Well, why not on FSBO or CraigsList then?
I bought mine on the French equivalent of CraigsList, avoiding realtors at all costs.
Why would a seller prefer to use a realtor instead of a peer-to-peer solution?
Obviously, there are people who are successfully buying/selling today without a realtor. Given today's market though these are primary reasons why I think most don't do it themselves.
- Exposure - Not many people are using Craigslist to sell real estate. You want as broad exposure as possible to hit all the potential buyers in the market. This will reduce time on market and more importantly should increase sales price. You actually have more assurance of getting the highest price by having the largest exposure. There's a whole real estate investor industry of people called "wholesalers" who are trying to find people who aren't listed that will sell their home below market price so they can take a cut and sell it off to a flipper.
- Buyer's Representation - Currently, the vast majority of buyers have an agent. Currently you might list your house for 5% with 2.5% going to the buyers agent and 2.5% going to the listing agent. If you go FSBO you can avoid the listing agent fee but you really aren't saving the buyer side if the buyer has an agent. Either you agree to pay the listing agent's commission or the buyer pays it themselves as a part of the Buyer Rep Agreement and they reduce their offer to compensate for having to pay their own agent.
- Time and complexity - Most people don't want to take on such a timely and complex process which has large financial and legal ramifications. And it's not just finding a buyer - you have inspection, appraisal & title issues that come up frequently.
- Risk - You are talking about your largest financial transaction and signing legally binding contracts. There are also numerous disclosure issues along the way that can come back to bite you years after the sale. I had a seller once that decided to be in the yard raking when the inspection was taking place (against my advice) and casually mentioned that they occasionally had mice. Almost scuttled the deal and the buyer required that he buy a $1k pest elimination contract for them. MN has disclosures for material facts, wells, septic, methamphetamine, lead paint and arbitration that you need to share with buyers.
- Negotiations - A realtor has full access to comparable sales data & market statistics to help determine what the fair market price should be for your home. But contracts aren't just about the sales price. You need to negotiate earnest money, closing date, personal property and financing terms. Those negotiations often start over again after the inspection.
- Psychology - Selling a house is stressful. A good agent can help with the ups and downs associated with trying to sell your home which may have lots of emotions attached. I've found it's good to have someone not personally invested who can help make more factual decisions. For example, many sellers think their house is worth more than it may be worth. If the goal is to sell then it may actually help achieve that goal to have an outside party give guidance.