Are you a FSBO? If so, you are a brave and courageous soul. By now you realize your endeavor to sell your home by yourself was not just taking on one job but multiple jobs! You have been a handyman, inspector, price analyst, copy righter, marketer, staging professional, receptionist, host/hostess, sales person, mortgage consultant and bookkeeper all in one!

For Sale By Owners certainly deserve credit for giving it a good try, but if you didn't succeed, you can pat yourself on the back, because you are not alone. Statistics show For Sale By Owner sales are dropping, despite all the access to internet lists, etc.

According to the 2003 National Association of Realtors "Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, The typical FSBO home sold for $145,000, compared to $175,000 for a salesperson-assisted home. This means even if a FSBO pays a 6% commission, they will realize $164,500. These statistics are National averages. The same proportions hold true in the Denver metro area.

These times are full of easy conveniences and along with these conveniences come a new set of worries. As an Realtor, I am always confirming the identity of who I am working with. If they don't share with me, I dont' work with them. I'm not so sure FSBO think of these issues when they open their door to any stranger who calls them. True, not all home shoppers are folks to be wary of, but then how can one tell who is and who isn't?

Buyers are not always buyers, sometimes they are wishfully thinking without any consideration for you or your time. FSBO's are easy prey for these Wishful Thinkers, because they don't ask the right questions. As a professional, I don't put people in my car (nor do most other good Realtors) until they have proven themselves to be qualified, ready, willing and able to purchase a home.

As any experienced FSBO will atest, its not an easy job to sell your own home. After keeping track of the time spent (away from doing the things you want to do) and the amount of money it takes to get the home ready to market it, plus taking into account any false starts and anxious days on end waiting for a decision, a FSBO would be better off delegating the job to those who do it all the time. Putting your home into "the system" is cost effective and safer.