Selling Your Home: FSBO Disadvantages

One major reason why homeowners choose to sell their properties all by themselves even if it means additional work is because they want to save money in real estate fees. Sales commissions typically average from 7% of the sale price of the home so by selling a property privately a homeowner can actually save thousands of dollars. And not only that, a homeowner will have total control in showing the house as well as in contract negotiations. As oppose to listing their homes with a real estate agent, a homeowner handles the sale of his/her property and this process is commonly called FSBO, an acronym that stands for For Sale By Owner.

FSBO properties have several advantages, but agents and Realtors testify that the disadvantages related to FSBO far outweigh the advantages. Figures in surveys suggest that only 6-7% of properties are sold through FSBO. If you can save thousands of dollars from FSBO, then why can't you sell your house all by yourself?

1. You are not as informed and updated as the real estate agents are. Take note that provisions regarding home selling change from time to time.

2. Competition in the real estate market is tough, how much more if you are competing against real estate agents. Chances are, you might end up losing because you have limited knowledge on how to market and price your home well without lowering price too much.

3. Since there will be tons of preparation involved in selling your property like doing some repairs, staging your home, promoting it and so on, you might as well hire stagers, plumbers, and repairmen which can add cost you a lot.

4. Speaking of marketing, you have limited contacts unlike real estate agents. Remember that for you to have more chances of getting a lot of good offers; you have to have a lot of access where you can use it to reach a lot of people.

5. Since you are so emotionally attached to your home, there are chances that you are going to price your home too high because it should be valued more. In some cases, you might get hurt if potential buyers offer less than your price.

Looking at the disadvantages associated to a FSBO property for the seller, you will notice that every home owner has the need to work with real estate agents. With real estate agents, you are sure that your property is getting the maximum exposure and technical inputs.