ForSaleByOwner.com: Is it Worth It for Sellers?

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By Steve Nicastro Updated April 12, 2024

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What is ForSaleByOwner.com?

ForSaleByOwner.com is a listing website that gives sellers nationwide a free platform to list and market their homes. It does not provide flat fee MLS listing services, nor does it syndicate listings across major real estate websites like Zillow. It also offers a $495 package for FSBO sellers who want some assistance with closing.

Key takeaways

  • We rate it 3.5/5
  • No MLS exposure
  • Free to use

Bottom line: Is ForSaleByOwner.com worth it?

For experienced FSBO sellers in competitive markets, ForSaleByOwner.com might be worth it. For most sellers, however, you’ll need to find a listing service that puts you on a local MLS. (Learn more about our methodology.)

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Quality of service

The biggest shortcoming with ForSaleByOwner.com is that it doesn’t get you to the MLS or other major real estate sites like Zillow. Without this essential service, you risk reducing your pool of potential buyers. Under both plans, your home will only be listed on ForSaleByOwner.com.

Marketing

You won’t reach buyers on the MLS, Zillow, or Trulia, unless you list yourself there with another listing service or agent. The company offers very little marketing services. The strength of your local market — and the popularity of ForSaleByOwner.com in your area — is what will sell your home. 

Cost

It’s hard to beat "free," but you won’t get MLS exposure. One paid package offers some essential services but for a marked-up sticker price.

Customer experience

Surprisingly, there are few public reviews on ForSaleByOwner.com on Google or TrustPilot. We found some reviews on Best Company, but it’s hard to draw conclusions as some appear falsely positive. 

User friendliness

The platform is easy to use and doesn’t require any technical knowledge. With all the right information and photographs on hand, you can list your home in under a half hour.

ForSaleByOwner.com vs. top competitors

FFMLS companyLocationsAvg. customer reviewListing fee
BeycomeAL, CA, CT, FL, GA, MN, NC, SC4.5$99-499 + 1%
FizberNationwide3.9$295
HomecoinCA, FL, GA, MI, MO, NY, NC, SC, TN, VA, WI4.9$95+
HouzeoNationwide4.9$399-999 + .50-1% at closing
Show more

Quality of service

What we like:Possible drawbacks:
  • Unlimited photos
  • Unlimited free edits
  • Dedicated coordinator
  • No exposure on MLS or Zillow
  • Pushes Rocket Home services

ForSaleByOwner.com free "Do It Yourself" plan offers very few listing services. It doesn’t put you on a local MLS or push you to major real estate websites like Zillow and Trulia. Your home will only be listed on ForSaleByOwner.com, which gets significantly less web traffic than other major websites. 

Both plans offer you unlimited edits and unlimited photos. Your listing will also have a dedicated "Home Listing" or "Buyer Listing" coordinator who can help you with the FSBO process. 

A $495 "Closing Assistance" package will connect you with a licensed real estate adviser who can help you close and fill out the correct legal documents. The company will also connect with inspectors, appraisers, and title services.

However, as an affiliate of Rocket Homes, ForSaleByOwner.com will likely direct you to Rocket-sponsored service providers. 

Marketing (how it works)

What we like:Possible drawbacks:
  • Site gets heavy traffic
  • No MLS exposure
  • Site gets less traffic than Zillow and Realtor.com

Because ForSaleByOwner.com will market your home only on its personal listing platforms, you rely solely on its web traffic to connect with potential buyers. The site gets around 469,000 monthly visitors, significantly more than most flat fee listing services. And around 1,600 users search "forsalebyowner.com" in search engines monthly. 

But these numbers don't compare with major real estate websites. For example, Zillow receives around 93.2 million monthly visitors, while Realtor.com gets roughly 11 million.

Cost

What we like:Possible drawbacks:
  • Free
  • No pricing assistance from an expert
  • "Closing Assistance" is pricy

It’s hard to complain about "free." ForSaleByOwner.com is one of the only listing sites that allows you to market your home without paying a dime toward packages or fees. 

But there's risk for inexperienced FSBO sellers to price their homes incorrectly. ForSaleByOwner.com doesn’t offer a comparative market analysis (CMA) generated by an expert. It has a "home valuation" tool that gives you a ballpark estimate, but no expert opinion. 

The "Closing Assistance" package doesn’t offer much value for the price. Getting help with the closing process is definitely valuable, we’ve seen other flat fee MLS companies offer the same services for much less.

Customer experience

Possible red flags:
  • No customer reviews on Google on TrustPilotCanned positive reviews on Best Company

ForSaleByOwner.com was founded in 1999 and has enjoyed more than 23 years of service. Yet, in as much time, the company has had no reviews on Google or TrustPilot, which seems a little suspicious. You can find public reviews on Best Company, but take the favorable ones with a grain of salt — we think some reviewers were compensated for leaving positive reviews.

On the Better Business Bureau, the company has had four complaints in the past three years and one 1-star review.

User friendliness

What we like:
  • Fast and easy to useList a home in under 30 minutes

ForSaleByOwner.com's software is very impressive for a free listing platform. The journey from start to finish is fast and intuitive, and so long as you have all the information you need on hand, you can list your home in a half hour or less.

To start, you can sync your Google account, or create an account from scratch. Then type your location and provide some important details on your home, like square footage and year built. You can sync with YouTube and Vimeo to upload a video of your home, and the platform allows a large photo capacity.

Some sections have helpful guidance, too, such as tips on photography and crafting a listing description.

Next steps

If you want your home to be on the MLS, we don’t recommend using ForSaleByOwner.com. Instead, consider shopping around other flat fee listing services to find the right balance of price and service.

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Related reading

How to Sell Your House Without a Realtor. View our best tips for selling your home FSBO to save big on realtor commission fees.

Top 10 Low Commission Real Estate Agents + Companies. From Clever Real Estate to Redfin, these are the best low commission real estate agents and companies. Sell your home with cheaper fees now!

The Ultimate For Sale By Owner Toolkit. If selling your own home seems overwhelming, check out this list of tools to help you through every stage of the process.

Methodology

We evaluated the value and quality of FFMLS and FSBO listing services based on five core criteria.

Quality of service

FFMLS companies should provide basic services, including:

  • Listing to your local MLS
  • Pushing listings to sites like Zillow and Trulia
  • Maximum allowable photos
  • Unlimited free listing changes
  • Keeping a listing active until you cancel or close on your home

We noted add-on services that actually help you sell and manage your sale, like professional photography or an online dashboard. We didn’t give credit for fluffy offerings, such as video tours that are just photo montages or listings on Craigslist.

Marketing

We assessed how each company's services actually makes your listing visible to buyers, compared with the MLS, which is the baseline. Additional marketing services (via social media, digital ads, etc.) count to higher visibility, as does the company's website traffic.

Customer experience

Our evaluation…

  • Aggregated customer reviews from across the web and created a weighted average rating
  • Ran reviews through a sentiment analysis program to identify key themes
  • Checked for complaints with the Better Business Bureau

Cost

We compared pricing tiers for services with baseline national averages and other brands.

User friendliness

We checked how easy the company app or portal was to use, and how easy it was to upload and manage the listing.

Authors & Editorial History

Our experts continually research, evaluate, and monitor real estate companies and industry trends. We update our articles when new information becomes available.

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