If you want to sell your home to a family member or friend, you might find it easy to sell without a real estate agent. Homeowners who choose the for sale by owner (FSBO) option lead all or most of the process, from listing the home and showing it to prospective buyers, to negotiating the deal and closing.įSBOs usually fall into one of these two categories: That’s a broker who acts as a neutral party to ensure the paperwork is legit.Here is a look at what it means to sell your house without a real estate agent, the challenges and rewards and who else you may need to seek help from if you’re going to go it alone. Look for a real estate attorney or a “transactional agent,” suggests Realtor Joanne Bernardini with BHHS Fox & Roach in Northfield, NJ.

You’ll also want to make sure to have a very thorough home inspection since you don’t have an agent on your side looking for common red flags.įinally, if neither side is using a real estate agent, it might be in your best interest to pay someone to help with the contract details. Often FSBO sellers price their homes a little high for the market, because they aren’t as well-versed on local comps as a real estate agent would be. But if you are not working with an agent yourself, beware. If you as the buyer are working with a real estate agent, the risks are minimal. What are the risks of buying a FSBO home? Then, it will be paid from the proceeds at closing and not increase your costs, says Jim Lee, a Realtor with Re/Max by the Bay in Portsmouth, NH. If the seller balks at paying the buyer’s agent’s commission, work with your agent to decide upon the fee and build that into the offer you make. “Many private sellers are willing to cooperate with buyers’ agents to ensure the buyers are properly qualified to make the purchase and that the paperwork is handled correctly,” notes Deb Dawkins, a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker in Annapolis, MD. Even if the home sellers have chosen to save money by not using an agent on their end, they likely realize that having a buyer’s agent comes with some perks in terms of a smooth transaction and may still gladly cover the “buy” side of the commission (which is typically evenly split, so the sellers will still save half). See if the home seller will cover the costs.There are a couple of ways to handle this situation: An agent will confirm, for instance, whether a home’s price is reasonable, help you put together a convincing offer, and negotiate the inspection and other issues that might arise on the way to the closing table.īut, that’s where the money thing comes up: If you’re a buyer with your own real estate agent, he will still expect to be paid for his time and efforts on your behalf. However, since the home sellers are not using their own agent in order to save on that commission, who’s to say they’ll be willing to pay your own agent, either? You can-and should. It’s always in your best interest to have your own real estate representation, someone who is “on your side” and guiding you through the home-buying process. Can I use a real estate agent to buy a FSBO home?

This is certainly one of many good reasons why the majority of home sellers decide to employ the services of a listing agent rather than going it alone. There are also websites where sellers can pay to list their properties, but these sites don’t get as many eyeballs as the MLS. So, you’d have to look a little harder to find one of these homes, scouring the local newspaper or the real estate fliers that you’ll find around town, where the seller has paid to place an ad.

Only licensed real estate agents can list homes on the MLS, which is a one-stop online shop of sorts for getting a house seen by thousands of agents and home buyers (who view a highly condensed and consumer-friendly version of MLS data on sites that aggregate this information, like ®). Finding FSBO homes can be a little trickier than other houses, because these sellers can’t post their homes on the multiple listing service.

Home for sales by owner