Can I Sell My House Without a Realtor? Explained

You can absolutely sell your home without a realtor–and you might even make more in the process, though there are some other drawbacks to consider.

In 2024, the average cost to sell a house is a steep $54,616. For homeowners with expensive houses, the cost can be even higher—going up to 10% of the total sale price.

If you’re a cash-strapped doctor with hundreds of thousands in loans, you may be wondering what the best approach to selling your home is. We’ll try to answer this below.

Do I Need a Realtor to Sell My House?

You aren’t required to go through a realtor (an agent who’s a member of the National Association of Realtors), broker, or real estate agent when selling your home or investing in real estate. There’s no legal requirement for anyone to work with these professionals, although you’ll still need a real estate attorney to close the sale.

If you’re prepared, you can sell your home as a “For Sale by Owner” (FSBO). This means you’ll be responsible for pricing, marketing, and handling all buyer inquiries about your listing on your own.

But if you don’t market or price your home right, you might struggle to attract buyers or find the best price. If your FSBO attempt doesn’t go as planned and you pull your property, you might find it even more difficult to get full market value later on.

Pros of Selling Without a Realtor for Physicians

Here’s why not working with a realtor can work out in your favor:

1. You Save On a Realtor Commission

Selling your home on your own can save you thousands on realtor commission fees, which usually range between 4% and 6%—typically 5.8%—of the sale price.

In dollar terms, this means huge savings, depending on where you live.

For instance, in the Northeast, where the median home price is around $467,000, you save at least $23,000 when you don’t pay a typical 5% commission—and the savings for those in the West are even higher. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Region	Median sale price	Commission rate	Commission fee (5%)
West	$616,400	4-6%	$30,820
Midwest	$306,600	4-6%	$15,330
Northeast	$467,100	4-6%	$23,355
South	$359,700	4-6%	$17,985

Source

If you’re a physician, the thousands you save on commissions could be redirected toward your student debt, retirement account, or insurance.

2. You (Sometimes) Avoid Home Inspection Delays

About 86% of home inspections find at least one issue that requires repairs, especially related to roofs, electrics, windows, or gutters. This leads to delays and cuts into time you don’t have as a physician. You can still avoid these delays if you sell your house as-is to a cash buyer.

Many cash buyers are willing to accept properties in their current conditions—which means you won’t have to worry about repairs, painting, or staging before closing. In some cases, some cash buyers may forgo the inspection process entirely.  

3. You Skip the Stress That Comes With an Open House and Home Showings

When you sell on your own—especially with a cash offer—you avoid the hassle of open houses and constant showings. You don’t need to tidy up at every instant, stash away personal items, or make your house presentable for potential buyers.

This can be a huge relief if you’re studying for an exam, working as a locum tenens psychiatrist (which can have odd hours or weekdays), or just having a packed schedule at your hospital.

4. You Can Still List Your Home on an MLS

While you can start advertising your home on social media platforms like Facebook, you’ll get the best results through multiple listing services (MLS)—where 88% of sellers list their homes.

An MLS helps you list your home on multiple sites at once, which means once you upload your listing, it’ll appear on popular real estate websites like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia. However, you’ll have to go through a flat-fee agent to get your listing up.

These companies typically charge less than $1,000—usually between $100 and $1,000—to put up your listing.

5. You Sell Faster

Selling your home yourself can sometimes help you sell faster because, usually, the owners know each other. In fact, 57% of FSBO sellers are already familiar with their buyers before selling.

But even if you don’t know the buyer personally, FSBO sales still move quickly. Without an agent, you are in direct contact with potential buyers, which speeds up negotiations.

6. You’re in the Driver’s Seat

When you sell your home on your own, you’re truly in control of the entire process. You won’t have to sign any binding listing agreement that locks you into working with someone for a set time.

You also have the final say in everything—you set the listing price, decide on the timeline, and control the marketing. This helps you prioritize your own goals and make each decision to suit your timeline, needs, and financial requirements.

Cons of Selling Without a Realtor for Physicians

While selling without a realtor has its benefits, you also run into some cons, especially if you’re a physician short of time. Let’s walk through a few:

1. You Might Sell for Less

As an FSBO, you’ll most likely attract flippers or investors who look for these properties to get the lowest prices. They consider your home a financial investment, want to buy low, invest in repairs, and resell for profit.

Many of them approach these transactions with a “how low will you go” thinking, seeing whether you’ll go for a lower offer in exchange for a faster, easier sale.

If you’re looking to maximize your sale price, listing on an MLS or, better yet, working with an experienced agent who knows your area and can give realistic market value estimates will be the better bet.

2. It’s Time-Consuming

You’re in control of the entire selling process as an FSBO, but that also means you have to make a major time commitment to creating listings, setting up ads, and hosting open houses.

While tools like Canva can help you design listings, you still need to get professional photos, sign up to an MLS for distributing your listing—or figure out a distribution plan if you aren’t—and set up an attractive listing.

Beyond that, you’re the main contact for all buyer inquiries, so you’ll need to be available as much as possible to quickly return calls, emails, or messages. Any delay could mean losing a buyer to another property.

As a doctor, being available at all times may not be possible—unless you’re between jobs or waiting for medical licensure.

3. You Need to Stage Everything

When you’re selling your home, you have to stage and photograph everything just right to attract buyers.

While a professional photographer can help you out with high-quality interior and exterior shots, you still have to tidy up, declutter, and carefully stage every room to make it as appealing as possible. This is a must when you’re competing with professionally-listed properties.

As a physician, you might not have the time—and may not be able to make the effort—to prepare your home for photos and showings if you do everything yourself. You can definitely hire people to do that for you, but that’ll cost extra.

For instance, a professional stager—usually an interior designer—can run you hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on the size of your home and whether you need to add anything to make it more interesting to buyers.

4. You Have to Handle Negotiations

According to NAR, 93% of homes sold in 2023 went through a real estate agent, with only 7% of home sales as FSBO. Negotiation—one of the trickiest aspects of any real estate deal—may be the reason for that.

Real estate agents have the training and years of experience to get the best possible deal for their clients. If you’re getting buyers who are represented by agents, you’ll face someone who’s skilled at advocating for the buyer’s terms—not yours.

Without knowing what’s standard in the real estate market, feeling comfortable going back and forth on your non-negotiables, and understanding how to push back on certain requests by the buyer’s agent, you might feel pressured into accepting terms that aren’t in your favor.

5. You Might Get Scammed

FSBO transactions, unfortunately, can be a target for scammers who see private sellers as easier targets. This means you need to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

A common scam to watch out for is when a fraudster claims they’re interested in your home but can’t visit in person. They’ll offer to send a money order as a deposit, but request a refund soon after. Usually, people discover the money order was fraudulent after the request is processed, which makes getting back the money very unlikely.

Related: When to Worry about House Not Selling?

Make Your House Sale Work for You With Physicians Thrive

Selling your home without a real estate professional helps you save on commission fees and gives you more control, but it also requires a lot of time and effort, which can make it feel like a second job—one that you may not have time for as a physician.

That’s where we come in.

At Physicians Thrive, we understand that as a physician, juggling the demands of your career while making major financial decisions isn’t easy. That’s why we help you connect with professionals who ensure your sales agreement protects your interests.

Ready to make your house sale work for you? Reach out to us today!