When you’re selling a home, every dollar counts. Whether you’re a homeowner or investor, you want to make the highest profit possible from the sale of your home. Many people opt to sell their homes “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO), but is this really the best way to maximize your profit?

Selling FSBO and selling through an agent both have major financial advantages and disadvantages. It’s a good idea to make sure you understand both options before placing your home on the market.

When you sell a home FSBO, you may be able to eliminate the real estate commission that you would otherwise be charged. Ordinarily, a real estate agent’s commission amount to about seven or six percent of the sale price of your home. If your home sells for $200,000, for example, you could possibly save about $18,000 in commission.

One of the disadvantages of selling a home FSBO is that you are responsible for the marketing costs involved with selling your home. If your home is on the market for several months, you can easily incur several thousand dollars in classifieds, online ads, website building and promotion, and other marketing costs.

Conversely, when you sell through an agent, he or she typically bears most of the costs of promoting your home. He or she will also put in the time necessary to make sure your home gets the most exposure possible – hours that you can spend on other tasks.

Also, you won’t have the expertise of someone who is experienced to help you navigate the sometimes tricky path of selling a home. It’s hard to place a dollar figure on a seasoned agent’s advice. Some tasks, such as pricing your home, getting an appraisal, and negotiating with buyers, may seem simple; however, unless you are highly experienced in home sales, it is easy to make mistakes that can cost you thousands.

You may also want to ask yourself, how comfortable are you with unqualified strangers coming into your house? If listed with a real estate professional, there are security measures in place to keep unqualified people from just looking at your home. In addition, they are accompanied by another real estate professional that typically makes sure the person has the capacity to purchase your home by being pre-qualified. This helps protect your home and possessions while on the market.

Finally, a real estate agent has access to marketing tools that are out of reach for the average home seller. They also have the ability to access their networks, and can put your home in front of many more buyers than the typical FSBO seller.

Selling a home FSBO may seem like a great way to save money when selling your home. However, for many people, the advice, experience, and contacts that an experienced agent can provide are well worth the fees they charge. Often, selling through a realtor makes more economic sense than taking on the burden of selling your home FSBO.