When selling your house, you have two options: working with a real estate agent or selling it yourself.
This second option, called for sale by owner or FSBO for short, is much less common, constituting only 6% of sales in 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). But why go FSBO to begin with?
Many sellers who decide to handle their home sale do so to avoid paying a commission to a seller’s agent (also called a listing agent). The total commission for a home sale typically falls between 3%–6% of the sales price.
Before the implementation of the NAR lawsuit settlement terms in August 2024, it was typical for the listing agent and the buyer’s agent to split (usually 50–50) a 6% commission on the home sale. The new commission rules and regulations decoupled the agents’ commissions, leaving the buyer to pay the buyer’s agent fee while the seller pays the listing agent’s fee. However, it is still common for sellers to offer to pay the buyer’s fee in the current market.
For a seller choosing to go FSBO, this means you might still be on the hook for a 3% commission on the transaction — if you choose to cover the buyer’s agent fee as an additional marketing tool for your home.
There’s lots to consider before deciding to list FSBO. All the work will fall on your shoulders without the help of an agent, and you’ll be responsible for talking and negotiating with buyers and their agents. Plus, you’ll handle all the closing paperwork, which might feel overwhelming for homeowners lacking professional real estate experience.
So, is saving that money worth it? Let’s look at the pros and cons of for sale by owner.
Sell Without a Realtor: Get an All-Cash Offer
Avoid agent commissions by selling through HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform. Skip repairs and showings and receive an all-cash offer in 24 hours (close in as little as 10 days). You can also see an estimate of how much you might get selling with a top-rated agent. It might surprise you.
FSBO can take more time
Going FSBO can also mean undertaking a longer home sale. Pricing your home incorrectly can mean getting fewer offers. Additionally, if you don’t market your home correctly, you won’t get the kind of attention necessary for a quick home sale. Some buyer’s agents even keep their clients away from FSBOs.
“As a buyer’s agent working with a For Sale By Owner, you work a lot harder, and you make a lot less money,” Boylan says. “I steer my clients away from For Sale By Owners. I explain to my clients what’s going to happen, how it’s going to be a lot more difficult, and that the house will likely be overpriced.”
Infamously, the owner of ForSaleByOwner.com had to hire a real estate broker after he tried and failed to sell his own condo. His home reportedly sat on the market for six months before he turned to a professional.
There’s a lot of time-consuming work
There’s a reason why top real estate agents work full-time. They have a lot of work to complete when selling a house. When you go FSBO, all that work becomes yours.
Not only will you be responsible for marketing your home, setting the price, and taking pictures for the listing, but you’ll also have to work with buyers to set up viewings, which can get complicated if you’re already working another full-time job.
When offers start coming in, you’ll need to take time to review each one and negotiate with the buyer and their agent — who most likely has much more experience in this realm than you do. In fact, choosing which offer to accept is often not as simple as picking the highest amount when you consider contingencies and other factors.
Negotiating offers can be tough
Negotiating offers might seem simple in theory: you want to get the most money for your home sale, right? In reality, that’s not always the case. Not only will you have to consider the monetary offer on your home, but also the contingencies each buyer includes in their offers.
Contingencies make your home sale dependent on different factors. For example, a home inspection contingency protects the sale from going through unless the home inspection comes back without any problems. Similarly, an appraisal contingency protects the home sale from a low appraisal.
You’ll have to consider what your best offer is when factoring in both the money and the contingencies.
Setting a price is important but challenging
Real estate agents have the tools, experience, and expertise to price a home accurately and effectively. They use data to create comparative market analyses in order to price your home so that it will sell for the most money possible.
Because you’re not a real estate agent, you risk under- or overpricing your home. Underpricing your home means missing out on money in your sale. But overpricing your home means it could stay on the market for too long, and you might become susceptible to taking a lower offer.
It’s also easy to fall prey to your emotions when selling your own house; you could inflate its emotional value with its monetary value.
“The reality is you didn’t get your house priced right because you have someone who is emotional about their home pricing it,” Boylan says. “They give it a value that they feel it’s worth. It’s a lot higher than true market value.”
Marketing can take a lot of work
While FSBO sellers may already know the buyer of their home, many FSBO sellers are hoping to market their homes to the general public. But there’s a lot of work that comes along with marketing your home sale.
For example, if you don’t list your home on the MLS, you’ll miss out on a slew of buyers whose agents rely on the MLS to find their clients’ next potential home. Your word-of-mouth marketing plan might work if you already have a buyer in mind, like 38% of FSBO sellers in 2024, but if you’re looking to find one through social media, it will likely be a slow go.
Connect with a Top Agent
Our data shows the top 5% of agents across the U.S. help clients sell their home for as much as 10% more than the average real estate agent. It takes just two minutes to match clients with the best real estate agents, who will contact you and guide you through the process.
Working with a top real estate agent
If the cons of FSBO outweigh the pros, consider hiring a top real estate agent for your sale. Real estate agents who have years of expertise in their fields can benefit your sale and help you reach your goals, whether that’s selling your home quickly or for the most money possible.
They can take on pricing the home, finding a professional photographer and stager, writing the listing, and scheduling viewings of your home. Plus, they’ll help you go through each offer individually and decide which one is your best choice before guiding you through the closing process.
To find top real estate agents in your area, use HomeLight’s Agent Match tool. HomeLight will match you with two or three top agents you can speak with directly before making your final decision.
Finding a competitive cash offer
Maybe working with a real estate agent isn’t right for you, but neither is going FSBO. If you want to have a quick and easy sale, consider getting a cash offer for your home. Getting a cash offer means your sale will be very short, and you’ll get your payout quickly. You also won’t need to schedule time or money for repairs, home prep, or showings.
To see what your all-cash offer could look like, consider HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform. With Simple Sale, you can get a no-obligation, all-cash offer within 24 hours from the largest network of vetted and pre-approved investors in the U.S. If you accept the offer, the sale of your home can close in as few as 10 days, and you can even choose a move-out date that works best for you.
Requesting a cash offer from HomeLight does not cost anything or require any commitment. You can also use the tool to compare the all-cash offer to what you might bring in from an agent-assisted sale.
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