Fizber Releases List of Top 10 U.S. For Sale By Owner (FSBO) Markets

LADERA RANCH, CA--(Marketwired - May 12, 2015) -

• Company Currently Seeing Highest Number of FSBO Listings in New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
• Average Self-Directed U.S. Home Seller Saved $9,256 in Real Estate Commissions in 2014.
• Fastest Growing Category of Home Owners Listing Their Homes FSBO Are Age 55-64.
  
  

 Fizber® (Fizber.com), the industry-leading self-directed online real estate platform which provides for sale by owner (FSBO) home sellers with the comprehensive tools and resources they need to list, market, and sell their home online, today released a list of the top 10 U.S. markets where the company is currently seeing the largest number of homeowners list and sell their home FSBO, and saving thousands of dollars in the process.

The top 10 markets, as well as the average home list price on Fizber.com for each area, are:

1. New York - $621,063
2. Chicago - $373,085
3. Houston - $355,344
4. Los Angeles - $512,385
5. Dallas - $419,161
6. Atlanta - $376,494
7. San Francisco - $655,486
8. Birmingham, AL - $306,281
9. Portland, OR - $383,899
10. Nashville, TN - $343,706

Many home owners in these markets say the biggest reason they choose to list and sell their home themselves is because new online technology tools, such as those offered by Fizber, now allow them to do a lot of the same things a real estate agent would do to market and sell their home. Thus, many of these home owners are choosing to self-direct the listing of their home instead of hiring a full-time real estate professional to do the work for them. 

"The great thing about online tools such as Fizber is that they enable consumers to obtain as little or as much help as they want throughout the process of selling their home," said PJ Mitchell, Chief Operating Officer of Fizber. "With Fizber, consumers quickly learn that do-it-yourself doesn't have to mean do-it-alone."

And Fizber's customers agree.

"Listing my home with Fizber was painless and I got so much traffic to my home," said Frank Longo, a Brooklyn, NY home owner. "I sold for full asking price without any help from an agent, after only one open house, and I saved $11,000."

"Fizber got me the online traffic that I needed to market and sell my homes. Through Fizber's marketing and online presentation all three listings generated a ton of interest and potential buyers. Two of my properties sold within two days of being on the market. The third property sold for full asking price in about two weeks. It would have been faster but I had four offers to sort through! Thanks to Fizber I was able to save thousands of dollars," said Ben Garcia, a Dallas, TX home owner.

FSBO HOME SELLER DEMOGRAPHICS
Below is some information on the type of home owners who are currently listing their home FSBO:

• Primarily ages 25-64, and fairly evenly spread across different age groups (e.g., age 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64).
• The fastest growing segment of home owners listing their homes FSBO on Fizber are age 55-64. (35.15 percent higher than Fizber's site average). Fizber is also currently seeing the most web site traffic from home owners age 55 and above.
• Most FSBO markets show similar age group trends. However, there are some markets that differ. For example, Utah has a lot more home owners ages 25-34 and 35-44 (30 percent) who are using the site, whereas in Florida, home owners age 45 and above use the site more (70 percent).
  
  

SELF-DIRECTED SAVINGS BY STATE; AVERAGE HOME SELLER SAVINGS
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently published a report called "2014 Profile of Buyers and Sellers", which showed that 1.5 million home sellers successfully sold their homes without a full-service or full-commissioned realtor, saving more than $13.9 billion.

Below are Fizber-generated estimates of the total self-directed home sale savings statewide per state in 2014 for each of the top 10 U.S. self-directed markets mentioned above (both Fizber and non-Fizber home sales), as well as the average home owner savings per self-directed home sold by state.

STATE		Total Estimated Self-Directed Savings in 2014 (Statewide)				Average Home Owner Savings Per Self-Directed Home Sold in 2014 (By State)
CALIFORNIA		$	2,171,351,570			$	18,586
TEXAS		$	660,976,709			$	7,606
NEW YORK		$	303,192,347			$	9,304
ILLINOIS		$	294,397,410			$	6,586
GEORGIA		$	153,163,867			$	6,874
TENNESSEE		$	149,824,819			$	6,930
OREGON		$	115,616,579			$	11,338
ALABAMA		$	73,640,012			$	5,415

MORE CONSUMERS USING "SELF-DIRECTED" SOLUTIONS
In today's digital world, more and more consumers are turning to "self-directed" solutions to help them perform various tasks, whether it's filing their taxes themselves with solutions such as TurboTax®, trading and investing with online tools such as Scottrade®, preparing a will or setting up a living trust with LegalZoom®, or selling their home themselves with online tools such as Fizber.

Some of the biggest categories of self-directed FSBO home sales that Fizber is currently seeing are:

1) True Do-it-Yourselfers. Those who choose to list, market, and sell their home entirely on their own.
2) Self-Directed, With Professional Assistance When Desired. 

• A growing number (i.e., the fastest growing segment) of home sellers (21 percent in 2014) want to list, market, and sell their homes themselves, yet may also obtain some limited support from a real estate agent. One example, with an estimated 50 percent growth since 2006, is Flat Fee MLS listings. (Flat Fee MLS customers save half of the commission by eliminating the listing agent commission). 
• Also, if a home seller finds a buyer for their home, but doesn't want to be involved in the paperwork, they may team with a licensed broker to process the paperwork and coordinate the transaction for a nominal fee.
  
  

For more information on Fizber or to post a FSBO home listing at no cost on the company's website, visit fizber.com.

Fizber and Fizber.com are registered trademarks of Fizber, Inc. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners.

About Fizber
Fizber, Inc. (Fizber.com) is the leading self-directed residential real estate marketplace. For sale by owner (FSBO) home sellers are given an online platform complete with comprehensive tools, step-by-step guidance, and a customized real estate marketing system. Fizber provides home sellers with the knowledge and confidence to professionally market, showcase, and sell their home or property directly to buyers in today's online and mobile world. A single for sale by owner listing on Fizber achieves maximum online exposure by being streamed to hundreds of real estate websites and major social networks. For more information, visit Fizber.com.