I personally wouldn't want to do surgery on myself, I'd rather pay somebody who has been well trained to do so.  In the same sentiment, I would not want to sell my own home, knowing all that can possibly go wrong in a transaction, if I did not have an expert level of knowledge of every aspect of residential real estate. What the stats are perhaps not showing is that an overwhelming majority of sellers who initially try to sell their home on their own, end up seeking the services of a full time professional once they realize the logistics, legalities and negotiations are too overwhelming for the untrained and inexperienced seller to juggle.

Folks generally don't want to deal with the perceived hassle. The threat that something can go 'terribly wrong' is enough for people to spend thousands to feel safe. It's made out that you need an incredible amount of knowledge and experience to accomplish the simplest of tasks. Truly fascinating. I find the comparison to surgery both laughable and insulting all at the same time.

@Matthew SlutskySimple. Time is money.

Most people don't have the time. FSBO properties can be a time suck.

A) you're not exposing yourself to the same number of buyers going the FSBO route.Therefore it is harder to attract QUALIFIED buyers. You'll get your neighbours and the curious people. Though qualified buyers usually aren't climbing out of the woodwork.

B) Most FSBO properties I've seen go up on the market aren't overly unique (sorry folks, but it's true). Therefore the necessary skills to market and sell the home are more important.

C) Most people have better things to do on a Saturday than hold an open house. Most people can't be home during the week to do home inspections, meet with a stager, et cetera. Most people have jobs that pay the bills and taking on a FSBO can take away from their efforts at their real job.

Many of the FSBOs will fail even if you take them by the hand and explain everything step by step.
Many sellers seem to think that the internet will sell it for them. I know of a few cases where listing on a “for sale by owner site” has sold their home in just a few days, but it is so rare.

Perhaps a factor is that sales people don`t direct their clients to FSBO properties where commissions are not guaranteed. My realtor had made such a comment to me as he showed me a home listed on Comfree. (I would have paid a finder's fee to him)
The image of owners being price greedy is a bigger factor, in my mind, as prices generally do not reflect any commission savings.

FSBO's don't know how or where to market their home, most don't know about MLS FSBO services some Realtors offer, on average 95% of homes sold are done through the MLS system so you need to be on that site if your serious about selling your home. You determine the commission offered to Buyer's agents and save thousands in typical Real Estate fees. I used www.smarthomesellers.ca because i can list with Sutton West Coast Realty as a FSBO MLS (mere listing)

In strong market, properties sell fast, so many homeowners wouldn't want to waste their time trying to sell their places on their own. It's also more of a convenience issue too.
If homework is properly done, FSBO could be a great option as I believe there are a lot of realtors who do not have the proper experience and expertise to work in your best interest -- they are the ones who often discount their commissions or give rebates or other incentives to get your business. A reputable and knowledgeable realtor will never discount their services. 

There are also some good places for FSBO support services such as Property Guys which will help you in selling you home with proper exposure for a flat fee.  
FSBO is not for everyone, which is a reason why it has been a rarity in our market.

I think the kicker for me was when i read about the founder of FSBO listing his property with a brokerage after failing to sell it on his own.... That kinda says something right there.

I sold my home on my own over asking in 3 days. Home was located in Bolton. Your lawyer walks you threw the paperwork saved tons of money why pay a realtor is beyond me and if you really want a realtor negotiate with them they don't need to sell your home for 2.5 % can be even 1 % or a flat fee if you buy have your realtor draw up a contract and give you 1 % back in cash if you buy with them tons of agents out there they will do it don't fall for we are the best of the best we sell your home for money see the comparable a go from there.

Realtors give you a market evaluation on what your home is worth based on past sale prices and current listings.If the statistics above are correct then most of the people buying a home must have a co-operative agent representing them and their job is to negotiate a lower price on the buyer's behalf. Hence the lower in sale price and I'm assuming it also included the smaller towns sales as well.

Also, did the study say how many days the home ws on the market for? it could of been listed fora year and then they finally sold it for higher because the market price had already gone up 10%...

I'm a full time Realtor that works in downtown Toronto and most of my clients are busy professionals and investors that can see a value of an informative realtor. A good Realtor will do all the market research, marketing, home staging, negotiation, appointments, deal with potential prospects and follow-up for you in order to make the sale happen. I recently did a sale where I saved my clients $8,000 off the purchase price.

I think it all depends on the realtor that you use and the market that you want to buy into. A good and experienced Realtor will save you money and prevent you from getting into legal implications upon closing. After all, who would be more familiar with a real estate transaction...someone that looks at once in every 3 years (when they sell their homes) or someone that looks at it on a daily basis?

From my experience FSBO are the "do it yourself" types who will also do all their own home renos, their own taxes and generally want to save a buck wherever possible. Nothing wrong with that of course. I do find it interesting that FSBO's do it because they want to save the commission which is included in the list price... a Buyer could argue that their listing price should be lowered accordingly because the comparables include the commission and they are therfore overpriced.

Why use a professional REALTOR®?
- It's more than local MLS exposure, it's their ability to market the property to get maximum exposure, locally and internationally, on all available channels. This costs money Folks!
- Comparative analysis and market knowledge plus strategy to set the best price ( a lot of FSBO's I've talked to set their price based on factors that have nothing to do with market price, ie. like what they paid for the property or how much they've spent on renos).
- Their own personal database of other Realtors from all over the World (and their buyers)
- Staging advice, reno advice, professional photos, floorplans, videos etc...
- Professional signage from a major brand like RE/MAX gets sign calls and gives credibility
- Screening buyers
- Hosting open houses, private showings
- Professional advertising; flyers, postcards, newspaper, magazines, social media, onlines ads etc...
- Listing syndication on thousands of websites
- Your Realtor provides a buffer between the Seller and the Buyer so it doesn't get personal or messy.
- Expert negotiation
- Referrals to other professionals or service providers you may need
- After sale follow up
- Your agent has professional standards and a fiduciary duty. If you are a Buyer looking at a FSBO you need to know there are no standards
- Your agent also has errors and omission insurance!!!

Enough said!

Just read the article and the study which appears to be from 2007 (data set was even older).
This looks at just one city, Madison, Wisconsin, where a single Web site (FSBOMadison.com)has become the dominant for-sale-by-owner platform

- roughly 20 percent of FSBO listings end up re-listing in the MLS, which translates into a longer time on the market, roughly 68 more days.
- FSBO attracted "Patient Sellers", aka they take a lot more time to sell

Its a very detailed report but in an area completely different from mine ( Vancouver) so I can't comment on the whys of the results. Besides they are so old now and from such a small region they have no relevance to me or my market.

I don't think any REALTOR is able to give a convincing enough answer to this question to satisfy someone who's strictly focussing on commission dollars in the transaction. I truly believe that some people could 100% effectively sell their homes on their own and when I hear the "I wouldn't operate on myself" argument I literally want to puke. We're not fucking surgeons, we're not lawyers, we're not dentists etc.. so please stop drawing that comparison. Emotion....deal killing emotion and the fact that you don't know as much as you think you do about the market that's the reason you shouldn't FSBO most of the time. There's a reason why real estate is one of the few industries that hasn't seen true disruption yet and that's because of the pure emotion involved in selling the place where your kid had his first birthday or where you had your first threesome. An arms length third party aka middle man/woman is necessary most of time to help sellers and buyers get out of their own way and actually net the most money. Not everyone is as connected to the real estate tip as you my boy Matty.

As a first time buyer in the market for a new townhome in the Lower Mainland, it's been darn near impossible having any luck on mainstream advertised homes because of multiple bids that push the asking price high above our budget. I'm now thinking FSBO and or Property Guys may be the way to go due to the type of market we are in.

A Carnelian.  I'm assuming you are already using a Buyer's Agent.  Inventory levels in Vancouver are about half of what's normal so your agent has to be aggressive in searching out properties for you.  They could be searching FSBO's, pounding doors, sending letters etc...  

Finally,  if your have a budget of say $700,000  searching MLS for $700,000 listings will often lead to frustration.  You do need to account for competition right now.  Take heart, we usually see increased inventory in the Spring and things might cool a little bit.

I haven't used it yet.

In a high demand market, FSBOs may not last long because of shortage of inventory. However, FSBO sellers do not get exposed to as many buyers as traditional MLS provides.

FSBOs typically do not get the Buyer traffic that is needed to bring the right offers, both in quantity and quality. If there is very little marketing, the results show. Secondly Buyers typically do not want to purchase a FSBO and deal directly with an owner. They prefer to deal with a listing agent who understands the processes, knows how to handle the sellers for advice with inspection & appraisal items (for example) and want a smooth, clean, easy transition. Many times that is not the case with FSBO.

I sold my house last year by myself in 3 days with a better price than my realtor had predicted. Plus I saved in commission 5%+ taxes a total of 80K.
Also I bought a house that I live in right now without agents and I am so happy with the house. Is unbelievable how much money realtors can get in such a short time. More than the doctors or lawyer. In fact all the paper work for selling the house is done by lawyers, not agents . Because the house market price tripled in the last 10 years, their income also tripled. Which profession had tripled their salaries in the last 10 years? None.
Some agents will jump on me right now to tell me I may have lost money. Is their way to frightened people. 
Some people may say they don't have time for the process. Really? No time to save thousands of dollars?

Many agents use scare tactics to sway you from selling/buying FSBO.

The reason you don't get the same traffic is because Realtors will purposely avoid your home like the plague. There is no magic here. I watched it happen to me personally. Most are just afraid of not getting their commissions (which is understandable).

It's not hard at all, especially if the house sells itself. And with the power of the internet (direct-to-consumer marketing), many of the previous advantages to selling using an agent are now at your fingertips.

If you're selling an older home, that needs a bit more TLC or larger commercial properties, agents are a great help. But in today's market (2017), I'll sell FSBO. There are way too many tools to help you along the process.

Giving 5% of my profits to someone who just put it on a website in the middle of the hottest buyers market and it sold a day later, is a bit silly.

Note, many selling FSBO are a bit greedy and if they are not business-minded, they will try to cut out a purchasing agents commission, not thinking that, this person still needs to feed their family as well.

I sold my place when the market was much slower for 25k more than what the realtors I interviewed said I could get for it in a best case scenario. Plus I saved commissions, but paid 2.5% to the purchasing agent (out of respect, they would have gotten it somewhere else).

But if you are not patient, a negotiator, or business savvy don't go FSBO.

I have a lot of respect for knowledgeable agents, don't get me wrong, but that sentiment should be reciprocated back to knowledgeable clients.

Stop avoiding FSBOs you realtors! If you're smart, you'll create an FSBO consultancy to help those who need insights, that's really easy and quick money right there.

Food for thought :)