Real Estate in Greece Overview

For Sale By Owner, or FSBO, is the process of selling real estate without the representation of a real estate broker or real estate agent. Homeowners may employ the services of marketing or online listing companies or market their own property but do not pay a commission and represent themselves with the help of a lawyer throughout the sale.

One of the most popular reasons why homeowners choose to sell their house without the assistance of an agent is to avoid paying an agent's commission. In the US the agent's fee typically makes up 6% of the selling price of the property.
When a homeowner decides to sell their home without a real estate agent and a buyer who is not working with an agent wants to buy the home, the seller pays no commission because no real estate agents are involved.
If a buyer who is represented by an agent is interested in a FSBO home, that buyer's agent may request the owner pay him or her a commission, or finder's fee, for bringing the buyer. The seller may choose to either pay the fee or refuse. The seller is not legally obligated to pay any commission. If no agreement is in place with either the home buyer or the owner of the FSBO property, the buyers agent may not necessarily be compensated in the transaction.

Market Share

Canada

The Canadian Real Estate Association says 75-80 percent of homes in Canada are sold through brokers each year; the remaining 150,000 homes are sold without brokers.
A 2009 report by CTV Consumer Reports suggests that a quarter of all homes in Canada are now sold privately.

UK

In the UK, the average commission rate is significantly lower than in Canada or the US. Properties for sale by owner are less common.

USA

FSBO Madison based in Madison, Wisconsin claims to be the largest FSBO in the United States with a reported 25% share of Madison home sales.

According to a press release by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) regarding their 2005 annual survey of real estate consumers, 2005 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers:

* 12% of 2006 US real estate transactions were FSBO.
* 13% of 2005 US real estate transactions took place via FSBO (down from 14% in 2004).
* The record percentage of 20% of US real estate transactions (since tracking started in 1981) took place in 1987.

Some critics have pointed out that the National Association of Realtors report's suggestion that FSBO transactions are declining, may be misleading because NAR has also reported that flat-fee MLS now makes up 10% of transactions, and flat-fee MLS sellers are in substance FSBO sellers. Unlike traditional real estate agent clients, flat-fee sellers are not committed to paying a commission and still advertise their homes as being for sale by owner. Some critics of the report suggest that the true size of the U.S. FSBO market is closer to 22%.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Category: Real Estate

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FSBO - For sale by owner

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USA

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