How do you decide whether to sell your home (or land, farm, ranch, etc.) on your own or use a real estate broker? There are pluses and minuses to each approach. Lets look at some of the key ups and downs. Only you can decide which approach has the most pluses in your situation.
Why go FSBO?
FSBO stands for for sale by owner and tells buyers you are not using a realtor to represent you. The biggest upside to going FSBO is you save thousands of dollars in broker commissions when you sell the property. This may seem obvious, but the savings are very real.
The downside to going FSBO is it takes your time to market and show the property. (Youll need to prepare your property for sale in either case, but thats a whole separate topic.) You also need to be familiar with how the real estate sales process works in your part of the country. It isnt necessary to be an expert; just make sure you understand what things one must generally deal with in a real estate sales transaction.
Also, its important to have access to the helpers you need. Examples include a lender who is willing to qualify your prospective buyers, someone qualified and willing to draw the sales...