14 FSBO Objections Real Estate Agents May Face

Every real estate agent cringes at the thought of cold-calling — with good reason. No one likes to be continually rejected.

FSBOs believe they have valid points as to why they should sell on their own and refrain from hiring a listing agent.  With their limited view of what a professional real estate agent can do for them, to market their home effectively for the most amount of money; they come to the conclusion that they can save a considerable amount of money by posting a few photos of their house online and getting it sold without the assistance of a realtor.

As real estate agents know, generating leads in real estate is only a small part of the selling process. Many homeowners haven’t thought about important topics like negotiating the sales price, let alone how to properly price their home in the first place.

This list covers the top 14 FSBO (for sale by owner) objections a prospecting real estate agent will run into while prospecting for sellers.

1. The Majority of FSBOs Will Pay a Commission in a Sales Transaction which Involves a Real Estate Agent

Most FSBOs who work with a real estate agent in the sale of their home will pay a commission.  FSBOs gamble on the idea that they will save the listing side of the commission and will normally agree to pay some sort of commission to a buyer’s agent.  In essence, the seller is paying a buyer’s agent to negotiate against them.

Educating a seller in these terms will help the FSBO understand the conundrum they are facing.  When they hire a listing agent, they are hiring a professional who will provide the highest level of exposure to their home in order to net more for the seller, while also protecting their equity and interests in the process. 

2. Many FSBO Sellers Hire an Agent Due to Convenience

Sellers have jobs and other responsibilities every day. In the world of real estate, every opportunity to show a home must be seized and most homeowners won’t be able to keep up. 

Marketing a home online includes a litany of tasks like taking professional photos, access to various online accounts, and understanding different marketing platforms. 

How about phone calls? Will the homeowner be able to answer their phone and schedule showing appointments around the clock? What about being able to leave work with very little notice in order to show the property to potential buyers? Most homeowners won’t be able to prioritize showings over their work and career schedule.  This is why most FSBOs typically will hire a real estate agent after only a few short weeks of attempting on their own.

3. FSBO Listings Drive Fewer Offers Compared to Agent-Listed Properties

Compared to properties that have been listed by real estate agents, FSBO listings bring in fewer viewers, and thus, fewer offers. This is consistent with the concept of supply and demand.  More visibility in the market brings a higher number of potential offers and potential for much higher offers. Lack of exposure causes sellers to leave their houses on the private market for an extended period of time, or even worse, by selling their houses for much less than they could with a professional real estate agent handling the marketing and the sale..

As an agent, you can show these sellers that you are knowledgeable about local home prices, the listing process, and market trends and that you can assist them in finding the right price for their property.

4. The Agent Won’t Do a Good Job

If you get this kind of rejection from an FSBO seller, you can show them this statistic from the National Realtors’ Association (NAR). The NAR found that 74% of sellers would use the same agent again, indicating that most people are happy with their experience after dealing with a real estate agent.

5. Sellers Won’t Make As Much If They Use an Agent Due to Commissions

This is one of the top items that FSBO sellers are concerned about when transacting with real estate agents. What the FSBO should be focusing on is that they can actually save money if they hire you. It’s a well known fact that agent-listed properties sell more compared to FSBO homes.

Instead of marketing the home themselves and spending a good amount of time coordinating its sale, they can acquire your services and let you do the listing work on their behalf.

6. The Seller Won’t Have Any Difficulty Setting the Price

Pricing a house is one of the most crucial aspects of selling a home. FSBO sellers need to find the sweet spot to avoid losing money while keeping prospective buyers interested. Most of the time, people who have lived in a house cannot see and price their real estate objectively.

That is why you, as a real estate listing agent, should let sellers know that setting the right price for a home is no easy feat. Furthermore, accomplishing the paperwork involved in such sales is a significantly difficult process.

By hiring your services, you can help FSBO sellers overcome these obstacles and give them the price that they want for their properties.

7. The Seller Believes Their House Will Sell Within Their Time Frame

Another common FSBO objection is that sellers believe that they can sell their property within a set period after they put it up for sale. This is simply not realistic, especially without the right network.

In fact, 6% of FSBO sellers say that getting to sell their property within their ideal time frame was one of their biggest struggles.

Since your listing can reach far more potential buyers, you must tell sellers that you can help them sell their homes as fast as possible. A real estate agent has a large network of people who may be interested in buying your home. They also spend money advertising a home to ensure that the buyer’s market sees it. A seller may be able to access advertising for their home, but they won’t be able to match a listing agent’s network. 

8. The Seller Doesn’t See Any Problem with Showing the Home to Potential Buyers

As mentioned earlier, real estate listing agents have access to an in-depth network within the real estate world that can help them sell properties quickly.

Let FSBO sellers know that your access to these large networks can let you reach far more potential buyers compared to letting them do it on their own.

9. The Seller Hasn’t Considered All the Costs Associated with Selling a Home

There are a lot of costs associated with selling an FSBO property. Legal fees, advertising, contracting with unqualified FSBO leads, and the time investment can be too much hassle, not to mention the expense for most sellers.

Hiring you as their real estate agent can solve all of their problems since you have the knowledge and experience to work through this process as efficiently as possible.

10. The Seller Hasn’t Considered the Legal Risk

Since there is much legal paperwork involved in selling a home, all of the documents have to be completed correctly to avoid any problems. Perhaps the most important item of them all is the seller’s disclosures.  

As a real estate agent, you should show sellers the risks involved in selling property the wrong way and that your knowledge of disclosure laws can help them.

11. A Seller’s Unknown Problem with Buyer’s Agents

Many buyer agents may shy away from showing an FSBO property for sale because they believe there is no proper representation on the other end.  Show these sellers that you can provide them with the representation they need so that their property will get more showings so that it can be sold at the right price and at their desired time frame.

12. The Seller Will Stay Rational Throughout the Entire Process

Selling your own home is an emotional process, no matter what others say. With your help, you can guide FSBO sellers from making key mistakes such as refusing to counter a low offer, overpricing the property, or agreeing easily because you have a deadline to follow.

Sellers who forgo a real estate agent will also have to deal with direct rejection whenever the buyer’s agent informs them that their client is no longer interested. This can be quite frustrating for homeowners.

As a professional, you can show FSBO sellers that you can take the sting out of these rejections and counter with a positive response for any negative feedback received.

13. Sellers Ignore the Flaws in Their Homes 

You know what makes these houses sell. You can walk sellers through their homes and point out any changes they need to make to bring in more buyers and better deals.

You can identify these flaws for your sellers and assist them in determining which feedback from potential FSBO leads you should work on to improve the chances of selling the property.

Many times, sellers are blind to the improvements that should be made to their home before having showings. The littlest thing can have a huge impact on buyers while they walk through your property. Some buyers will simply leave the home without a second thought if they believe it will require too much work. 

14. The Seller Believes That All Buyers Are Qualified

FSBO sellers can fall into this trap. They can easily believe that anyone who shows interest in their property is considered a qualified buyer. This is far from the truth. Not everyone who asks is a qualified lead.

That is why your job as a real estate agent is to weed out unqualified buyers by looking into each individual. Is this person here because they are truly interested in buying a house or are they just curious?

Since FSBO sellers lack this training and skill set, it is your responsibility to show them how you can contribute. Disclosing the number of unqualified buyers that you’ve made contact with over the years will help the seller understand that selling their home can include a taxing amount of time with the added burden of disappointment and frustration without a seller’s agent. 

Conclusion

Generating leads in real estate is difficult and requires the proper knowledge and experience to succeed. That is why real estate agents are considered by many, not only because of their expertise but especially due to the convenience they bring.

By following these tips, you will know how to respond to the common objections from FSBO sellers and shut them down with the right answers. Do you need a reliable way to find and contact FSBOs? Try Espresso Agent.

Doug Spak

Doug Spak joined Espresso Agent as a Content Marketing Specialist in 2016. Doug brings nearly four decades of experience as a copywriter, blogger, and screenwriter to his role with Espresso. Since joining our team, Doug has actively updated website content, published more than 300 blogs, and created countless social media posts.