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For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Statistics
A recent survey from the National Association of REALTORS found that just 48% of sellers would use the same agent agin.
Many sellers are turning to off-market real estate transactions otherwise referred to as For Sale By Owner or FSBO. The same NAR survey found that For Sale By Owner accounted for 11% of home sales in 2018. That's 605,000 homes and roughly $121 billion worth of housing inventory.
If you're thinking about selling your home without an agent, you need to understand that all else equal, listing FSBO without an agent results in lower purchase prices. The reason is simple: the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is an incredibly powerful marketing channel. This will come as no surprise when you review the FSBO marketing methods utilization rates below.
FSBO methods used to market home:
- None (did not actively market home): 36%
- Yard sign: 31%
- Open house: 24%
- Friends, relatives, or neighbors: 21%
- Multiple Listing Service (MLS) website: 20%
- Online classified advertisements: 13%
- Social networking websites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.): 11%
- For-sale-by-owner websites: 5%
- Direct mail (flyers, postcards, etc.): 4%
- Video: 1%
- Print newspaper advertisement: less than 1%
91% of FSBO Listings Are Overpriced
OfferMarket collected data on over 1,000 For Sale By Owner listings in Baltimore and Tampa and found that 91% of For Sale By Owner listings are priced too high. This results in FSBO listings generating low interest and awareness, taking a longer time to sell, and a higher than average number of price reductions to find a more appropriate market price.
We believe the primary reason that the majority of FSBO listings we studied are overpriced is because owners simply do not have the skill, knowledge and experience necessary to list the property at a price point that will attract optimal interest. Many FSBO sellers are simply out of touch with the true value of their home. This is especially true when markets shift from seller to buyer's market, the seller becomes anchored to the higher and no longer relevant valuation range.
Free Real Estate Valuation Report
FSBO Playbook: Make Buyers Compete For Your Home
Just because traditional For Sale By Owner often does not produce as positive an outcome as listing with a real estate agent does not mean you need to list with a real estate agent.
If you want to sell your home without an agent, here is the simple playbook:
1. Price your listing attractively.
Study the current market conditions, identify recent comparable home sales and current listings.
2. Use your commission-free terms to your advantage.
If you're not paying the typical 5-6% broker commission, use some of your savings to undercut your competition and deliver more value to buyers. A good deal paired with good distribution will capture their attention.
3. Make your property stand out.
With a limited budget you can make your house worthy of a closer look from interested buyers.
- Deep clean ($150) - Power wash ($200) - Professional photography ($250)
4. Make buyers compete for your home.
Competition makes buyers submit their best offer and take action quickly for fear of missing out. Awareness drives interest, interest drives competition.
When you sell your home with OfferMarket, you pay 0% commission and gain access to a powerful marketing platform that makes qualified buyers compete for your property.
