Pros and Cons of Selling Your Home FSBO vs Hiring a Realtor

When it comes time to sell your home and move on to a new home, there are many decisions that you will have to make. 

One of those decisions is how you will go about selling it, and whether you want to sell it by yourself or hire a realtor to help you streamline the process. 

Both choices have pros and cons, so let’s talk about them so you can decide what the best decision is for you and your home! 

Pros of FSBO 

• Selling your home by yourself allows you to market it how you want to 
• No realtor fees / percentage of the sale price 
• Flexibility to be picky with buyers 
• Choose how much to list for 
• Ability to barter / counteroffer on your own 
• Sell on your own time

Cons of FSBO

• Many buyers don’t trust you 
• Buyer’s realtors don’t make commision off you, which makes them less likely to show their client your home
• Hard to market your home if you don’t have experience 
• Low advertising budget 
• Harder to correctly price the home 
• Not very competitive with realtor-sold homes 
• Makes buyers wary of your listing because of lack of credibility 
• Inexperienced sellers often make mistakes 
• Emotional factor and attachment makes the process too personal at times

Pros of Using a Realtor

• Connections to reputable home inspectors!
• You have someone to help you make decisions and guide you 
• Very experienced in selling homes 
• Can potentially sell the home for more money 
• Connections to other agents 
• Big advertising spend – don’t have to pay it out of pocket 
• Marketing expertise and ability to get your listing to have more eyes on it in more places 
• Knowledge of the area & comparable homes
• Good negotiating tactics 
• Less chances of making mistakes with correct pricing 

Cons of Using a Realtor

• Realtor fees – you will have to give them a cut of the profit of the home, which can sometimes be very high depending on how much the home sells for
• Less freedom to make every decision 
• Can get a less experienced realtor who could hurt your home selling process
• Could feel pressure to sell quickly 

Overall, it is a personal decision which choice you want to make when deciding how to sell your home. 

It is important to think about these pros and cons and decide which points matter to you more than the others!