Should You Sell For Sale By Owner?
If this is your first time selling a home, the idea of selling without representation can be the most daunting task in the world. For sale by owner, otherwise known as FSBO, can be a very effective way to save out on paying the listing agent’s commission. However it comes with a whole world of new responsibilities. You will have to deal with negotiations, contracts, and the potential of getting into legal trouble. Everything regarding the listing to ensuring the sale goes through smoothly is now up to you as the homeowner. There is a lot to consider to find out whether or not selling for sale by owner is a smart decision for you. My goal of this little blog is to demystify all the details regarding FSBOs so that you can confidently make a decision. Do you sell For Sale By Owner, or do you reach for professional representation. Let’s find out!
For Sale By Owner History
In Los Angeles County’s 2025 real estate market, the data around FSBOs homes shows shocking results. FSBOs make up only about 5–6% of total home sales, and a large portion of homeowners who try to sell on their own ultimately don’t succeed. Many FSBO listings either expire or end up relisting with a real estate agent, often after weeks or months on the market. Once relisted, the chances of selling improve significantly, as agent-listed homes benefit from better pricing strategy, broader exposure, and stronger negotiation. Pricing is one of the biggest challenges for FSBO sellers, and it shows in the numbers—on average, FSBO homes sell for 15–20% less than comparable agent-represented properties in Los Angeles County. In a competitive market where the median prices are near $900,000, that 15-20% loss can add up to a significant portion of net proceeds. While selling without an agent may seem appealing upfront, the 2025 data continues to show that most FSBO sellers either leave money on the table or eventually turn to professional representation to get their home sold. The worse part is, most FSBO sellers are selling for sale my owner to avoid a 2-3% commission fee from a listing agent, but with losses that average 15-20% it just doesn’t make sense financially to take on this burden.
Responsibilities as a FSBO
Selling for sale by owner is basically the same thing as taking over all the responsibilities that your agent had. At first glance it may not seem like much more work than just putting the home on the MLS. However there are now the nuances of marketing, negotiating, and pricing strategy that you’ll have to figure out before putting the home on the market.
Before you try to put your house on Zillow as FSBO, you first need to decide what price you’d want to list the home at. The price you list your home at determines how your entire sales process is going to look like, so it’s important that you do your research on what pricing is best for your home’s condition. First of all you’ll need to also find your homes market value, meaning doing your own comparable market analysis to find your estimated market value. As a FSBO, it’s your responsibility to have accurate pricing as well as an accurate home valuation.
Now that you have the pricing out of the way, you should decide how you should go about marketing the home and when to have showings. All of this will be inputted into your zillow listing, meaning you’ll need to do yet more due dilligence before you are ready to go onto the market. Keep in mind that your flexibility for showings and budget for marketing has a direct effect on your ability to sell your home for top dollar. It’s your responsibility as a FSBO to ensure you are being as aggressive as possible to take advantage of the market you are in.
If you do get into escrow, it’s your responbilitiy as the seller and seller representative to have the correct paperwork filled out in order for a legal transaction to go through. You’ll have to read all of the contracts that you sign, get the contracts from either escrow or the buyer’s agent and ensure timelines/deadlines are met. You’ll most likely have to check up on the escrow every day just to ensure you have all your ducks in a row. You are going to be responsible for every step of the process, from putting up the listing to closing escrow legally and safely.
What to Do as a FSBO...
Here is an extremely simplified version of what you should do step by step if you are selling your home for sale by owner for the very first time. This lays out the most important tasks to be prioritized, in order of when they’ll come to you.
1) Determine whether or not you’ll need any renovations, and if so finish those renovations before planning the listing
2) Run comps, find market value of your home, and determine the price you will list at
3) Prep the home for sale, stage the house, get professional pictures, & list the home for sale by owner on zillow with a professional description
4) Create a marketing plan and schedule for showings, and execute
5) Once in escrow, ensure all paperwork is signed for a legal transaction, get the paperwork from either the buyer’s agent or escrow
6) Request the necessary disclosures and inspections on your property as a seller, as well as staying on top of the deadlines for escrow
7) Close out, sign paperwork from escrow & hand over the keys
FAQs
How Does For Sale By Owner work for the buyer?
The buyer’s agent must be able to facilitate the deal contractual. Since the seller is unrepresented and lacking of contractual knowledge, it is up to your agent to ensure the proper documents are signed for the deal to go through. However the buyers agent is still working in the buyer’s best interest. As a buyer it is generally the same as a regular deal however, just with extra caution taking during each step.
Can you buy a house without a realtor?
You can absolutely buy a house unrepresented, meaning you have no buyers agent and the sellers agent is not representing you either. However this means that you are taking a lot of the negotiating burden as well as coordination of timelines and contracts. While the seller may provide you with the necessary documents to sign and close the deal, they are still working in the seller’s best interest. If you do not have experience with multiple transactions this is a very risky move to make, both financially and legally.
What is an open listing?
An open listing differs from an exclusive listing because it allows multiple agents to work for the same listing or seller. Instead of being tied to one realtor, you will be able to get help from multiple realtors in different brokerages, and will only pay a commission if the realtor brings in a ready and able buyer. The reason why these listings are not as popular to the public is because most realtors will not dedicate their time to a listing if they aren’t even guaranteed their commission, so while you technically could have all the realtors work for you, none of them really put in the work you may be expecting. Here in the San Gabriel Valley, many cities like Alhambra, San Gabriel, Monterey Park, and so much more rarely so many open listings becuase of these facts.
📍 Final Thoughts from a Local Realtor
You might think that my opinion is skewed based soley on the fact that I am a realtor… I do personally believe that if you are selling your home, the best way to save money, stay out of legal trouble, and ensure the best results is to hire a realtor and pay the fee.
At the end of the day no doubt anyone can get the home sold, the question is how much money do you leave on the table due to lack of marketing, negotiating skills, and contractual knowledge.
Real estate is a service and realtors have their job to help you. It’s the same with other services too. You may know how to do your taxes and deduct your expenses, but a tax advisor may be able to save you more money for a small fee. The service you get is often worth much more than the fee it costs, and that’s why this business has been around for so long. I couldn’t stress enough how important it is to get a reatlor when selling your home!
Have questions about specific neighborhoods, I’d love to help.
