Have you ever thought about selling your home without a real estate agent's help?
It's not very common in this day and age. According to the National Assn. of Realtors®' annual survey of home buyers and sellers, only 7% of homes sold in the last year were "for sale by owner" -- an all-time low.
I suspect one reason it's not more common is that selling a home is not easy. Some homeowners think it's as easy as sticking as "for sale" sign in the front yard, but the truth is that a good real estate agent does a lot more for sellers than that.
The chart below comes from a recent survey by Clever Real Estate asking 210 FSBO sellers what the experience was like.
More than half of FSBO sellers said they felt "overwhelmed" by the sales process. Almost half said buyers didn't trust them because they weren't using an agent to sell the home. Contract and legal issues were also popular responses.
Aside from stress and legal/contract issues, there's also a financial benefit to using an agent. According to Clever's survey, homeowners who sold without a real estate agent were three times more likely to say they lost money on their home sale and almost half believe their home would have sold for more if they would have used an agent.
On the flip side, 77% of sellers who used an agent said they were satisfied with the process -- not a perfect number, but strong evidence that it makes sense to hire an agent when it's time to sell your home!
- Cari
