Published
-
Written by
-
Edited by Galina Velgach
Written by Steven Porrello
Edited by Galina Velgach
SimplyFSBO is a flat fee listing service that can market your home on simplyfsbo.com, Zillow, and Trulia. It does NOT list you on a multiple listing service (MLS). Plans cost roughly $500–700. SimplyFSBO operates in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois.
Key takeaways
- We rate it 3.5/5
- Basic plan priced too high, no MLS exposure
- Pro plan comes with 3D imaging
Bottom line: Is SimplyFSBO worth it?
We don’t think SimplyFSBO is worth it unless you want to include a 3D virtual tour. For the price of a basic membership ($499), you can get just as many services and an MLS listing with other companies. (Learn more about our methodology.)
Quality of service
SimplyFSBO does not list you on the MLS, which is a huge loss for any seller, not just those selling FSBO. Each plan comes with high-quality photography, no listing term (“listed until sold”), and an additional listing on Zillow and Trulia. The Pro plan comes with a 3D showing, and a comparative market analysis (CMA).
Marketing
SimplyFSBO will list your property on its website, which gets weak traffic and likely won’t be your strongest means of finding buyers. The company doesn’t list you on an MLS.
Cost
The cost for the most basic plan (FSBO Essential) is very high for a flat fee listing service, and you won’t even get on your local M:S. The Pro plan (FSBO Plan) offers good value but only because it comes with a 3D showing of your home.
Customer experience
Reviews from past clients are overwhelmingly positive. Reviewers applauded the company’s communication, professional photography, and willingness to help. There were some complaints around response times, however.
User friendliness
The platform is super easy to navigate. The listing process — which is usually several steps long — has been simplified to one page.
SimplyFSBO vs. top competitors
| FFMLS company | Locations | Avg. customer review | Listing fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beycome | AL, CA, CT, FL, GA, MN, NC, SC | 4.4 | $99-499 + 1% |
| Fizber | Nationwide | 3.9 | $295 |
| Homecoin | CA, FL, GA, MI, MO, NY, NC, SC, TN, VA, WI | 4.9 | $95+ |
| Houzeo | Nationwide | 4.9 | $199-999+ |
Quality of service
| What we like: | Drawbacks: |
|---|---|
|
|
The biggest weakness with SimplyFSBO is that it doesn’t list your home on a local MLS, which is how most buyers agents and their clients find properties. If you don’t list yours on at least one MLS, you could severely limit who sees your property.
Another shortcoming with SimplyFSBO is that it doesn’t give you the option to add services to your plan. For example, if you want a comparative market analysis, you have no option but to select the higher priced plan (FSBO Pro).
The company’s biggest strength, however, is the high-quality photography that’s included with each plan. The photos are taken and edited by professionals — and they look good. The Pro also has premium services to help you sell your home, including Facebook advertising, a comparative market analysis (CMA), and a 3D virtual showing. You can also call or text your FSBO adviser (most likely the founder, Bob Strupp) at any time.
Marketing (how it works)
| What we like: | Drawbacks: |
|---|---|
|
|
SimplyFSBO will list your home on the company’s self-branded listing platform (listings.simplyfsbo.com), Zillow, and Trulia. The FSBO Pro plan will also launch Facebook and Google ads pointing local buyers to your listing.
Since your home won’t be listed on a local MLS, weak website traffic can significantly reduce your pool of potential buyers. You’ll certainly get high exposure from Trulia and Zillow, which receives around 93.2 million online visitors per month. SimplyFSBO says its website gets around 20,000 visitors per month (in “peak season”), but our analytics tool showed it only gets 1,600.
Cost
| What we like: | Possible drawbacks: |
|---|---|
|
|
SimplyFSBO is very expensive when compared with other flat-fee listing services. Most FSBO websites will start their plans between $190 and $300 (this includes an MLS listing, too). SimplyFSBO, however, starts its cheapest plan at $499 — up to 2.6x as expensive! Since you’re not getting listed on the MLS, that price tag doesn’t make sense.
If you’re willing to shop around to get all the FSBO tools you need, remember that:
- It’s free to list your FSBO home on Zillow and Trulia
- Lots of agents will provide a free CMA
- Even the best photographers will charge ~$250 to take and edit pictures of your home
The FSBO Pro 3D provides a bit more value, since you get a Matterport 3D walk-through of your home. You also get social media marketing and a pre-market home value estimate. Aside from the fact that you’re not getting exposure on the MLS, this plan seems reasonably priced — especially since Matterport is one of the best 3D cameras and softwares available and costs up to $3,000 to rent yourself.
You can create a free account, test drive the software, start and edit a listing. But you’ll have to pay the flat fee to post it.
Customer experience
| What we like: | Possible drawbacks: |
|---|---|
|
|
SimplyFSBO has 62 reviews on Google with an average of 4.9 stars. Many reviewers were very pleased with the help and expert guidance from SimplyFSBO’s founder and adviser, Bob Strupp. They were also happy with the professional photography provided under each plan and the various experts (real estate lawyers, inspectors, appraisers) recommended.
We ran these reviews through an AI program that detects emotional language. Here’s what we found:
| ✅ Positive reviews around… | ❌ Negative reviews around… |
|---|---|
|
|
The vast majority of reviews praised SimplyFSBO’s communication to its clients about what they could expect to happen next. Some sellers complained about slow response times, but these were few and far between.
User friendliness
| What we like: | Possible drawbacks: |
|---|---|
|
|
Compared with other flat fee listing services, SimplyFSBO has an immensely simplified listing process. Instead of answering questionnaire after questionnaire just to create a post, you can add all the required information on one page and fill it out at your own pace. Your offers are organized in the sidebar and you can view and respond to messages directly within the platform.
One thing the platform lacks is the ability to call out features and key details in your home. For example, if you have a pool or energy-efficient appliances, the only way to call attention to these is to mention them in your description. Buyers who are skimming through hundreds of homes could miss these details.
Next steps
SimplyFSBO has a clean interface and good services. But the cost is simply too high. Even if you’re not interested in listing your property on the MLS, you can still save money on the up-front fee by shopping around with other listing services.
Related reading
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.
Cost
We compared pricing tiers for services with baseline national averages and other brands.
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
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.
Leave a Reply