People come to FSBO's thinking 1) I'll get a deal because it's a FSBO and 2) They are selling FSBO because they are in trouble ...
Yep. +1
As soon as I see a 'fizbo' I'm thinking ... ooooh how much under true market value could I get that for? The thought process is something like 'Hmmm... if they are stupid enough to think it's a good idea to sell a house themselves, then they're maybe also stupid enough to not know what it's worth or how to actually negotiate a sale'.
Example. I got a great deal on a house in a nice location 'inside the loop' in Houston because the owner had tried to FSBO. The house needed some TLC, and he listed it for too much. No action. Dropped price a bit. No action. Had it on the market for months. Missed the peak spring/summer sale season.
In the end he had to beg a real estate agent to take it on, because he was moving to DC. I got the impression the agent was not too impressed by his previous amateur efforts and (perhaps subconsciously) wasn't making
huge efforts (although we did see an open house - but the house was unstaged). She dropped the price a lot compared to what he'd started at, I put in a nice low offer, we negotiated over the inspection and presto. So the owner got a long delay (was carrying 2 mortgages in the end, bridge financing...), got a lower price, had all the wasted time and money of a failed FSBO, and still ended up paying a commission. A few years later I made a lot of money selling that house.
I think there's a reason
good real estate agents earn their commission. They work hard to advertise and promote, connect with buyers, talk it up, and handle all the BS. They can often give great advice on what you should fix up and what not to do. IMHO in general they more than earn their commission through the work they do and the price they can get (and remember the buyers' agent will still want to take 3%).
Of course YMMV. But I don't think it's as easy as the "Yes - you can sell your property!" people make it.