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FSBOs are down 25% in 2008

According the latest edition of Fortune Small Business Magazine, February 2009,
For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sales are down from 20% of total sales in 2006 to around 15% last year.   The National Association of REALTORs has the numbers even lower as they report only 12% homes being sold by owner.

"With properties hard to sell these days, sellers are returning to brokers for professional marketing help," says Steve Muarray from REAL Trends, a market research firm.

 Why do homeowners try to sell FSBO?

Why It's Not For Everyone?

Pricing

Apparently most For Sale By Owners just aren't objective when it comes to pricing their homes. There are so many emotions wrapped up in home ownership that's it's difficult to accurately determine the market value of a home without professional assistance.   FSBO homes are usually overpriced by 10% or more and in this market, that means there won't even be any showings.

Exposure

With just 1 property to sell, For Sale By Owners simply can't afford to generate enough interest in a home for sale. By contrast, real estate agents have dozens of properties to sell at one time. They can afford to advertise because they know if the potential purchaser doesn't buy the home they advertise, there's a good chance they can sell them another from their huge selection in the Mutliple Listing Service (MLS).

Patience

The average For Sale By Owner gives up after just 2 -3 weeks. The mantra seems to be something like this, "we'll try it for a few weeks, but if it doesn't sell right away, we're going to give it to a real estate broker. "    Seems like a good idea, but the 1st 30 days that a home is on the market is the most critical, and not having the right initial exposure can hurt in the long run.

Experience

Without real estate selling education or experience, most home sellers are simply unprepared for the real estate marketing and transaction process. Situations that appear routine to the experienced real estate professional can seem daunting and perplexing to someone not accustomed to the home selling process.

Buyer Reticence

Most buyers don't want to deal directly with an owner. Studies show that about 88% of home buyers use a real estate agent for their home purchase.   Add to that the fact that FSBO properties are just generally more difficult to find because they're not listed in any well-known repository for homes for sale information like the MLS and you can see why for sale by owners are missing out on 3/4 of the market.

For more information on how to sell your property for the most money and least hassle,
contact me for a no-obligation market report.