I'm just wondering people's opinions on the main reason that people do not attempt to sell their own homes

They feel it's a big job, don't know enough about it, too invovled and can't attract as many buyers as a real estate agent can.
The MLS is a wonderful thing.

Also they don't have the contacts to get it financed right. They can't be home to show it 24/7. They can't network with other agents that have buyers. And if the buyer is a RELO they will never see the FSBO. It would cost the buyer thousands in benefits.
Just a few reasons to get you started.

Another is all the legal stuff. Many buyers wont go near a fsbo because they don't want anything to go wrong legally. Thanks to the news showing what could go wrong buying fsbo here it picked up buisness for agents.

Money - but if a person doesn't understand each and every clause in an Offer, then he has to take it to a attorney, who will charge him to review and/or amend the Offer or to draft a counter offer. The attorney, in keeping with his obligation of due diligence on behalf of his client will insert numerous clause for the sole protection of his client and which the buyer normally will not accept and resulting in no transaction. Everytime this scenario is repeated the attorney may charge for it. Therefore the seller may be better off considering his money and his time to use a agent on a contigency basis, UNLESS..he knows an attorney who works for FREE.

Another reason is Safety. I certainly wouldn't want to let just any Joe Blow come into my house without knowing who he is or whether or not he's qualified. How do you know he's not "casing the joint" or there for some other scary reason. What do you do at 7:30 pm when your husband is still at work, your kids in bed and your phone rings with some big-a$$ guy in his car outside wanting to look at your house? Do you let him in or turn away a potential buyer?

There are known cases of both agents and FSBO's who haven't been careful and have paid for it with their lives. Having an agent show your house removes at least some of the danger from opening your doors to strangers.

For using an agent:
The seller has the benefit of a corporate relo company and is reimbursed his selling and moving expenses.

I Agree...

Onwards...

Great previous posts. Another main reason why some consumers may not sell there own home is that they simply do not have enough knowledge of what kind of paperwork/contract are needed to successfully get the property into escrow. Knowledge is power. This is one reason why we keep busy as RE Agents. :p