Sell like a pro: the complete to-do list

Every step a listing agent takes, in the order they take it, with the real agent or pro to hire for each one and what they charge near you. Nothing secret, and nothing that needs a licence unless it says so.

Look, compare and ask for free. You only sign up when you hire.

Start with the easy part

Five questions, about three minutes, and your house has a page you can send to anyone. No account, no card, and it stays free.

This is a listing on our site. It is not the MLS; that needs a licensed agent and is a separate thing you can buy whenever you want it.

0 of 10 done

10 steps. 3 take minutes, 2 are done by somebody licensed, and the rest is mostly waiting on other people.

Phase 1

Get it ready

0/4 done

Your own work, mostly. A week or two if the house needs little.

Phase 2

Get it seen

0/3 done

Where the licensed help comes in. Days, not weeks.

Phase 3

Get it closed

0/3 done

Deadlines rather than labour. Somebody can hold the calendar for you.

The times above are what these jobs ordinarily take, not a promise about your house. Which disclosures you owe and what your contract has to say are set by your state and sometimes your county, and a checklist cannot know either. Your ticks are not saved anywhere; they last while you are on the site.

Everything you can hire to sell it

Flat prices from licensed professionals near you. Take the whole listing or one piece of it, and nothing here is a percentage of your sale price.

Showing everywhere. Narrow it above to see only people who work near the house.

Showings and tours

Meeting buyers at the property and showing it.

The two things you cannot do yourself

  • Getting onto the MLS.Only a licensed participant can enter a listing, which is why that step names a brokerage rather than a checkbox. It is one job at one price, not a reason to hand over the whole sale.
  • Anything a licence covers in your state.Appraisal, title work and the closing itself are regulated, and which of them you must use a licensed person for depends on where the house is.

Everything you can hire · What we charge

Selling it yourself: common questions

The sceptical ones, answered plainly.

Can I really sell my house without a real estate agent?

Yes, and most of the work is not the part that needs a licence. Pricing, preparing, photographing, showing and negotiating can all be done by the owner. Two things cannot: entering the listing on the MLS needs a licensed participant, and whatever your state regulates, which usually includes the appraisal, the title work and the closing itself. Here you hire those pieces individually rather than handing over the whole sale to reach them.

How much does a flat fee MLS listing cost compared with a commission?

A flat fee is a fixed number you see before you agree to it. A commission is a percentage of your sale price, so it changes with the value of your house rather than with the work involved. On a $400,000 sale at five per cent, the commission is $20,000, and none of that figure is attached to any particular task. Compare it against the rate you were actually quoted, not against a number we picked.

Is flat fee MLS legitimate?

It is an ordinary limited-service listing. A licensed brokerage enters your property on the MLS and is paid a set fee for that service instead of a percentage at closing. Your listing appears the same way any other does and syndicates to the portals from there. What differs is what you have bought, which is entry and whatever else you chose, rather than full representation.

Do I still have to pay a buyer's agent?

That is a decision for you and, if you use one, your brokerage, and it is genuinely changing. We do not display buyer-broker compensation on listing data and we do not advise on what to offer, because it is a negotiation about your money rather than a platform setting. Ask your listing brokerage what the practice is where your house is.

What does diyre charge?

Our own fee is on the pricing page and is separate from what the professionals charge. Every service on this site is priced by the person doing it and shown before you talk to them. We take nothing from your sale price and nothing for introducing you to anybody in the mortgage, title, escrow or insurance categories.

Do I need an account to see prices?

No. Browsing, comparing, reading a professional's reviews and asking somebody for a job all work with no account at all. You are asked to sign up at the point you actually buy something, and not before.