You do not need a realtor to sell your house. No federal or state law requires a homeowner to list through a licensed broker, and every state allows you to market, negotiate, and sign a binding sale on your own. What a realtor does is handle pricing, marketing, disclosures, contract drafting, and closing logistics; sell without one and all of that lands on you. The commission savings are real, and so is the work.
Your Legal Right to Sell on Your Own
No federal statute requires a licensed broker to be involved in a residential sale. You can list the property, talk directly to buyers, and sign a purchase agreement yourself. Bringing in an attorney, a title company, or an escrow agent for specific parts of the deal is normal and doesn’t change your status as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) seller.
Fair housing law still applies to your sale. Federal law prohibits discrimination in housing transactions based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing There is a narrow exemption for an individual who sells their own single-family home without a broker, provided they own no more than three such houses at once.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3603 – Effective Dates of Certain Prohibitions The exemption does not reach advertising. The moment you post a listing, put up a sign, or run an online ad, the language cannot express a preference based on any protected characteristic.
Disclosures You Are Legally Required to Make
Selling without an agent does not shrink your disclosure duties. This is where FSBO sellers most often create legal exposure, because no one is prompting them.
Lead-Based Paint
If the home was built before 1978, federal law requires you to give the buyer a lead hazard information pamphlet, disclose any known lead-based paint or lead hazards, and allow at least ten days for the buyer to conduct a lead inspection before being locked into the contract.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC Chapter 63A – Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction The pamphlet is required even if you have no knowledge of any lead issue.
Material Defects
Nearly every state requires sellers to disclose known material defects: foundation cracks, roof leaks, water damage, plumbing or electrical problems, pest infestations, and similar issues that affect value or safety. Most states publish a standardized disclosure form, usually available through the state real estate commission or department of licensing. Be thorough. A full written account of past repairs and known problems is your protection against later claims of concealment, and courts rarely accept “I forgot” as a defense.
Flood History and Flood Zone
Flooding is treated as a material fact. If the property sits in a FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Area, a buyer using a federally backed mortgage will be required to carry flood insurance. Many states require you to disclose prior flood damage or location in a flood zone, and even where state law is silent, hiding a known flooding history can support a fraud claim after closing.
Drafting the Purchase Agreement
The purchase agreement is the document that governs the entire deal, and without an agent, writing it is on you. A valid real estate contract has to:
- Identify the parties by full legal name.
- Describe the property by its legal description, not just the street address. Tax plat descriptions are generally insufficient.
- State the purchase price as a specific dollar amount or by a clearly defined method of calculation.
- Be in writing and signed by both parties, as the Statute of Frauds requires.
Beyond those essentials, a workable contract includes contingencies. The common ones let the buyer back out if financing falls through, if a home inspection turns up serious problems, or if the appraisal comes in below the contract price. Skipping contingencies or writing them vaguely is where FSBO deals most often collapse, and the buyer’s lender may refuse to close without specific ones in place.
Several states require an attorney to be involved in residential closings. Even where it isn’t required, paying a real estate attorney $500 to $2,000 to draft or review the contract is some of the best money you’ll spend on a FSBO sale. The agreement controls what happens if the buyer walks, who pays for inspection repairs, what fixtures and appliances convey with the property, and when possession transfers.
Documents to Have Ready Before You List
Buyers and their lenders will ask for these. Pulling them together early signals a serious seller and prevents a nervous buyer from using a delay as a reason to walk.
- A preliminary title report confirming clear ownership and identifying any liens, easements, or encumbrances. Title companies prepare these, usually once you are under contract.
- Recent property tax statements showing the assessed value and no outstanding balance.
- A property survey showing boundaries, structures, and easements. If you don’t have a recent one, the buyer’s lender may require it.
- HOA governing documents, current financials, meeting minutes, and a fee breakdown, if the home is in a planned community. Lenders often require these before approving the buyer’s loan.
What You Save, and What You Still Pay
The main financial draw of FSBO is skipping the listing agent’s commission, typically 2.5% to 3% of the sale price. On a $400,000 home, that’s $10,000 to $12,000 you keep. The sale is not free, though.
Buyer Agent Compensation After the NAR Settlement
Until 2024, sellers routinely offered to pay the buyer’s agent commission through the MLS, usually another 2.5% to 3%. The 2024 National Association of Realtors settlement ended that practice. Listing agents can no longer advertise compensation offers to buyer’s agents on the MLS, and buyers must now sign written agreements with their own agents, specifying the fee, before touring homes.
As a FSBO seller, you are not obligated to pay the buyer’s agent. In practice, a buyer may ask you to cover some or all of that cost as a term of the offer, and refusing may shrink your buyer pool. The difference from the old system is that it is now an explicit line in the negotiation.
Getting on the MLS
Flat-fee MLS listing services put your home on the same Multiple Listing Service that agents use, typically for a one-time fee between $100 and $1,000. Without MLS exposure, you are relying on yard signs and online classifieds, which sharply limits who sees the home.
Closing Costs
These costs exist with or without an agent and show up on your Closing Disclosure, the standardized settlement form that replaced the HUD-1 for most residential transactions:
- Transfer taxes, with rates ranging from roughly 0.01% to 2% of the sale price. Around a dozen states charge none.
- Title insurance. An owner’s policy for the buyer typically runs 0.5% to 1% of the purchase price.
- Attorney fees of $500 to $2,000 in a standard transaction, higher in large metro areas.
- Recording fees of $50 to $150 charged by the county recorder to file the new deed.
- Notary fees of $2 to $25 per signature, depending on the state and whether the notarization is in person or remote.
Seller Concessions
Buyers sometimes ask you to cover part of their closing costs through a concession written into the contract. For a buyer using a conventional mortgage, Fannie Mae guidelines cap seller contributions based on the buyer’s down payment: 3% of the sale price if the buyer puts less than 10% down, 6% for 10% to 25% down, and 9% for 25% or more.4FHFA. FHFA Announces Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2026 Concessions apply to the buyer’s closing costs and prepaid items, not to their down payment.
Capital Gains on the Sale
If you sell for more than you paid plus the cost of improvements, the profit is a capital gain. Federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 of that gain from taxable income, or $500,000 if you are married filing jointly, provided you owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least two of the five years before the sale.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 121 – Exclusion of Gain From Sale of Principal Residence
The closing agent is generally required to file Form 1099-S with the IRS reporting the sale proceeds. If the sale price is $250,000 or less ($500,000 for married couples) and you certify in writing that the full gain is excludable, the closing agent may not have to file.6IRS. Instructions for Form 1099-S (Rev. December 2026) That certification is signed under penalties of perjury, so treat it seriously. If your gain exceeds the exclusion, or you haven’t met the two-year ownership and use test, plan for the tax before closing rather than at filing time.
How Closing Works Without an Agent
Once the contract is signed and contingencies are cleared, the deal moves to closing. An escrow account opens with a neutral third party, typically a title company or escrow agent, who holds the buyer’s earnest money and manages funds and documents until both sides have performed. The escrow agent represents neither party and follows the instructions in the purchase agreement.
Shortly before the closing date, the buyer does a final walkthrough to confirm the property’s condition hasn’t changed. On closing day you sign the deed transferring ownership, usually before a notary. The escrow or title company submits the signed deed to the county recorder, and recording is what legally completes the transfer. Once recorded, the escrow agent disburses your proceeds by wire or certified check, net of the mortgage payoff, any agreed costs, and service fees.
The full closing process typically runs 30 to 45 days from the signed purchase agreement, faster for cash deals. If your disclosures are complete, your documents are organized, and your title is clean, closing a FSBO sale is no more complicated than one handled by an agent. The complexity is in everything that comes before it, and that is what you are taking on when you decide not to hire a realtor.