In the not so distant past I had clients who wanted to find an investment property. We came upon a home that would be perfect that was listed with a for sale by owner marketing company. The bigger problem was the fact that this company was from Ohio. Yes thats right the seller, who knows nothing about selling homes is getting advice from a company 2 states away.
At first it was impossible to get ahold of the owner. No one ever answered the phone and messages were never returned. I tried contacting the marketing company and was taken on a ride through answering service hell. Never did speak to anyone there.
After 2 weeks I finally received a phone call from the seller (actually the seller's cousin who was "doing everything"). So now I am negotiating with someone who is not only inexperienced in home selling but a third party to the whole deal. It was very frustrating. I had to walk this seller through every aspect of the process and unfortunately he was not very bright and could not understand much of what I was telling him, nor was he advising the actual owner of the correct information.
After repeated requests I was finally able to meet with the actual owner and have her sign a contract and discuss all of the details with her. Not only did she mess up our appointment time twice, when we actually did meet she was an hour late. It took her 2 weeks to hire an attorney because they just couldn't comprehend that in Western New York you need an attorney. They also didn't want to pay to update the search and survey, pay the transfer tax, nothing. Because once again this out of state marketing service, who took their money, never told them they would be responsible for paying for these items. 
I asked her if she received any assistance from the marketing company and advise on how the selling process works. Of course they sent her all sorts of literature, but unfortunately it had not to do with the process in Western New York. What they didn't realize is that real estate is done differently in different areas of the company. It was an exhausting task getting this home closed, but we finally did it. Needless to say it also ended up costing the seller an additional $1,500 because they would not provide a Property Condition Disclosure (by law $500 to the buyer) and another $1,000 because the buyers had to remove the garbage from the home.
If you are going to try and sell you home on your own and want to use a for sale by owner marketing company you should hire one that is located in your area and knows the laws and procedures and provides some kind of guidence through the process. Remember you get what you pay for. If they are really cheap you will get that same discounted service.
Unless you are very confident in what you are doing, I would also suggest you hire a Realtor who has the experience to assist you through the home selling process. Of course anybody can put their home on the MLS or find a home on the internet, but beyond that there are many more steps to the process that a Realtor can assist you with.
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