Bring us a buyer and we will pay you 3%

Some homeowners trying to sell by themselves offer to pay agents a 3% commission if they bring a buyer.  Homeowners believe as long as an agents gets their usual 3%, they'll be willing to sell a house whether it's listed with an agent or not.

A home listed with a real estate company guarantees a buyer's agent they will get paid.  A general offer by a homeowner does not.  Also, no matter how much of the work, a homeowner is willing to do, they are not experienced in all of the details of the "contract to closing" phase and will depend upon help from the buyer's agent to some extent.  This means an agent will have to spend extra time on a transaction with the homeowner and still get paid just 3%.  Unless the "by owner" has a unique home, there are other choices to show a buyer, with less headache.