Price it from recent comparable sales, get it onto the MLS through a flat-fee listing service so buyers' agents can find it, handle showings and offers yourself, and hire a title or escrow company (or an attorney where the state requires one) to run the closing; the saving is the listing commission of two to three percent, and the cost is the work.
About seven percent of American homes sell without a listing agent, and most of those sell to someone the owner already knew. Selling to a stranger unrepresented is entirely possible and the steps are known. The mistakes are known too, and they cluster around price and paperwork rather than around marketing.
The steps
- Price it. Pull the last six months of sales of similar homes within a mile, adjust for size, condition and lot, and price at the market rather than at the number you need. An appraisal ($400 to $600) is a cheap second opinion.
- Prepare and photograph it. Professional photographs cost a few hundred dollars and are the single highest-return spend in the process.
- Get on the MLS. A flat-fee MLS service ($100 to $500) lists the home where buyers' agents search and syndicates it to the portals. Without it, most of the buyer pool never sees the home.
- Decide what you will pay a buyer's agent. Since the 2024 commission settlement, buyers negotiate their agent's fee directly, and a seller can offer a concession toward it or not. Saying what you will do, in the listing, avoids the question at offer time.
- Show it and take offers in writing on your state's standard purchase agreement. Read every contingency and date.
- Open escrow with a title company (Nevada, and most western states) or an attorney (New York, New Jersey, Georgia and others require one). They hold the deposit, run title, prepare the deed and settle the money.
- Deliver the required disclosures. Nevada's Seller's Real Property Disclosure Form is mandatory and the buyer's remedies for an incomplete one outlast the sale.
- Close. Sign the deed at the title company, receive the proceeds by wire, hand over the keys on recording.
What the commission bought, and what replaces it
A listing agent's real work is pricing, negotiation and keeping the escrow on its dates. The first can be replaced with comparable sales and an appraisal, the second with patience and a willingness to say no, and the third with a good escrow officer and a calendar. What cannot be replaced is the buyer pool that agents bring, which is why the flat-fee MLS listing is not optional.
Owners who sell without an agent net less on average in the national surveys. Most of that gap is price, from owners who priced from hope or from a portal estimate, and it is the part of the process worth paying for a professional opinion on even if you pay for nothing else.
The middle options
A discount brokerage lists for one to one and a half percent and does the pricing and paperwork, leaving showings to you. An attorney on a flat fee reviews the contract and disclosures. A cash-offer company skips all of it at a price, which the score report can put a number on for your own home. None of these is free, and each costs less than the mistake it prevents.
Questions people ask
How much do you save selling a house without a realtor?
The listing side's commission, usually two to three percent of the price: $10,000 to $15,000 on a $500,000 home. Whether you still offer something toward the buyer's agent is your choice and affects who shows the home.
Do I need a lawyer to sell my house without a realtor?
In Nevada and most western states, no: a title or escrow company handles the closing. Several eastern states require an attorney at closing. A flat-fee contract review is worth having anywhere.
Can I sell my house without listing it on the MLS?
Yes, but most buyers are represented by agents who search the MLS, and the portals draw from it. A flat-fee MLS listing costs a few hundred dollars and is the difference between the whole buyer pool and the people who drive past.