Why For Sale By Owner Homes Have Limited Marketing?

Limited marketing is probably the number one reason why For Sale by Owner (FSBO) never works to the seller’s advantage. The irony is that by cutting out a real estate agent and thereby saving on the commission, you have to actually pay for the marketing that came complimentary with an agent. You’ll end up paying the same – if not more – and you won’t have the same kind of response since buyers with their own agents will avoid your listing. No realtor is going to bring his or her client to a FSBO showing.

Word of Mouth

FSBOs have limited resources to market their homes. In a 2015 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the study found that 42 percent rely on a yard sign, 32 percent rely on family and friends, and about 15 percent use social media today. That means as an FSBO, you have to rely on a yard sign, your sister or cousin, and your neighbor to spread the word for you. Word of mouth only travels so far, and definitely doesn’t capture the much larger audience of people who are looking to move into your community from outside of it.

Social Media

Social media is great for reaching a wide audience today, but in the real estate process, it’s mainly used for acquainting people with your listing. From there, these buyers go and get themselves their own agents, who then immediately advise them to close out of your FSBO listing. As a FSBO, you’re assuming the entire liability of the transaction, which is risky for you, and even riskier for the buyer. So although you may have just paid good money for a social media advertisement, you’ll only be capturing a percentage of people who then go on to get their own agent.

MLS Listing

Without an agent, you have to pay a lot of money to get your listing into the MLS. However, there’s no point in leveraging the MLS if you aren’t using a real estate agent. Other agents will be seeing your listing, thereby recommending it to their clients for tours. But, they will most certainly skip over your listing when they see the FSBO mark. It’s their job to provide the best possible selection to their client. Working with a homeowner who is attempting to be a real estate professional is definitely not the best option for their client.

Electing to go FSBO shuts you out of the real estate marketing network available exclusively to individuals who use real estate agents. By the end, you’ll be paying more in advertising than you would have in a real estate commission fee.