About FSBO

Nearly one in four homeowners currently choose to sell their homes without a broker. The reason is obvious.

Because real estate commissions can be as high as six percent of the selling price, the average homeowner loses most of his equity when listing with an agent. Suppose you're selling a $500,000 home on which you owe $400,000. You expect to receive $100,000 in equity.

500,000	- selling price
-400,000	- left on mortgage
100,000	- equity

If you list your home with an agent who charges six percent commission, that amount is taken off of your selling price, not your equity. You'll pay $30,000 in commission.

500,000	- selling price
x 0.06	- % commission
30,000	- commission cost

Your net has just dropped by $30,000 and you haven't even paid your closing costs!

100,000	- initial equity
-30,000	- realtor's® commission
70,000	- net equity

You just paid your realtor® 30% of your equity.

30,000	- realtor's® commission
÷ 100,000	- initial equity
0.30	- realtor's® percentage of your equity

You can also figure your exact equity by using the equity calculator.

Over the years, the real estate industry has had a large impact on the home sales market within this area. With this monopoly, they have been able to drive up commissions to a very high level. In the past, the real estate industry very effectively limited access to the home selling market through the MLS. This allowed them to drive commissions up to a very high level. With the emergence of the internet as a ubiquitous medium, though, this real estate monopoly is quickly deteriorating as the public increasingly turns to FSBO sales.

Many people are realizing that selling their own home to save the commission is a realistic and sensible option. Adding up all the financial costs of selling on your own (i.e. signage, advertising, etc.) is typically less than $1,000, a small fraction of the typical real estate agent's commission fee.

Use VenturaFSBO.com to quickly, effectively, and easily sell your home at a fraction of what it would cost to hire a real estate agent.

Modified from the original by permission of FSBONM.com.