Sorry I have to disagree with your numbers, they are one sided. I also ahve seen numbers and the number of people trying FSBO (for sale by owner) are up but the number of them selling is actually down. The thing people don't consider is experience. They think as you outlined that you just get yourself a buyer and then call the professionals. Lawyers that can close are not going to hold your hand through renegotiations and repairs, and people with cold feet, or people changing their mind about your home or a multitude of other things that kill deals.

With no experience and no coordination which counts for many deals staying on track or derailing, you are left to the wolves and reacting to problems instead of avoiding and solving them. This is what I don't care for in the FSBO companies it's a one sided advertisement for selling homes by yourself and they don't share the other large side of concerns because they are making money off people choosing to try.

Statistics are hard to measure in the for-sale-by-owner marketplace as reporting the sale is up to the individual home seller and out of the hands of a real estate agent.  The success of a private seller is often greater in areas where a strong regional FSBO marketing company exists, as they provide a comprehensive advertising program that often involves local print advertising, Internet exposure and ongoing support services.  In these areas, success is measured more carefully through the efforts of the local companies.

It is also hard to measure sales statistics accurately using MLS data alone, as private home sellers often pair an entry-only MLS program with their other efforts.  Once the sale is reported to the MLS, it is counted as a non-FSBO sale, even though the seller may have procured the buyer through other methods.  Heck, even if a sale occurred as the result of a buyer driving past a home and calling the agent on the yard sign, the MLS ends up getting the credit when it had nothing to do with it.

The fact that real estate agents spend time gathering biased data on FSBO sales is indicative of a growing fear that consumers are weighing their choices carefully and are willing to take on an active part of the selling process. 

I don't know that private sales will soon reach 50% of the market, but given current economic conditions and little movement in commission percentages, it makes sense that more sellers will chose to strike out on their own.  Education and support are key factors for success and that is where regional services come into play.

Really? We are dealing with a FSBO company here in the west and you wouldn't believe how misleading there advertisement is. I went to go and check on their statistics on their web page and it's funny to see how they went from bragging how much they were selling to now hiding there numbers in paragraph form so it's harder for you to calculate what their averages are on a monthly basis (which amounts to about 7% of their actual listings, what a joke of a number). I love it because our company shows these stats to the clients and "Poof", before you know it, you now have a person listing with a Realtor, (thanks for the helping me find the listing boys).

There is one more thing that I would love to add, but I want them to continue on making this mistake for it truly does add to me getting these deals so I will leave this out for now. Anyways thanks for your bullshit numbers.

Trying to pull the wool over the public's eyes is shameful to say the least and you're doing it to make money. Lots and lots of money. 

25%! I don't think so.