[exDemMom]

I can’t imagine buying or selling without an agent. The agent is the one who goes to the various classes and learns everything about real estate. The agent is the one who can hook me up with property inspectors, repairmen, and so forth. The agent helps to provide the proper documentation to the lender. Those kinds of service are invaluable, especially if (as I have done several times) I am buying a home in another state.

I don’t want to have to take a real estate law course just to buy or sell my own house.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

I can’t imagine buying or selling without an agent.

I've done both and to me it's situational. I used a selling agent for a house in another state but did FSOB where the house was less than a mile from me.

It was not a big problem selling myself, I got the price I wanted and minimal effort on my part. It helped that it was a high demand home. But here in Michigan the closing is essentially done by a title agent so it's fairly easy.

And I would recommend trying FSOB for a least a week, imagine that you just signed with an agent and they're putting up a for sale sign and your neighbor comes over and makes an offer. That a lot of commission out of your pocket.

[okkev68]

Um, the title and mortgage company takes care of all that. Not the agent. An agent simply puts your house on the MLS, stands there while prospective buyers look at it, and then helps write up the offer. All for up to 6% of selling price. Plus, they put a sign in your yard advertising their agency.

We have sold 4 homes FBSO, the last one with a simple 1% agent to handle the listing and contract. We did all the rest. Have saved at $50K in unnecessary fees.

[YouGoTexasGirl]

We did FSBO and put home on zillow. The buyer had a broker. We paid him 4%. He was a bit uncomfortable at first as he’d been burned but in the end he was our friend too and thanked us for all we did.

The buyer usually finds the inspectors, etc. so their broker made the contacts. We were also “as is” so buyer responsible for repairs.

Worked well for both sides. They still live in the home and love it.

[PMAS]

You don’t need a real estate course, selling a house is easy - I’ve sold 10 on my own.

[DennisR]

I have sold three house FSBO. It’s a piece of cake…easy.

Real estate commissions are a huge ripoff. In our area, the average home is probably one million dollars. So a 6% commission costs $60,000. Bye-bye a good chunk of equity!