what a fsbo costs
a fsbo can be less expensive than a conventional real estate transaction but it isn t free major costs can include attorney fees and buyer s agent commissions in a fsbo transaction purchase contracts can be drawn up in any of several ways some individuals use one of the blank contracts that can be found online companies like forsalebyowner com also offer packages of relevant documents for this purpose the seller can also find a local real estate attorney to write up and review the contracts according to the real estate site zillow com lawyers often charge a flat fee of 800 to 1 200 per transaction or an hourly rate of 150 to 350 depending on the market and how much work is involved in many states sellers are required by law to use an attorney even if they are selling the home on their own if the buyer is using an agent that agent may also provide a contract if the buyer brings their own real estate agent into the sale as is common the seller must pay that agent the commission in that case is typically 2 to 3 of the sales price according to forsalebyowner com it s not unheard of for fsbo sellers to decline to pay the commission for buyer s agents when this occurs buyers generally ask for a credit to be applied to the purchasing price to compensate their agent in other words the seller will end up having to pay it anyhow note that if the seller does not have a real estate agent their home will not normally be listed in any of the multiple listing services mls that buyer agents commonly use to find homes for their clients however there are brokerages that will for a flat fee arrange for a listing the percentage of home sales that were fsbos as of 2023 according to the national association of realtors fsbo alternativessellers who hope to avoid the roughly 6 they d pay to use a full service real estate agent but who aren t comfortable doing it all on their own have some other options some real estate agents offer a more limited set of services for a flat fee that might include for example an mls listing discount real estate brokers also offer a range of services often advertising commissions as low as 1 downsides of fsbossaving thousands of dollars in commissions can be tempting still it s important to remember that when a seller doesn t employ a real estate agent they assume all the responsibilities involved in completing the transaction if the seller is unfamiliar with the home buying and selling process a mistake can be costly if they set the listing price too high fewer buyers will consider the home and it may take much longer to sell on the flipside setting the price too low could prove more costly than hiring an agent in the first place selling a home via fsbo can pose legal risks if the documents are not drawn up properly or if the home has issues that aren t adequately disclosed in addition some real estate agents representing buyers avoid showing fsbo listings or even outright refuse to do so they may have been burned in the past by fsbo sellers who refused to pay their commission or otherwise proved difficult to deal with finally would be sellers need to consider the time commitment involved 