FSBO vs. hiring an agent: what do you actually net? On this episode of Keys & Conversations, Mary M. Malone and Jessica McGourty of The Luxe Service Real Estate Group look at whether selling your house yourself really saves money, or leaves more on the table than you save.

It’s not what you sell for, it’s what you net. Mary and Jessica walk through a hypothetical $800,000 home to compare a FSBO sale with an agent-assisted one. They also look at what the National Association of REALTORS® found about FSBO sale prices and marketing, and what a New Jersey real estate attorney does and doesn’t handle. From there they cover what can happen between the offer and the closing table (oil tanks, failed septics and low appraisals) and when selling on your own might make sense.

Also in this episode:

• Only in Rural Jersey: You bought five acres. What can you actually do with them?
• Real Estate at Our Age: When did we become our parents?
• What’s Happening Around Here: Why does everybody want to move to Hunterdon County?

We want to hear from you: What do you love about living in Hunterdon or Warren County, and what took some getting used to?

Prefer to watch? Find the full video episode on our YouTube channel.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (November 2025). Figures are national medians for different homes and don’t guarantee results for any individual sale. Commissions are negotiable.

Thinking about selling in Hunterdon or Warren County?
The Luxe Service Real Estate Group | Coldwell Banker Realty
100 Reaville Ave., Suite 100, Flemington, NJ 08822
908-797-6090
luxeservicegroup.com

On this episode of Keys and Conversations, Mary M. Malone and Jessica McGourty ask whether a 3% mortgage rate should make every other financial decision for you.

Lots of homeowners say they’ll never sell because their mortgage rate is so low. Meanwhile, they may be carrying credit card debt at 22%, a car loan at 8%, or a HELOC at 9%. Mary and Jessica explain the idea of a “life rate,” your blended interest rate across all your debt. They walk through real-number examples and show how to calculate yours at home.

In this episode:

• What a life rate is and how to figure out your own
• How high-interest debt can hide behind a low mortgage rate
• Downsizing vs. right-sizing: are you staying because you love the house, or because you love the rate?
• Shared driveways in rural Hunterdon County: easements, maintenance agreements, and who’s plowing the snow
• A real-or-fake road-name game featuring Shades of Death Road
• The house we wanted at 35 vs. the house we want now

Know a stranger New Jersey road name? Let us know!

Keys and Conversations is hosted by Mary M. Malone of The Luxe Service Real Estate Group at Coldwell Banker Realty, with co-host Jessica McGourty. The team serves Hunterdon, Warren, Somerset, Mercer and Morris counties in New Jersey.

Thinking about whether your home still fits your life? Visit luxeservicegroup.com to connect with Mary and the team.

New episodes every Thursday.