7 Reasons Why “For Sale By Owner” is A Horrible Idea

“Hey!” you say to yourself. “Why should I pay a real estate agent a commission. I can just sell my house myself!”

Now, listen, champ. This is a really bad idea. Here are seven reasons why.

1. Your property is worth $500,000, yet you’ve valued it at $17 million. Confidence!

2. What, you didn’t realize all the liability is on you? Wait until your new buyer finds out you bought your “Chinese Lamps from the Ming Dynasty” from the local Chinese restaurant when the owner sold the place.

3. It’s not uncommons for FSBO buyers to get a raw deal. Like when they find out there is a new nuclear reactor going in next door.

4. Did you know For Sale By Owner houses sell for less on average? That’s because you don’t know what you are doing. It’s like letting you operate on your brain because you are good with tools.

5. FSBOs tend to stay longer on the market. You know those flowers you bought to improve the “staging.” Yeah, better open a long-term account with the garden center.

6. Who you gonna call? What happens if a UFO shoots a laser beam into your house, exploding the kitchen? There goes the closing! Now who you gonna call? Your cousin who handles cases for deadbeat dads?

7. Mo money, mo marketing problems. It’s tough to market a FSBO. Sure, you can get a listing on the MLS, but what right-thinking agent is going to show a house that has no income attached? None. Zilch. Nada. That leaves yard signs, tear-off phone numbers at the supermarket, sandwich boards and sky-writing. Or maybe sky-diving while wearing a sandwich board, shooting a video of it, and posting it to YouTube.

Don’t do it. Get an agent.