The FSBO: Selling Your House WITHOUT a Real Estate Agent (AKA Going Rogue)

So, it’s official: you’ve decided to sell your home. Congratulations! Now comes one of the most important questions: do you call in a real estate agent for his or her expertise, or do you confidently slap a “For Sale By Owner” sign in the yard, channel your inner salesperson, and do your best to sell it yourself? The latter is known as a For Sale By Owner, or “FSBO” (pronounced ‘fizz-boh’), and while it may sound like a much more independent, money-saving route for a seller to take — it also comes with its own set of problems (and, of course, risk).

Let’s start with arguably the biggest “pro” when it comes to FSBOs: you might save yourself some money. When you sell your property without an agent, you’re not handing over 5% to 6% of your sale price in commissions to the agents involved. On a $400,000 home, that’s a significant amount of money to keep in your pocket. Now you can buy that outrageously expensive espresso machine you’ve been eyeing! Plus, you're in the driver's seat. You control the pricing of the home, the staging, the showings, and really… all of the other stuff. And there’s quite a lot of stuff.

But before you start printing flyers and spamming your home in posts on Nextdoor, Facebook, etc., it’s time to brace yourself for the impending do-it-yourself overload. Selling a home is basically its own part-time job, and — in many cases— a full-time pain in the you-know-what. Pricing your home right? You’ll have to conduct your own market analysis. Staging it for showings? Hope you’re great at interior design, and know exactly what buyers are looking for. Answering 76 calls from curious buyers, real estate agents, and your neighborhood Karen who just wants a peek? You better have the patience of a saint (or at least a really good customer service agent). And don’t forget to stay on your toes when it comes to the loads of paperwork required by law: we hope you’re familiar with legalese, good at math… and we sure hope you know a notary.

Another major issue? Visibility. When you elect to FSBO your home, your listing won’t get as much exposure. Agents have access to Multiple Listing Service, aka the MLS, which is essentially an official database for homes currently listed for sale. Without it, you’re relying on sites like Zillow, yard signs, and word of mouth. That can work, but it’s kind of like throwing a party and hoping people show up just because you posted it on Instagram.

There are no guarantees that you’ll save yourself money, either. “FSBO sellers often miss the mark in setting a competitive listing price,” writes Dena Landon of Homelight. “When they price their homes too low, they lose money. When they price their homes too high, their homes sit on the market, leading to a lower final selling price.” Buyers’ agents tend to out-negotiate many FSBO sellers, since they come with a wealth of firsthand experience negotiating the best possible terms for their client when it comes time to sign that contract. 4

In fact, homes listed with a Realtor usually field higher offers, ultimately netting the seller MORE money than if he or she had sold the home on their own. Funnily (and ironically) enough, the Founder of ForSaleByOwner.com, Colby Sambrotto, attempted to FSBO his own personal property. “At a list price of 2 million dollars, and after 180 days of no success, Colby decided to list it with Realtor Jesse Buckler,” writes Raleigh Realty’s Ryan Fitzgerald. After sitting on the market with little to no action for six months, “Jesse sold the home for $150,000 more than the original price (an increase of 7.5% on the initial listing price).”3

In a CNN article published this week, Housing & Business writer Samantha Delouya spoke with a recently retired Californian who was planning a move to Oregon. He too listed his home on Zillow without realtor representation, hoping to skip the commission fees and save himself a little cash. Instead, he got INUNDATED with a barrage of scam texts, suspicious buyers offering crypto through WhatsApp, and a flaky maybe-buyer who ended up bailing on the sale at the last second. 2

After burning through lots of time, energy, and probably some patience, Aditya decided to call in a trusted real estate agent after all and scrap the FSBO idea entirely. He learned a valuable lesson: FSBO can work—but it’s not for everyone (especially if you hate incessant spam calls and texts). “You’ve got to be careful. Your bandwidth does get used up with these things a little bit,” said Aditya. “When you’ve never done it before, there’s a learning curve.”2

Some people do thrive in FSBO-mode. If you’ve got the time, patience, and just enough real estate knowledge to get it done, it can be empowering. You’re not paying someone else to do what you’re capable of doing yourself. It also allows you to interact directly with buyers and negotiate terms without middlemen (or middlewomen) involved. Just be ready to bring your A-game—and a bottle of Advil. Or vodka.

In the end, selling your home on your own is like hiking a foreign mountain without a guide: it’s not impossible, and the views ($$$) might be worth it— but you’ve got to know what you’re doing, or at least be willing to learn a LOT along the way. If you’re up for a challenge, FSBO can save you some moolah. But in the end, there’s a reason 90% of Sellers choose to sell their home with the help of an agent — letting them do all the heavy lifting, while they sit back, relax, and obsessively peruse new listings on Zillow. 1

Sources:

1. https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/quick-real-estate-statistics

2. https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/economy/real-estate-realtor-for-sale-by-owner/index.html

3. https://raleighrealty.com/blog/does-selling-with-a-realtor-net-you-more-money

4. https://www.homelight.com/blog/selling-your-house-without-a-realtor/