Is Saving the Commission Really Saving Yourself Money?
It's no secret. Most of us love a good bargain and we especially love when we can save ourselves some money. Becoming a For Sale By Owner is one of those times where sometimes the first inclination is to sell the home on our own because we can cave money. Truth is, that sometimes we lose sight of the forest for the trees. Now let's be truthful... sure there are For Sale By Owners who have sold their own homes and saved money, but the other half of that truth is that more sellers were successful at selling their homes with the help of a Realtor than not having a Realtor. The chart Exhibit 6-23 from 2009 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows us however that some For Sale By Owners are successful.
Though we can see that For Sale By Owners do work, are we really saving money? Once again we will refer to the chart Exhibit 8-6 from 2009 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
From the chart, we can see that agent-assisted homes sell for more than FSBO homes at the median. The typical home sold by a Realtor, sold for $215,000 compared with $172,000 for the typical FSBO home. Now let's do the math. If we take a hypothetical Realtor commission of 6%, then a home sold by a Realtor cost the seller $12,900 in commission fees. This leaves the homeowner with $202,100.00 before closing costs and/or any buyer concessions.
Now compare that with selling as a FSBO and making $172,000 minus $0 commission. This leaves the homeowner with $172,000 before closing costs and/or any buyer concessions. So again I ask, "Is Saving the Commission Really Saving Yourself Money?"
