As you consider selling your home, you will technically begin with an all-important choice: find a listing agent, or opt for the “FSBO” route. Short for “for sale by owner,” FSBO is a relatively niche direction for home sellers. NAR notes in its 2023 survey that only 7% of home sales were by owner, and the majority of those sales were between people who already knew one another. However, it’s common enough that it requires some attention – or, more accurately, some caution.
You might be a perfectly organized person – adept at interior design and photography, with a salesperson’s gift for pitching your property and enough free time to manage the deluge of communication heading your way. However, your efforts will be no match for top performing real estate agents, especially if you want a fast, lucrative home sale.
Below, consider four reasons why you should always choose a quality realtor over FSBO.
It’s Nearly Impossible to Match the Reach and Exposure of a Reputable Agency
In real estate sales, visibility is critical.
If 100 eyeballs see your listing, you might get some competition among buyers driving the price slightly, although only a few buyers will emerge as viable prospects. By contrast, if 1,000 or 10,000 potential buyers see your listing, you’re much more likely to witness bidding wars, fast offers and attractive terms. It’s a simple numbers game: the more offers you get, the more likely you’ll receive a great offer.
One of the key value props of a quality real estate agency is its reach and exposure. They have robust marketing networks and multi-channel visibility, and are experienced in tenaciously advertising a home. By contrast, the FSBO seller has limited reach; they can’t market on the all-important MLS (unless they pay a hefty fee), nor will they have access to networks of nurtured leads. Some buyer’s agents won’t even show their clients an FSBO.
The Price Is Right? Without Experienced Realtors, It’s Tough to Tell
Pricing a home is one of the trickier aspects of a home sale. Price it too high, and it will languish on the market while interest dries up. Price it too low, and you risk losing a significant amount of money.
Realtors know how to research comparables (comps, for short) and take stock of the current market to price a home accurately, thereby netting you the best possible price for your asset.
Legal Documents Leave Little Room for Error
The legal documents governing a home sale need to be airtight and factual. If anything is amiss, it is the seller that often bears the consequences. For instance, if a seller fails to thoroughly and clearly disclose conditions that materially affect a home’s value (set out in crisp, precise legal language), they may expose themselves to negligence charges or breach of contract.
It’s far wiser to enlist an expert to draft your agreements and legal documents. Doing so can save you a severe headache down the line.
In Everything They Do, Realtors Bring to Bear Experience and Knowledge
FSBO essentially requires you, the home seller, to manage the myriad duties traditionally assumed by a realtor. Among other things, these duties include staging and marketing, researching comps and negotiating with buyers, drafting ironclad legal documents and organizing the deed.
It’s a lot to handle. Therefore, a catch-all reason to choose a realtor over FSBO is because they know what they’re doing. The best realtors have countless sales under their belt, and are fluent in every step of the complicated real estate process. As clever and motivated as an FSBO seller is, they can’t match that knowledge and experience.
If you plan to sell your home, consider skipping past the FSBO consideration and heading straight to a quality realtor.
