Listings
What is for sale by owner (fsbo)?
A FSBO is a property being sold directly by its owner without a listing agent, typically to avoid paying a listing commission.
The obstacles are exposure, pricing and process. Without MLS access a FSBO reaches a much smaller buyer pool; without comparables experience, pricing tends to drift high; and the transaction mechanics — disclosures, contingencies, deadlines — are unforgiving of inexperience.
FSBOs are a traditional prospecting target for agents, on the reasoning that many eventually list conventionally. Approaches that lead with the difficulty of the task tend to fail; approaches offering something concretely useful tend not to.
Some FSBOs succeed, particularly in hot markets, with motivated informed sellers, or where the buyer is already known.
Related terms
An expired listing is a property whose listing agreement ended without a sale. It becomes a prospecting target for other agents, since the owner has demonstrated intent to sell but has not achieved it.
A listing agreement is the contract between a seller and a brokerage that authorises the brokerage to market the property, setting the price, duration, compensation and the extent of exclusivity.
A Multiple Listing Service is a regional database where member brokers publish their listings and agree in advance to compensate other members who bring a buyer, making cooperation between competing brokerages practical.
A listing presentation is the meeting where an agent pitches to represent a seller, covering proposed pricing, marketing plan, process and fee, in competition with other agents doing the same.