We have all heard of buyer’s remorse; but without a real estate professional's market expertise and negotiation skills, sellers who decide to sell their home on their own just may experience “seller’s regret” when they see how much less they get for their properties. FSBOs (For Sale By Owners) earn an average of $60,000 to $90,000 less on the sale of their home than sellers who work with a realtor, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Here’s the breakdown:

• All agent-assisted homes: $250,000 (median selling price)

• All FSBO homes: $190,000

• FSBO homes when buyer knew seller: $160,300

With this kind of loss, why would any seller opt to go it alone? Some may want to avoid paying an agent's commission—but even factoring that in, FSBOs still stand to make less on their home sale. “Talk to an agent and find out what they suggest for the commission, and then do the math yourself,” researchers write on NAR’s Economists’ Outlook blog. “The closing price for the agent-assisted seller is likely going to be way above a FSBO. [But] in reality, homes sold by the owner make less money overall.”

Most homeowners seem to be hearing the message: Only 8 percent of sellers last year—an all-time low—chose to sell their home themselves, according to NAR’s 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. That figure has been falling since 2004, when 14 percent of homeowners sold their own homes.

Of the FSBOs sold last year, 38 percent of the homes were sold to a buyer that the seller knew, such as a friend, neighbor, or family member. The majority of FSBO transactions, however, were sold to buyers the owner did not know.

Source: 
“Selling Your Home Solo to Save Money? You’ll Actually Make Less Than You Think,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog (July 9, 2018)