15 Mind-Blowing FSBO Tips to Help You Win at Real Estate!

Published January 26, 2023

Written by Steve Nicastro

Editor's note: In March 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) lost an antitrust lawsuit, leading to changes in real estate fees nationwide. As of August 17, 2024, buyer's agent commissions are no longer covered by the seller and must be negotiated separately. For more details, check out our in-house expert Steven Nicastro's recent Yahoo Finance interview.

FSBO tips for sellers | FSBO tips for buyers

The Real Estate Witch team interviewed experienced for sale by owner (FSBO) buyers and sellers to give you the ultimate list of real-world FSBO tips. From negotiation hacks to budget advice, our FSBO panel shares all so you can have a smooth transaction.

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FSBO tips for sellers

🏠 Price your home accurately
🧹 Update your interiors
⭐ Hire experts as needed
💻 List on the MLS
💰 Offer a BAC
🤝Understand that negotiations are ongoing
💸 Overbudget for expenses
⏰ Acknowledge that you may sacrifice money for a fast sale

🏠 Price your home accurately

Without the expertise and access to tools that realtors have, you may have trouble deciding on a listing price. In fact, FSBO statistics show that 9% of FSBO sellers said pricing was the most challenging part of their sale, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

If you price your home too high, you won’t get much interest from buyers. If you price it too low, you may leave money on the table.

Derek Devore has sold several FSBO homes in the Los Angeles area. He agrees that strategic pricing is imperative.

Don’t overprice. If you overprice your home, you will essentially allow for it to sit longer on the market than necessary; this will send a signal to buyers that there might be some unforeseen issues with the home. Always price it competitively to create a surge of initial interest.

For help with pricing, consider hiring a professional appraiser. The average cost for this service is $340 according to HomeAdvisor.

You can also use a home valuation tool to help price your home accurately. Learn about your options in this article.

Or, Real Estate Witch will connect you to a realtor in your area who will provide a comparative market analysis (CMA) free of charge to help inform your pricing strategy.

🧹 Update your interiors

Before listing your home, take time to address minor repairs like leaky faucets, torn window screens, and unfilled nail holes. Declutter, deep clean, and freshen up the paint as well.

Real estate investor Lisa Lacey has sold FSBO. She suggests FSBO sellers be mindful of details.

Each house has a hundred minor issues that the residents are aware of but don’t seem to care about. When the time comes to sell, even the smallest crack in the wall or chip in the counter becomes an eyesore.

Devore concurs with this for sale by owner tip. Making your home look its best can help you get the highest offers.

If you don’t want to spend money on staging, then at least hire an interior designer for a quick consultation about how to rearrange your furniture to best appeal to buyer’s tastes. It’s very common to overlook things that would be a turnoff to buyers — especially if you’ve lived in the home for a number of years.

💡 Learn more: Three Must-Take Steps to Get Your Home Ready to Sell How to Get Your House Ready To Sell

⭐ Hire experts as needed

Selling FSBO doesn’t have to be a completely DIY endeavor. Smart sellers hire professionals for certain specialized tasks like home photography and contract reviews.

Spending this money upfront will likely help you save money in the long run. For example, hiring an attorney to review your paperwork might save you from expensive litigation in the future.

FSBO seller Nikki VanRy suggests enlisting the help of someone with legal expertise.

Ensure you have your legal ducks in a row. I think the best tip is to have an attorney review your contracts if you don’t have those skills. Much better to spend $1,000 than face legal issues years in the future.

💡 Learn more: Do I Need a Real Estate Lawyer to Sell My House?

Devore finds professional photography worth the expense.

Professional photography is essential. Search for top real estate photographers in your area and compare their portfolio with actual sold homes which traded on the market at or above their asking price. This will allow you to utilize the same resources as any top real estate agent, for a fraction of the cost.

💻 List on the multiple listing service (MLS)

Typically, realtors post properties for seller clients on a local MLS. They also use the service to find available properties that meet the needs of buyer clients.

Only licensed real estate professionals can subscribe to the MLS to post and search for properties. When you sell FSBO, your home won’t be listed on this popular resource for buyers.

However, some flat fee MLS companies will post your home on your local MLS for a one-time fee, which is usually about $300. Many sellers, including past FSBO seller Kyle McCorkel, agree that listing on the MLS is worth the investment.

My big recommendation is to do a flat fee listing. A flat fee listing is with a real estate broker but they do not represent you (this is what ends up costing you so much money). Instead, they charge you a flat fee (in my case it’s around $400) to put your listing on the MLS. This ensures you get maximum exposure to the most buyers.

💡 Learn more: Read This BEFORE You Pay For A Flat-Fee MLS Service

💰 Offer a buyer’s agent commission (BAC)

Most people sell FSBO to save on real estate commissions. Sellers typically pay realtor fees, which equal 5–6% of the home price — half goes to the listing agent and half to the buyer’s agent.

In a FSBO sale, the seller doesn’t pay a listing agent, which saves them about half on realtor fees. The table below illustrates these savings on a $343,200 home (the average U.S. home price).

	Cost	FSBO seller	Agented seller
Listing agent commission	3% ($13,026)	❌	✅
Buyer's agent commission	3% ($13,026)	✅	✅
Total realtor fees		$13,026	$26,052

It’s recommended that all sellers, including FSBO sellers, offer a BAC to keep their sale competitive and ensure buyers’ agents show the property to clients. Not offering a BAC may keep your home on the market longer or result in lower offer prices.

FSBO seller McCorkel says offering a reasonable BAC helps both the buyer and seller.

You will most likely get buyer’s agents, so you’ll need to designate in the listing how much commission you’ll pay them (I always do 2.5%). In my opinion, it’s worth paying for the buyer’s agents because they help to hold the hand of the buyers.

🤝 Understand that negotiations are ongoing

Accepting an offer isn’t the end of the negotiation process according to FSBO seller VanRy. Negotiations often continue through closing, with a lot at stake for sellers.

Getting the buyer and negotiating a price is only the start of your negotiating process. You’ll have to negotiate over what comes back in an inspection report, closing timeline, etc. These actually feel trickier because there’s a lot more on the line — you don’t want to lose your buyer and restart the process! Be ready to go into those discussions and have the bandwidth for them so you’re not overwhelmed or taken off guard.

If you don’t have the time or confidence in your negotiation skills to take this on, consider using a flat fee MLS service that offers negotiation support for an additional fee like Homelister or Savvy Lane. Or use a traditional agent that handles negotiations on your behalf.

💸 Overbudget for expenses

Real estate investor Richard Latimer’s top for sale by owner tip is for sellers to set aside more money than they think they need for various expenses related to the home sale.

What I wish I knew before I started the FSBO process is that your financial commitment to the home does not end until you walk away for the final time. Even after we signed a contract with the buyers of our house, we incurred numerous expenses in addition to the bare necessities like electricity and water bills.

Expenses can include things like:

Making repairs flagged by your home inspector, like replacing roof shingles ($100) or fixing a non-functioning electrical outlet ($215)
Regular monthly expenses like garbage pickup ($50) and yard maintenance ($265)
Additional moving-related costs like paying for the pickup of extra trash bags when you move out ($6 per bag)*

Check out this article on how much it costs to sell a home by owner for more info on what to budget for your FSBO sale.

⏰ Acknowledge that you may sacrifice money for a fast sale

Some FSBO sellers choose to sell by owner to offload their home quickly and inexpensively due to personal financial distress.

While selling FSBO can help you save money on commission, you may not get the best price for your home, especially if you target a cash sale or a sale to an investor. Research shows that FSBO homes sell for about 5.5% less than traditional agented sales.

Home seller Crystal Caffiero shared her FSBO experience sacrificing price for speed.

I needed to sell fast. I posted my home on as many FSBO sites as I could and got in contact with an investor who took care of all the paperwork, paid cash, and closed in 14 days. I actually lost out on about $40,000 in the long run, so it did not save any money but I did get my quick sale and fast cash. I learned that investors should be a last resort. Using an agent to have an open bid period would have given me more profit — by a lot — and taken much more in terms of time.

If you want to save money on your home sale and retain the benefits of a full-service agent, give us a call. We’ll connect you with top-rated local agents who will save you more than 60% on listing agent fees.

FSBO tips for buyers

👩 Use an agent
💰 Ask about BAC
🔎 Request disclosures or a CLUE report
⭐ Hire experts
🤝 Negotiate strategically
👋 Get to know the seller
🏦 Make sure earnest money goes to a neutral party

👩 Use an agent

Since the seller pays commission for both the buyer’s agent and the listing agent, working with a realtor is essentially free for buyers. If you’re considering buying a FSBO home, it’s helpful to have an agent involved to share their expertise and keep the transaction on track.

Your agent will serve as your advocate throughout the transaction, providing negotiation support and ensuring disclosures, inspections, and other steps in the process are handled properly.

Brandon Hardiman, a real estate investor who’s bought several FSBO homes, suggests that FSBO buyers work with a realtor.

I highly recommend that an agent represent you in the transaction. You will have to get the seller to agree to pay a commission to your realtor, but it is worth it and they will be there for you every step of the way to make sure you are doing your due diligence and don’t miss anything.

💡 Learn more: Do I Need A Real Estate Agent? Learn The TRUTH

💰 Ask about buyer’s agent commission (BAC)

If you’re interested in a FSBO home, check with the seller to ensure they’re offering a BAC. While it’s advisable that they offer a competitive BAC, some FSBO sellers still don’t.

Without a BAC, your agent won’t get paid for facilitating the sale. This means you may have to work out an agreement to compensate them yourself if you want to move forward with the home purchase which, in turn, will likely impact the price you offer for the home.

Stephanie Solomon, a homeowner who’s bought a FSBO home, shared that the presence of a BAC impacted her decision to move forward with the purchase.

My agent checked with the seller first to make sure they were willing to offer a BAC. Once the seller confirmed, there wasn’t much concern.

🔎 Request disclosures or a CLUE report

Seller disclosures can provide peace of mind, informing you of known defects or issues with the property. Solomon appreciated the seller’s willingness to share this information.

The seller agreed to complete a seller’s disclosure of any known defects with the property, which was comforting.

However, without the counsel of an agent, some sellers may miss certain things that require disclosure or unknowingly provide incorrect information about the property. To squelch any lingering concerns, ask the seller to provide a comprehensive loss underwriting exchange (CLUE) report.

A CLUE report comes from a database populated by insurance providers listing any past claims filed on the property. Only a homeowner can request a CLUE report on their property, which costs about $20.

⭐ Hire experts

Make sure you have a team of professionals working to protect your interests, including inspectors, attorneys, and loan officers. After all, your home is likely the most expensive purchase you’ll ever make.

Sean O’Dowd, who purchased a FSBO home, advocates for hiring experts to guide you through your transaction.

Make sure you have a great inspector who will look out for your interest. Make sure you have a great lawyer (if you live in an attorney state) and title company who is looking out for your interests. After all, this is a legal transaction and you may not have a real estate agent, but you do want professionals by your side.

💡 Learn more: Do I Need a Real Estate Lawyer to Sell My House?

🤝 Negotiate strategically

Martin Boonzaayer, a home buyer who used a realtor to purchase a FSBO home, recommends making an offer at the lower end of the spectrum to feel out the seller’s willingness to negotiate.

If you are considering buying a FSBO home, make a lower offer than the list price. Negotiations can only improve in this manner. If you begin too high, you cannot return to the starting point. Additionally, it can assist in determining whether the list price is reasonable or a pipe dream in advance. Conduct a market analysis of comparable properties in the area and be prepared to negotiate.

Latimer, a FSBO seller who’s also purchased FSBO homes, recommends negotiating more than just the home price.

Determine who pays for what. Who pays for which fees is negotiable. Determine who will be responsible for transfer taxes, escrow fees, and title fees.

On the other hand, FSBO buyer Zach Bailey noted that some FSBO sellers may not be as flexible on price or fees, as they’re trying to save money on the transaction overall.

Bailey recommends being prepared to deal with inflexible sellers.

The owner [of the home we purchased] was not flexible or willing to account for market corrections or property valuations, etc. It was better to come with closing costs and meet the owner’s expectations rather than trying to haggle or bargain too much and risk the sale.

👋 Get to know the seller

A FSBO sale gives you access to the seller directly, rather than a representative acting on their behalf. Use this to your advantage to inform negotiations.

For example, if you learn the seller needs to sell quickly because they’ve already purchased another home, you may be able to offer a lower price in exchange for a fast close. Solomon shared that she used knowledge about the FSBO seller of her home to score a better deal.

I think there’s a lot of benefit to working with the seller directly. We understood our seller’s motivation for selling and used that to our advantage. I’ve bought and sold two properties since then and I didn’t know nearly as much about the sellers/buyers involved with those transactions because they were represented by agents.

🏦 Make sure earnest money goes to a neutral party

Earnest money is like a deposit on a property you intend to purchase. It’s paid after your offer is accepted but prior to close. Earnest money is applied to your closing costs once the escrow process concludes.

Never give your earnest money directly to the seller, especially in a FSBO sale. A seller could walk away from the transaction and keep your money. There are also real estate scams targeting earnest money deposits.

Earnest money should be placed in an escrow account by the title company or a realtor involved in the transaction. FSBO buyer Lisa Lacey agrees with this for sale by owner tip.

Before buying a FSBO home, do not give the seller your earnest money deposit. Transfer your earnest money deposit to a third party, such as a title or escrow company, to be held on your behalf. Typically, the listing agent would deposit it in their escrow account. You do not want the funds to be deposited in the seller’s checking account.

Bottom line: Best FSBO tips

The most useful FSBO tips come from real-life FSBO sellers and buyers of FSBO homes who’ve navigated the process successfully.

The best advice from our panel for FSBO sellers includes:

Enlist the help of professionals to support your sale, such as a photographer, interior stager, and attorney.
Offer a BAC to keep your sale competitive.
Consider using a service that helps you list on the MLS.

For buyers, the top for sale by owner tips are:

Enlist the help of a real estate agent.
Prepare for negotiations, but expect the unexpected.
Protect yourself and your money by using trusted expects like escrow professionals and property inspectors.

FAQs

How do you sell a home for sale by owner?

Selling a house without a realtor can be challenging. You'll generally follow the same steps as a traditional agented sale, but you'll do it on your own. These steps include:
1. Prepping your home for sale
2. Listing your house on home sale sites and the local MLS
3. Marketing your listing
4. Hosting showings and open houses
5. Accepting offers
6. Negotiating a deal
7. Closing on the deal

How do you list a home for sale by owner?

You can list your FSBO home for free on websites like Zillow, Craigslist, and ForSaleByOwner.com. You may also opt to use a flat-fee MLS service to list your home on your local multiple listing service.

15 Mind-Blowing FSBO Tips to Help You Win at Real Estate!

FSBO tips for sellers

🏠 Price your home accurately

🧹 Update your interiors

⭐ Hire experts as needed

💻 List on the multiple listing service (MLS)

💰 Offer a buyer’s agent commission (BAC)

🤝 Understand that negotiations are ongoing

💸 Overbudget for expenses

⏰ Acknowledge that you may sacrifice money for a fast sale

FSBO tips for buyers

👩 Use an agent

💰 Ask about buyer’s agent commission (BAC)

🔎 Request disclosures or a CLUE report

⭐ Hire experts

🤝 Negotiate strategically

👋 Get to know the seller

🏦 Make sure earnest money goes to a neutral party

Bottom line: Best FSBO tips

FAQs

How do you sell a home for sale by owner?

How do you list a home for sale by owner?

Related reading

Authors & Editorial History

About the Author

FSBO tips for sellers

🏠 Price your home accurately

🧹 Update your interiors

⭐ Hire experts as needed

💻 List on the multiple listing service (MLS)

💰 Offer a buyer’s agent commission (BAC)

🤝 Understand that negotiations are ongoing

💸 Overbudget for expenses

⏰ Acknowledge that you may sacrifice money for a fast sale

FSBO tips for buyers

👩 Use an agent

💰 Ask about buyer’s agent commission (BAC)

🔎 Request disclosures or a CLUE report

⭐ Hire experts

🤝 Negotiate strategically

👋 Get to know the seller

🏦 Make sure earnest money goes to a neutral party

Bottom line: Best FSBO tips

FAQs

How do you sell a home for sale by owner?

How do you list a home for sale by owner?

Related reading

Authors & Editorial History

About the Author

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