To sell a home by owner, you handle every step a listing agent would normally cover: gathering your deed and ownership records, pricing and marketing the property, giving the buyer the disclosures federal and state law require, signing a written purchase agreement, and closing through a neutral title company or real estate attorney who manages the title search, mortgage payoff, and deed recording. Miss any of those pieces and you risk delays, lawsuits, or losing money at the closing table.
Paperwork to Pull Together First
Start with your current deed. It proves ownership and carries the legal description that will appear on the buyer’s new deed and in the title company’s search. If you can’t find your copy, request a certified one from the county recorder; fees are generally modest and vary by jurisdiction.
Pull your property tax bills from the past two years. They show the assessed value, any special assessments, and the annual obligation the buyer will inherit. Those bills also drive the proration calculation at closing.
Dig out contractor receipts, permits, and transferable warranties for work done during your ownership. Roof replacements, HVAC installations, and structural repairs reassure buyers, and the receipts have a second life at tax time: they document the capital improvements that raise your cost basis and shrink any taxable gain.
Grab the past twelve months of utility bills so buyers see real operating costs rather than guesses. If you still owe on the home, find your most recent mortgage statement; you’ll need your servicer’s contact information when it’s time to request a payoff figure.
Pricing and Listing the Home Yourself
An accurate asking price comes from comparable sales, not instinct. Look at homes within roughly a mile that sold in the past six months with similar square footage, bedroom and bathroom counts, and lot size. Real estate aggregator sites publish recent sale prices, and some counties post transaction data online. Price toward the middle of a tight range. Listings priced too high sit, and price cuts tell experienced buyers you’re flexible.
Good photos matter more than almost anything else in the listing. Bright, well-composed images of every room and the exterior get far more clicks than phone snapshots. Write the description around specific, verifiable attributes: flooring type, appliance brands, year of roof replacement, lot dimensions. Skip subjective words like “charming.” Buyers filter by features.
Most by-owner sellers pay for a flat-fee MLS listing service, which usually runs between $100 and $1,000. That places the home in the Multiple Listing Service and feeds it to the major real estate search sites where most buyers start looking. Without MLS exposure you’re relying on yard signs, social media, and niche FSBO platforms.
Should You Offer Buyer Agent Compensation
Since the 2024 settlement involving the National Association of Realtors, sellers can no longer advertise buyer agent compensation inside MLS listings, and buyers must sign written agreements with their own agents specifying how the agent is paid. You’re not required to offer a buyer’s agent anything. Many buyers still work with agents, though, and if those agents learn upfront that no compensation is offered, some will steer clients elsewhere. If you decide to offer something, communicate it directly to buyer agents outside the MLS rather than in your listing remarks.
Fair Housing Rules Apply to Your Listing
Private sellers sometimes assume the Fair Housing Act doesn’t reach them. The law does carry a narrow exemption: if you own no more than three single-family homes and sell without using a broker, you can be exempt from certain discrimination provisions. That exemption disappears the moment you publish any advertisement that expresses a preference or limitation based on a protected class. In practice, the federal advertising prohibition applies to virtually every FSBO listing.
The protected classes under federal law are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing Many states and cities add more. The safe rule is simple: describe the property, not the buyer you want. Phrases like “perfect for young professionals,” “no children,” “Christian neighborhood,” or “walking distance to [specific house of worship]” all violate the Act. Even seemingly neutral terms like “adults only” or “family-friendly” can trigger complaints.
If you own more than three single-family homes, or you’ve been involved in three or more real estate sales in the past twelve months, the private seller exemption doesn’t apply at all and the full federal anti-discrimination framework governs your transaction.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 3603 – Effective Dates of Certain Prohibitions
Required Disclosures
Lead-Based Paint
If the home was built before 1978, federal law requires you to give the buyer an EPA-approved pamphlet about lead hazards, disclose any lead-based paint you know about, share any existing inspection reports, and provide a 10-day window for the buyer to arrange their own lead inspection before the contract becomes binding.3eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint Hazards Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property Both parties sign a lead disclosure attachment that becomes part of the purchase contract. Skipping it carries real consequences: as of 2025, the federal penalty runs up to $22,263 per violation.4Federal Register. Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalty Amounts for 2025
State Property Condition Disclosure
Most states require you to complete a property condition disclosure form covering structural issues, water damage, pest history, the condition of plumbing and HVAC, and environmental hazards. The specific form varies, and you can usually download your state’s version from the real estate commission’s website. Fill it out honestly. Courts consistently hold that sellers who conceal known defects face liability even when the contract includes an “as-is” clause. “As-is” tells the buyer you won’t make repairs before closing. It does not excuse you from disclosing problems you already know about.
Writing the Purchase Agreement
The purchase agreement is the backbone of the sale. It sets the price, the earnest money deposit, financing terms, the closing date, and the date you hand over possession. Earnest money deposits typically run 1% to 3% of the sale price, held in escrow and credited toward the buyer’s costs at closing. The agreement should include contingency clauses giving the buyer a defined window to complete a home inspection, secure financing, and obtain an appraisal. If a contingency fails, the buyer can walk away and recover the deposit.
Use a standardized residential purchase agreement rather than drafting one from scratch. State real estate commissions and legal document providers publish forms that comply with local requirements. A handful of states require an attorney to prepare or review the contract, and roughly a dozen more have a strong custom of attorney involvement at closing. If you’re not sure whether your state falls in that category, check with your state bar association before you sign anything.
Closing Without an Agent
Pick a Title Company or Closing Attorney
Even without an agent, you need a neutral third party to run the closing. In most of the country that’s a title company. In states that require attorney closings, a real estate attorney takes the lead. Either way, the closing agent prepares documents, manages the escrow account, and records the transfer with the county.
Title Search and Title Insurance
The title company runs a public records search to confirm you have clear ownership and that no liens, judgments, or unresolved claims attach to the property. Outstanding debts like a contractor’s lien, an IRS tax lien, or an unpaid HOA assessment will surface during this search and must be resolved before closing can proceed. After the search, the title company issues an insurance policy protecting the buyer and the buyer’s lender against ownership claims that surface later. Title insurance generally runs 0.5% to 1% of the sale price, and the search itself adds another $100 to $250.
Request Your Mortgage Payoff
If you still have a mortgage, you’ll need a formal payoff statement from your loan servicer showing the exact balance due on a specific date, including per-diem interest. Federal law requires the servicer to provide this statement within seven business days of a written request.5eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.36 – Prohibited Acts or Practices You can authorize your title company to request it for you. At closing, the title company uses sale proceeds to pay off the remaining balance and accrued interest directly to the lender before releasing the rest to you.
Protect Yourself From Wire Fraud
Real estate closings are a prime target for wire fraud. Scammers monitor email traffic between buyers, sellers, and closing agents, then send fake wiring instructions that divert funds to accounts they control. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends identifying two trusted contacts involved in your closing and confirming all payment instructions with them by phone or in person, using a phone number you established before the transaction began, not a number pulled from an email.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mortgage Closing Scams: How to Protect Yourself and Your Closing Funds Never wire money based only on emailed instructions, never email financial information, and never click links in messages claiming to update wiring details.
Final Walkthrough and Recording
A day or two before closing, the buyer does a final walkthrough to confirm the property is in the agreed-upon condition, that any promised repairs are done, and that you’ve removed your belongings. Both sides then meet at the closing table to sign the deed, settlement statement, and remaining paperwork. The buyer’s funds land in escrow, and the closing agent disburses payments to your mortgage lender, the county tax office for prorated taxes, and any other creditors before releasing your net proceeds. The sale is complete once the closing agent records the new deed at the county recorder’s office.
What Closing Will Cost You
Even without a listing agent’s commission, several costs come out of your sale proceeds:
- Title insurance and search: usually 0.5% to 1% of the sale price, plus a separate search fee of $100 to $250.
- Transfer taxes: about a third of states don’t charge one. In states that do, rates range from around 0.1% to over 1% of the sale price, and some counties and cities add their own layer.
- Recording fees: the county charges a fee to record the new deed. Amounts vary but typically run under $100 for a straightforward residential transfer.
- Notary fees: closing documents require notarization. Most states cap notary fees at $2 to $25 per signature.
- Prorated property taxes: you’re responsible through the day before the sale, calculated at closing and deducted from your proceeds.
- Attorney fees: if your state requires an attorney or you choose to hire one, expect to pay for document review, contract preparation, or closing attendance.
- Buyer agent compensation: if you agreed to pay the buyer’s agent, that cost typically comes from sale proceeds at closing.
The closing agent prepares a settlement statement itemizing every charge. Review it carefully before closing day. Proration errors and unexpected fees are far easier to fix before you sign than after.
Capital Gains on the Sale
When you sell your primary residence for more than your adjusted cost basis, the profit is a capital gain. Federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 of that gain from taxable income, or up to $500,000 if you’re married and file jointly.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 121 – Exclusion of Gain From Sale of Principal Residence To qualify, you must have owned and used the home as your principal residence for at least two of the five years before the sale, and you can’t have claimed the exclusion on another home sale within the prior two years.
Your cost basis starts with what you originally paid for the home and increases with capital improvements like a kitchen remodel, roof replacement, or room addition.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 551 (12/2025), Basis of Assets That’s where the contractor receipts earn their keep. A $40,000 kitchen renovation raises your basis by $40,000, which directly reduces your taxable gain. Routine maintenance and cosmetic fixes don’t count.
Selling expenses also work in your favor. The IRS lets you subtract advertising fees, legal fees, and other costs tied directly to selling the home from your sale price when calculating the “amount realized.”9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 523 (2025), Selling Your Home If your gain after subtracting the adjusted basis and selling expenses falls below the $250,000 or $500,000 threshold, you won’t owe federal capital gains tax and generally don’t need to report the sale. If your gain exceeds the exclusion, you’ll report the taxable portion on your federal return for the year of the sale.
Keep every closing document, improvement receipt, and the settlement statement for at least three years after you file the return for the year of the sale. If you don’t meet the two-year residency requirement, a partial exclusion may still apply if you sold due to a job relocation, health issue, or other qualifying circumstance.