About FSBO

Nearly one in four homeowners currently chooses to sell their homes without a broker. The reason is obvious.

With real estate commissions as high as seven percent of the selling price the average homeowner takes a beating when listing with a broker. Suppose you’re selling a $145,000 home on which you owe $110,000. You expect to realize $35,000 in equity.

Of course, if you list with a broker who charges six percent commission he'll take it off your selling price, not your equity. You’ll pay $8,700 in commission.

Now your equity is $26,300 and you haven’t even paid your closing costs!

Your realtor® just walked away with 25% of your equity. Nice deal, huh?

In the past, the real estate industry very effectively limited access to the home selling market through the MLS. This allowed them to drive commissions up to a very high level. With the emergence of the internet as a ubiquitous medium, though, this real estate monopoly is quickly deteriorating as the public increasingly turns to FSBO sales.

Many people are realizing that selling their own home to save the commission is a very realistic and sensible option. Adding up all the financial costs of selling on your own (i.e. signage, advertising, etc.) is typically less than $1,000, a small fraction of the typical commission fee.

There are many sources of information for selling your home on your own. Visit the public library. There are many good books on selling your home which include extensive information on FSBO sales. Several good books are dedicated to FSBO.

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF DAVID ZWIEFELHOFER