FSBO in a Rebalancing Market: Why More Sellers Are Choosing a Pro

Go-it-alone sellers are learning the hard way that expert pricing, exposure, and negotiation are the difference between a quick win and a costly discount.

Every real estate cycle has its classic subplot: “Maybe I’ll sell it myself.” For Sale By Owner listings (FSBOs) tend to spike when headlines make selling look easy, and fade when the market reminds everyone that a home sale is not a lemonade stand.

Right now, FSBOs are fading fast. According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), only 5% of sellers sold without an agent this year – an all-time low. Meanwhile, 91% of sellers used a real estate professional, also a record high.

FSBOs typically sell for less — and the gap is meaningful

NAR’s latest Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows the median FSBO sale price was $360,000, compared with $425,000 for agent-assisted sales, about an 18% difference.

NAR also notes an important nuance: FSBO homes skew more toward rural areas and lower-priced property types, which can inflate headline comparisons. But when researchers compare similar homes sold with and without agents, FSBO sellers still tend to net less – often in the 5–6% range even after adjusting for property differences. In other words, even if we give FSBOs the benefit of the doubt, the data keeps landing in the same neighborhood. Selling solo is usually a discount strategy dressed up as a savings strategy.

**Why that matters even more now in our market**

Corcoran McEnearney’s CIO, David Howell’s latest stats show exactly what we’ve been feeling on the ground across DC, Northern Virginia, Virginia’s Countryside, Maryland, and Greater Baltimore:

The metro market continues to rebalance, and every jurisdiction is weakening from the seller’s perspective.
Supply is up everywhere year over year.
Days on market (DOM) are higher across the board.
Fewer homes are selling at or above their original list price.
Homes are selling at roughly a 2% deeper discount to the original list price than a year ago. (Ex: Montgomery County went from 99.1% of the original list last October to 97.3% this October.)
Homes are taking 7–14 days longer to go under contract. (Ex: Fairfax County jumped from 21 days last October to 34 days last month.)
We’re seeing 10–15% fewer “Very Successful Sellers” – homes that sell at or above the original list price.
About 40% of active listings have already had at least one price reduction.

Translation: this is no longer a “throw it on the market and see what happens” environment. Buyers have more options, and pricing has to be right immediately. Marketing has to be sharp at first glance and must appeal to current buyers’ needs. Negotiation has to be strategic when inspections, appraisals, and concessions hit the table.

That’s a tough playing field for a DIY seller.

The 5 FSBO regrets we hear again and again

RISMedia recently summed up the top reasons FSBO sellers say they wish they had used an agent. None of these are surprising, but it’s a good reminder that selling a home isn’t as easy as simply plopping a sign in the yard or window.

Pricing was off: Sellers often start with an aspirational number (or the number a helpful friend “feels” is right). In a rebalancing market, that’s how listings go stale and end up chasing price reductions.
They made the wrong repairs (or none at all!): A professional agent knows what buyers will ding you for, what will show up in an appraisal report, and what’s a wasted ROI.
Time management was a grind: Coordinating showings, vetting buyers, and following up consistently is a part-time job at minimum. Most FSBO sellers underestimate the workload, adding additional stress to an experience that can be steeped in anxiety.
Negotiation got complicated: Inspections, addenda, appraisal gaps, financing delays, contract deadlines – this is where deals are saved or lost. And it’s where experienced representation pays for itself.
Staging and presentation weren’t competitive: Buyers are shopping hard right now. First impressions matter more when they have better-prepped alternatives queued up on their phone.

None of these regrets comes from laziness. They come from the reality that modern real estate is a complex, high-stakes transaction with too many moving parts to “figure out as you go.”

Today’s buyers aren’t just buying houses — they’re buying micro-markets

Here’s another wrinkle FSBO sellers run into: value is increasingly hyper-local and lifestyle-driven.

For example, a national NAR survey found 79% of buyers say walkability is important, and 78% say they’d pay more for it, especially younger buyers. Realtor.com’s latest trend reporting shows listings that highlight walkability have more than doubled in the past year.

That matters because premiums like walkability, transit access, school pyramids, parks, and neighborhood culture are often intangible metrics that real estate professionals are trained to understand and take into account for listing strategies. They have to be priced correctly, marketed clearly, and targeted to the right buyers. A pro isn’t just listing square footage; they’re also finding the best way to translate your “location, location, location” into demand.

That’s especially true in the DC-metro market, where two homes just a couple of blocks apart can mean two price realities. A Realtor’s® job is to understand the micro-shifts and market desires that influence where an initial price should land, and see proof that the pricing strategy is delivering qualified buyers to the door – or the can’t-miss signals that it’s not.

Can a FSBO ever work?

Sure. A FSBO can work in narrow cases: when a seller already has a buyer, or when the home is simple to price and the owner has deep market knowledge, time, and negotiation skills.

But that’s not the typical FSBO seller, and it’s definitely not typical for the kinds of transactions we see in our region.

In a market that rewards precision, the cost of being off by even a little is bigger than people expect. A home that misses the early window often winds up taking longer and selling for less. Howell’s numbers earlier in this article show it locally, and NAR’s numbers show it nationally.

The Bottom Line

The reason FSBOs are at an all-time low isn’t fear. It’s math.

Most sellers aren’t trying to save money at the cost of tens of thousands in equity. They want full-market exposure, expert pricing, tough-love guidance, and a skilled negotiator between them and the emotional roller coaster of a contract.

And in a rebalancing market like ours, that professional edge isn’t a luxury. It’s how sellers stay out of the “eventually successful” category and into the “very successful” one.

If you’re thinking about selling, this is the moment for a frank conversation about pricing, strategy, and what your micro-market is really doing. At Corcoran McEnearney, we’re here for that.