The FSBO Blog

Home Owners, if you are contemplating selling your home, you will probably think through the 2 primary options you have: 1. Sell by owner (FSBO), or 2. sell with an agent.

You may have noticed there is an all-out war going on in the real estate industry, between agents, discounters, and FSBO sellers. The industry is in flux, though in a definite transition for the better (for us as consumers, anyway). The battleground is the media - that’s why you see stories like the 20/20 piece last Friday, and almost weekly discussions on the Today Show with the authors of Freakonomics, and why you see sometimes conflicting stories in newspapers from week to week. Each side is fighting for the high ground, which isn’t coming easy for either side.

As consumers, we have the truth on our side: that we can sell our own homes ourselves, just as effectively as a real estate agent. Agents have lots of money and power relationships on their side. Over time, however, the truth always prevails - because we develop creative ways to getting the truth out - such as this blog.

So if you’re noticing the war and wondering who is right and which way you should go, think about this: the only reason just about everyone doesn’t sell By Owner is they have been only been presented the “Agent” side for decades. They have been scared to try selling FSBO because of the Realtor-funded propoganda. The truth, however, is that FSBO is the fastest growing method of selling real estate, because Americans are trying it with the new tools available thanks to the internet, they’re liking it, and they’re talking about it. If you know someone who has sold their home By Owner, you will probably hear from them how simple it was and be encouraged enough to give it a shot yourself.

Many agents will argue that the free market will prevail, and if FSBO was so good then fewer people would be using agents. Not so. Remember that war I mentioned, and how much money and political/media influence the agents have. We are no longer in a free market. Agents have worked very hard to create laws that guarantee their necessity in the world.

John Stossel, co-host of ABC’s 20/20, thought so much of this topic that in addition to the show segment last week, he took the time to write a full-blown op-ed on the subject - “Let the free market be free“, because the TV time didn’t give him enough freedom to say all of what he wanted to say. His article is extremely well written, and does an EXCELLENT job of making the case for freedom of choice in real estate, and that freedom in real estate is something we don’t have right now. It would be nice to “reprint” John’s entire article here, but a link is sufficient - I definitely recommend you go read it.

Wonder how fierce this war is, and how far some agents are willing to go to protect their stake and keep us from having a choice? Read this Wall St. Journal article from today, entitled “Discount real-estate brokers spark a war over commissions“.

The real estate industry is no longer a free market. This, dear reader, is why the Department of Justice has sued the National Association of Realtors.

So as you are trying to decide whether or not to sell By Owner, consider this: there can’t be so many articles from so many sources (which are being chronicled by this blog) about FSBO ease/success without there being a whole lot of merit to what those stories (and this blog) are promoting. And question why agents would tell you how hard it is to buy/sell real estate. Think about it: they’re human, just like you. If they can do it, so can you.

Go ahead…give it a shot - sell By Owner, help your family’s economy by getting thousands of dollars more from the sale of your home! You’ll like it - and then you can be the one on the cutting edge, and have all your friends thank you for the suggestion when they too sell By Owner successfully.

~Robert Creek
The FSBO Blog