Are you considering selling your home as a For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO)? Here are some things to consider before jumping in with both feet. If you have decided to use a REALTOR, this will show you more about the value a REALTOR brings to the transaction.

 Lack of Representation - FSBO means that you are not working with a licensed real estate agent, thus you are UNREPRESENTED (it is becoming more common now to refer to FSBOs as unrepresented sellers). There are some significant implications:

• Perhaps the biggest is that you have no one to protect your real estate interests and apprise you of the legal obligations and the regulations impacting a sale. How do you know you are doing what you are required by law to do?
• If a buyer comes to you and does not have an agent, there is no one to represent the transaction at all, and to protect YOUR interests rather than the buyer's.
• Some buyers will not want to work with a FSBO simply because they know there is no real estate representation

 Financial - repeated studies and surveys show that, nationally, homes sold by FSBO sell for 10 - 15% LESS than those sold through a REALTOR (in some areas it can be higher or lower). So even if you pay a commission of 4 - 6% (they are negotiable), you still come out ahead. on a $500K house that is $20,000 - $55,000 more money in your pocket (depending on the commission that was negotiated)  - not to be sneezed at.

Since you are relocating, unless you are in a hot seller's market, TIME is your biggest enemy. Selling by yourself can work against you - more on that subject soon.