For-sale-by-owner or 'FSBO' transactions in the softening real estate market experienced zero growth last year, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The NAR's 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, released at the recent 2007 Realtors Conference & Expo in Las Vegas revealed only 12 percent of transactions in 2007 were FSBOed, unchanged from 2006.

That's not surprising.

In the time it takes a first-time FSBO to sell a home, he or she has to learn what many real estate agents get to know only after assisting dozens of buyers and sellers for many years.

That includes experience gained from too many deals that don't gel, lessons learned in long hours at seminars, workshops, continuing education courses, conventions and wisdom gleaned from picking up after errant FSBOs who couldn't hack it.

Not to mention housing markets that go boom -- the wrong way.

Today's tight money market of falling prices, foreclosures and deals that don't gel is a potential minefield of blown opportunities for the uninformed.

The survey also reveals the percentage of homes sold without professional representation has continued to decline since 1997, when a record 18 percent of transactions were FSBO deals.

While the survey shows it's possible for a few staunch sellers to complete a FSBO deal, bringing in a real estate professional is a better deal in any market, and even more crucial when things go south.

"Realtors add value to the real estate transaction no matter what market conditions may be," said Pat V. Combs, NAR president.

"Realtors are experts in attracting qualified buyers, negotiating on their client's behalf, and ensuring a smooth transaction," said Combs also vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt in Grand Rapids, MI.

Nearly half, 40 percent, or four out of 10 FSBO properties were private deals that never made it to the multiple listing service, but "closely held" between parties who knew each other in advance, such as family members or acquaintances.

The survey indicates most FSBOs end up working with a real estate agent, according to NAR.

"It is incumbent on Realtors to demonstrate to unrepresented sellers the value that Realtors add to the transaction," said Joseph Marovich, owner of Marovich Business Institute, a real estate education company.

NAR says the sites that cater to FSBOs have listings that pale in comparison to the home showcased on NAR's Realtor.com which offers more market exposure to would-be FSBOs.

Published: November 29, 2007

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.