According to the National Association of Realtors® 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, eighty-four percent of all sellers were assisted by an agent. Thirteen percent of sellers sold their home themselves as a for-sale-by-owner or FSBO. There is substantial variation across different locations, with agent assisted sales ranging from 71 to 88 percent of sales and FSBO sales ranging from 10 to 26 percent of sales. FSBOs tend to be more common in rural areas, small towns, and resort areas where sellers are more likely to know potential buyers. Rural areas, small towns, and resort areas all saw increases in FSBO sales over the previous year. Gains in FSBOs were largely driven by increases in sales where the buyer and seller knew each other prior to the transaction. In urban areas and suburbs, there was a slight shift from FSBO to agent-assisted sales.

 

FSBO TRENDS

The share of homes sold as FSBOs trended down as the housing market heated up; more sellers sought the advice and expertise of an agent to assist them in the sale. In 2008, there is a slight departure from this trend; an increased share of sellers who knew the buyer pushed FSBO sales up marginally to13 percent. At the same time, agent assisted sales decreased slightly to 84 percent from 85 percent one year earlier.

 

SELLING PRICE, FSBO AND AGENT-ASISTED SELLERS

The median selling price for all recently sold homes was $204,900. The median price in FSBO sales was $153,000, while the median in agent-assisted sales was $211,000. Some of this difference is attributable to different composition of homes sold under the two methods. FSBO sales include a smaller percentage of detached single-family homes and more often take place in small towns and rural areas. In nearly half of FSBO sales, the seller knew the buyer, and so in half of those sales, the home was sold at the asking price. This result is consistent with a view that friends or acquaintances are less likely to engage in aggressive price negotiations, compared with parties in an arms-length transaction.


MOST DIFICULT TASK FOR FSBO SELLERS

Two-thirds of FSBO sellers found some aspect of the home sale to be difficult. The tasks that FSBO sellers found most difficult differed depending on their relationship with the buyer. For those who knew the buyer, 12 percent found getting the price right to be the most difficult task. Nine percent found devoting time to the sale most difficult, and an additional 9 percent found selling within the amount of time planned to be most difficult. Among FSBO sellers who did not know the buyer, the top three difficulties were selling within the length of time planned (16 percent), fixing up the home for sale (15 percent), and getting the price right (12 percent).

 

HOW FSBO SELLERS WILL SELL THEIR CURRENT HOME

Thirty-eight percent of FSBO sellers who knew the buyer of the home say that they would use a real estate agent to sell their current home. This is a substantial increase over the 19 percent in 2007 who indicated that they would use an agent. Only 16 percent of those FSBO sellers indicated they would sell their home again without the assistance of an agent, while 46 percent was not sure. Among FSBO sellers who did not know the buyer, 33 percent would try to sell without assistance again, whereas 21 percent would prefer to work with an agent. Forty-six percent of these sellers were also undecided.


 

All information taken from the National Association of Realtors® 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers