The Vanishing FSBO

During the last five years of the downturn in Real Estate, For Sale signs have been a familiar sight on most major streets. But one of the biggest casualties of the sluggish housing market has been the Realtors call these sellers "Fizzbo's" and have been increasingly successful in converting them to happy clients. In the past 20 years,the percentage of sellers who sell on their own has dropped from 19% to about 10%.

Most of those who choose to go it alone either have s background in Real Estate or know their buyers personally. Even then, buyers feel uncomfortable looking at a home with the seller looking over their shoulders. Even if the seller steps outside, the buyer is acutely aware that the seller is paying close attention to how long the buyer spends in the home. Buyers tend to leave much more quickly if the seller is nearby.

 One shift we’re seeing is that FSBOs are increasingly private transactions. In 2003, the first year NAR started looking at the question, a little more than a third of FSBOs, or 36 percent, knew who their buyers were upfront. By last year, that number had increased to 50 percent. That’s a 38 percent shift.

That suggests FSBOs are increasingly hesitant to go it alone unless they have their buyer lined up before they take the plunge