The seller must not only be able to present the house in an appealing, professional way, but must also help the buyer imagine himself living there—all while negotiating the best possible price. As for decision-making, FSBO does indeed grant the owner the authority to make all the decisions involved in the sale without having them brokered by an agent. That brings a definite plus as far as individual privacy goes, considering that the owner can schedule any and all viewings according to their own availability and preferences. The final price negotiation will also take place between the owner and the buyer, without an extra person in between. That sounds nice enough in theory, but in practice, it has its downsides. Making all the decisions and negotiating the final price yourself entail a huge amount of responsibility. That responsibility is particularly hard to bear for those with no real estate experience and/or no extensive house market pricing knowledge, and is a major contributing factor to just howmany FSBO sellers end up agreeing to sell their house for less than the listed market value. #2—THE UNEXPECTED CONS OF FSBO The debate over real estate agent vs. FSBO sales has been getting more and more heated over the past several years. However, even if
the necessity for and role of real estate agents have been seriously questioned, they remain America’s favorite means to sell and buy homes. Statistically, approximately 80% of American home sales are brokered by professional real estate agents. Numbers don’t lie—most people prefer to use an agent. With such a huge majority, it’s worth looking into just why so many sellers choose not to
go the FSBO route. To that end, let’s review some of the cons of FSBO in the attempt to further understand why so many people choose professional support when it comes to selling their homes.
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