Nearly half of FSBO homes are sold to a friend.  

That's one of many interesting statistics at http://www.realtor.org/research/research/fsbofacts

Let's review five things about selling a house without a Realtor

1) Many sellers think they will save a real estate commission.  Here's a little analysis of that math.

If the selling commission is 6%, half of that (3%) goes to the agent who brings the buyer.  If you're not willing to pay that 3% to the buyer's agent, you are greatly limiting the number of buyers who will even see your home.

I generally spend about 1% of the sales price on marketing - advertising, flyers, staging consultations, and other sales expenses.  If you do that too, now you have saved 2%.  

But most FSBO buyers realize that you (are trying to) save the commission, which they think of as 6%, so they adjust their offer by that amount. You save 2% to get an offer that's 6% lower than you wanted.   How does that math wind up with more in your pocket.

2) Selling a house is a very complicated transaction and is probably the single largest financial event of one's life.  Because of those two factors, friends or not, it is very easy to have a misunderstaing that leads to a lawsuit.  Remember anyone can sue anyone over anything, and when they do, it's like two lawyers tearing up YOUR $1,000 bills.  Liability can be enormous.  That's why Realtors carry Errors and Omissions (E & O) insurance.  In addition to that, I carry a $1,000,000 liability policy and I know what I'm doing.   How does that compare with your insurance and your experience selling homes?

3) Owners selling without professional assistance said the biggest problems were getting the price right (23 percent), preparing the home for sale (18 percent), selling within the length of time planned (14 percent), having enough time to devote to the process (13 percent), attracting potential buyers (13 percent) and understanding and completing paperwork (10 percent).  That's from http://www.realtor.org/press_room_secured/public_affairs/tpfsbo

4) Home buyers today start their search on line, and 45% use www.Realtor.com.  Only 15% visit FSBO sites.  

5) Much as you would like to think otherwise, you do not set the sale price of your home (nor does a Realtor).  The market sets the price, and it's almost impossible for you to know that market price without a Realtor.

So if you want to net less money, expose yourself to significant liability, guess at the market value and put up with the five headaches in #3 above, sell your house without a Realtor.