are considering the on-your-own approach to home sales, then the next question you must ask yourself is this: How likely am I to successfully sell my house for the price I want? How successful are FSBOs, in general, on the open market?

Only you can determine your level of confidence in engaging the home sales market, and there are some experienced individuals who claim great success at it. But if this is completely new territory for you, here is a survey that you may consider:

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Survey: Sellers Fare 50% Better With Agents

Sellers have a better chance at getting their house sold by using a REALTOR® (real estate professional) than opting for the do-it-yourself approach, according to a survey of 1,000 homeowners by HomeGain.com, an online real estate resource.

Nearly 60 percent of homeowners who used a REALTOR® to sell their home were successful compared to 39 percent of “For Sale By Owners,” the survey found.

In the survey, 83 percent of homeowners said they used a REALTOR® to sell their home, whereas 17 percent said they tried to sell it themselves. This corresponds to results from NAR’s 2010 Profile of Buyers & Sellers, which found 88 percent of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent. (Additionally, 83 percent of buyers bought their home through an agent.)

“It is especially striking that homeowners fare significantly better in selling their homes using a REALTOR® than selling on their own,” said Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain.

“Due to that relative success, the level of satisfaction in the home-selling process is also higher for home sellers utilizing the services of a REALTOR® than those who try to sell their homes on their own.”

Among the findings in its For Sale by Owner vs. REALTOR® survey:

• 88 percent of homeowners who sold their homes using a REALTOR® said they would use a REALTOR® again.
• 24 percent of FSBOs eventually contacted a REALTOR® to help sell their home.

Source: “HomeGain Survey Finds Home Sellers Fare 50% Better in Getting Their Homes Sold Using a REALTOR® Than Selling on Their Own,” HomeGain.com (Feb. 24, 2011)

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