Deciding to not use a real estate agent and to sell your home by yourself can save you tens of thousands of dollars. But also means more work for you and likely a longer selling time on the market. Selling your home yourself allows you to avoid the often substantial regular agent commissions. And when selling without a regular real estate agent, you are not entirely on your own. You can use a service like ComFree.com, one of the many companies that allow you to sell your home online, without the need of a real estate agent. Online listing services for selling real estate have been around a while, but they have grown immensely since the Canadian Real Estate Association had to open up its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) — where the vast majority of real estate transactions occur — to agents who charge a flat fee rather than the standard real estate commission. That greatly assisted the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) market, which had previously operated at a huge disadvantage. Another FSBO service is the PropertyGuys.com, has more than 10,000 active listings: they grew by 30% in 2011. However, in using the FSBO method to sell your home, you need to understand that it can be more stressful and tasking upon your time. In considering to use the FSBO manner of selling your home, it is recommended that you consider the following: 1: It Is All About the Commissions – But With A Price Upon Your Time Obviously, the only reason you would want to sell your home using a FSBO method is that you can save ten of thousands of dollars in commissions. In addition to the exclusive contract with the real estate agent, the standard commission is 5%, which is divided equally among your agent, the buyer’s agent, and their respective brokerages. So on the sale of a typical $400,000 home, you’ll pay $20,000 in commissions, and your agent and their brokerage would get $10,000. FSBO (For Sale By Owner) companies don’t charge you a commission when you use their services, rather they charge you a low flat fee. The fees for FSBO listing services vary, for example with commFree.com and PropertyGuys.com it is around $1,000. With higher levels of service, costs can go higher. You may be concerned about your effectiveness as a FSBO in selling time and purchase price. Read more…