Comps are comps, whether it be FSBO or through a realtor. If the home next door is identical and sells for $500,000 FSBO, then you can be fairly certain that will be one of the comps used for your home.

Doesn't seem quite fair that you can be undermined like that! Our HOA micromanages the neighborhood and keeps track of every little thing we do to "keep home values up". You think they would have a CCR against FSBO, because they certainly affect home values!

Unbelievable! There is no law against selling your own house. Fellow posters, what would you think about an HOA preventing FSBOs?

Unless you agreed to that when you bought your house, I can't imagine they could force you to use a realtor.

How likely is the FSBO to actually sell his house? FSBO doesn't work well where I currently live and many either stay on the market for 1yr+ or cave and get a realtor.

No reason to worry until it does sell and then see what the price is. Could be that the buyer will need the seller to cover closing costs so the sales price will be higher to cover those costs.

FSBO works well in my area. We bought our house FSBO 9 years ago.

One sale won't skew an entire neighborhood's market value. A valid list of comps will include multiple sales over a period of months, which makes allowances for both a lower-priced distress sale and a fluke-y high-priced "buyer wants it and gotta have it at any cost" sale. No rational buyer or realtor should throw one FSBO sale in your face and make broad statements about YOUR house's value based on that one number.

Although I've never sold a house FSBO, I'd NEVER consider buying into a Homeowner's Association that said you COULDN'T. That's going too far.

FSBO does well in New Mexico where I just moved from. Being a non-disclosure state, that sale price is not made public unless someone signed something to allow it to be recorded on the MLS. You don't even have to disclose it to the city for tax purposes.

I can see how one FSBO in the area wouldn't affect home values. But this one is right next door to me, and is the exact same house. They aren't FSBO to save the realtor's commission, they are FSBO to sell it for 25K less! I wouldn't really care except we plan to list in a couple months. That's not enough time to recover. How would you convince a buyer to disregard a 25K difference in price for the same house right next door?

FSBO does well in my area and we are also a non-disclosure state for sales prices. After we sold and our selling price was suddenly included in appraisals, prices of homes in our neighborhood jumped up to meet or beat our price. Guess our FSBO comp got thoses prices up a bit higher.

Gloria

This is just craaazy. Would you be complaining if your neighbor was selling the house to one of his kids at a discount? Or if it was an estate sale? Flukes happen, as zeebee pointed out.

That's why your home value is not going to be based on one comp but several. If a potential buyer wants to know why your neighbor's place sold for less (assuming it does), you have your answer--they priced it to sell fast.

My husband and I bought a home from a very motivated seller this summer at about 15% less than market value. Our sale had absolutely zero impact when our neighbor listed his home for 20% more a few months later--and got that price, within a week, in a slow market.

At least if your neighbor sells fast, you'll know that there are eager buyers in your area!

I would think, as long as it is for sale, you couldn't list at a higher price unless your house offers something extremely compelling that theirs doesn't. It would actually be better for you if they sold quickly as you can conceivably discount one comp. But if it is sitting on the market, not selling, every buyer for your house is going to stop and look at that one.

Appraisers will first look in the MLS for comps. If there are none close by, they will expand the radius. As a last resort, they will look in the tax records. The FSBO should NOT affect your sale, if there are any recent/up to 6 mo's MLS comps.

Unlike some others here, I do think that one FSBO can affect an entire neighborhood's comps. We're FSBO, but also listed for a flat fee on the MLS. There is very little turnover in our comp area, with only two houses selling this entire year. Whether we sell by ourselves or with the help of a buyer's agent at half the cost of the full-service commission, we can drop our price much lower than someone with a full-service agent might want to. If the same sales trend continues next year and we're only one of two houses that sells, my sales price will be very important on the comps. Unless we sell really close to asking price, our neighbors won't be too happy with us. :-)

For sellers that list with a Realtor, said realtor usually only gives Comps of MLS listed/sold homes to help seller come up with an asking price. What is usually missing in the Comp picture is FSBOs. When I was interviewing agents a few years back, I asked about comps for FSBOs (usually approx 15%-18% of sales are FSBO)and the agents confirmed that they did not provide that data. So the agents were only giving 85% of the comp data to assist a seller with pricing the home.

I would think JBoling would be correct, many people are listing FSBO's on the MLS through a limited services realtor (flat fee of $500 for example to list on the MLS). Those homes should come up as comps for the appraiser I would think. Also in an area with few sales, an appraiser that is doing his job will look at the tax records for the city or county to determine sold prices. In pricing your home to sell a realtor may only give you the comps for homes sold on the MLS -- but an appraisal for a buyers mortgage should take into account all sold homes that are relevant to the home being appraised.

"...but an appraisal for a buyers mortgage should take into account all sold homes that are relevant to the home being appraised."
What makes a FSBO relevant as a comp to a MLS sale, when it's discounted, by thousands of $'s?
It's called a concession, which is accounted for in a FSBO sale in the appraisal. Just like MLS seller concessions are taken into consideration by the appraiser.

cathy,

You can worry, or you can use this as a way to judge where your house market is going. If the house sells fast, you might be able to think about keeping the price you want. If it is just sits there you will have to start concidering that your price is going to have to be a lot lower than you had hoped.

Are you working on your house now so that when you do put it on the market you can get top dollar for it? You can't start "deep cleaning" too soon. Clean every nook and cranny, declutter, paint, repair, and don't forget your yard either. It's incredible how much junk sellers leave around and still want top dollar. One house in imaculate condition came on the market here and was snapped up at a price that others languish months and months hoping to get before finally pricing lower.