"That is my suggestion. FSBO means flaky deal to most people.
Most houses are sold out of the MLS system, and that is normally
due to motivated realtors out there showing houses and trying
to make a commission. You might think that you are saving money
somewhere along the line. But in reality, when people see FSBO,
they automatically shoot low-ball offers that subtract off the
realtor commission because they know you don't have a realtor.
You end up paying the costs of a realtor but not getting the
benefits or representation. "


Sounds like an ad for a realtor. IMO, the main advantage a realtor has
is the MLS. And the reason for that is not that it's some great
wonderful tool. It's that the real estate agents have a tight monopoly
like control over it. It could be replaced by a simple internet server
in my bedroom. In fact, that would be better, since everyone could
access it.

Other than that, most of the real estate agents I've dealt with have
been complete idiots. Most were incapable of even doing a simple
discovery to learn what type of houses I would be interested in. Tell
them contemporary, they wind up showing you a colonial they think is
nice and wasting everyones time.

If you know what you're doing and are willing to spend some time, it's
perfectly possible to do a FSBO, especially in a hot market. Do you
really think in areas where people are seeing homes snatched up within
days of becoming available that someone is going to look with a
jaundiced eye at a FSBO? And perhaps you could tell us exactly what
real estate agents do to deserve a commission of $30K on a typical
$500K house that sells in a month in my area? Have the real estate
agents costs gone up 100% in a few years? IMO, these fees are now way
out of line in relation to the amount of either actual work done or
value added.

BTW, I did a FSBO with a condo in the very soft market of 10 years ago.
Took my 3 months to sell it and I got the highest price that any of
the 120 similar units in my complex had sold for in the last several
years. All I did was what Dee is doing, placed some good ads in the
local paper, held open houses and worked with prospects myself.