Yes, you can sell a house without an estate agent, but you will need to do all the work yourself. Selling a house without an estate agent is not easy, but if you feel you have the time, the skills and the organisation to pull it off, then you can save between 1% and 3% of the selling price by doing it yourself.
You can also avoid the cost of using an estate agent by selling your house at auction or selling your house to a cash home buyer. However, both of these will bring a lower price in exchange for a faster, simpler sale, and this may wipe out any savings you make in estate agents’ fees.
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The process of selling your home without an estate agent
Selling a house without an estate agent involves the same steps as a normal estate agent sale, the difference is, you will be responsible for every stage.
So, can you sell a house without an estate agent? Yes, of course, but you need to think carefully about whether you are comfortable with things like creating your listing, conducting viewings and negotiating with buyers before you go ahead. Selling a house without an estate agent is not for everyone, which is why most sellers choose to pay the professionals to sell their home for them.
The stages of selling a house without an estate agent are as follows:
1. Preparing your property
Whether you are selling your house without an estate agent or not, you need to prepare it thoroughly before you go to market. This means presenting your home at its best, inside and out, from weeding the borders to painting the fence, from decorating to decluttering. You need to make your home as attractive as possible and help buyers picture themselves there by removing any personal items like photographs.
2. Setting the price
Setting the right price for your home is not easy, but fortunately, most estate agents will offer a free valuation to help. Get at least three different valuations then cross reference these with property sites like Rightmove and Zoopla to see what similar properties in your area have sold for. Often estate agents will over-value homes to try to get your business.
Once you know what your property is worth, you need to set the asking price 5-10% higher to allow for negotiations. You also need to set yourself a minimum price that you are prepared to accept and stick to this price.
3. Creating your listing
The better your listing, the more chance you have of attracting a buyer, so don’t rush this part. Smartphone pictures are all very well, but it’s usually better to employ a professional photographer who knows how to make rooms look bigger and brighter. Investing in a walkthrough video can also increase interest.
Keep your descriptions concise and factual, describing the benefits of each room and suggesting potential uses that match the kind of people who are likely to be looking at your home. Try to avoid getting emotionally attached to the property.
You can also add a floorplan by using online tools such as Canva to give your listing a professional touch.
4. Listing your property
This is where estate agents have the upper hand, as they have access to their own websites, and shops, as well as online property portals to display your home.
You should advertise your property as widely as you possibly can, including local papers, online on Facebook and similar platforms, as well as spreading the word far and wide through friends and family.
Private sellers cannot have properties listed on sites like Rightmove and Zoopla, but there are online estate agents, such as Purplebricks and Yopa that can give you access to these portals for a fixed fee.
If you live on a main road, with lots of passing traffic, it’s well worth investing in a professional sign to advertise that your home is ‘For Sale by Owner’, with your contact number or email.
5. Hosting viewers
Selling a house without an estate agent means arranging and conducting all the viewings yourself. This can be hard for some people, as they are emotionally attached to their home and they find it difficult to accept criticism from other people if it’s not right for them.
You’ll need to arrange the viewings at a convenient time, escort the viewers around your home, and then let them explore on their own. You could also consider an open house, where multiple viewers can come and go whenever suits them.
6. Negotiating a sale
Unfortunately, the British are notoriously bad at negotiating, especially when it comes to money. This is where estate agents really earn their corn by working on your behalf to get the best deal. If you are selling a house without an estate agent, you will need to negotiate directly with your buyers yourself.
Remember to give yourself wiggle-room when you set the price, and also set a minimum price you are happy with. Hold your ground where you can, as buyers who really want your house will be prepared to pay for it. If you can’t agree a price you can live with, walk away. There will always be other buyers.
Remember to always ask potential buyers for proof of funds before accepting an offer, such as a mortgage decision in principle or an offer on their current property.
7. Renegotiating after survey
It is very common for buyers to reduce their offer after a survey, but again, try to hold your ground. Everyone is looking for a bargain, and buyers will always try their luck to get the price down, but if they love your home, a few hundred pounds worth of minor repairs will not put them off.
8. Get the offer in writing
Once you have agreed a sale price, it’s important to get that agreement in writing as soon as possible. You can do this by letter, or more easily by email. Make sure the buyer responds to confirm the offer. This will make the conveyancing process simpler and avoids the risks of any misunderstandings later in the process.
9. Seeing the sale through
You can now pass the sales process on to your solicitor or licenced conveyancer to complete the paperwork, but that doesn’t mean your involvement is over. You still need to steer your sale through to completion, or it could easily stall, and you’ll lose your buyer.
Estate agents have vast experience of all the potential sticking points and how to keep your sale moving. If you are selling a house without an estate agent, then you need to keep the momentum up yourself by checking in regularly with all parties.
Remember, if you are selling your home to a cash house buyer, you don’t need to spend time or money on any of these stages. A cash buyer will buy your home as-is, without you even needing to decorate. There are no viewers, no haggling and no last minute price drops, and of course no estate agents fees either. You just get a fast, fuss free sale in as little as 14 days.
To see how much you could get by selling your house without an estate agent, and without having to handle the sale yourself, click the cash offer calculator button below.
The pros and cons of selling your home without an estate agent
So, do you need an estate agent to sell a house? Or can you sell a house without an estate agent? The answer is yes, you can sell without an estate agent, but that doesn’t always mean that you should. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of selling a house without an estate agent.
The pros of selling a house without an estate agent
- You can save thousands of pounds – most estate agents charge a percentage fee for their services, usually around 1-2%, but sometimes much more than this. With HM Land Registry figures putting the average UK house price at £268,000 as of December 2024, this means your sale could cost between £2,680 and £5,360 – and potentially more.
- You can keep the process moving – trusting someone else to sell your home can be very frustrating and it’s often not clear exactly what your estate agent is doing for their thousands of pounds in fees. By conducting the sale yourself, you’ll always know what’s going on.
- You control everything – it’s all directly in your hands, from the photos and the wording of the description, to the price and any discounts, so you are always in control and can make sure everything is exactly right without going backwards and forwards with the office junior at the agency.
- You can add the personal touch – by conducting your own viewings, you can let potential buyers know exactly what it’s like to live in your home. You can also answer any questions on the spot, without all the tedious to-ing and frow-ing, speeding up the process considerably.
- You are exclusively selling one home – an estate agent will have dozens, or even hundreds of homes on their books, all struggling for their attention. When you are selling your house without an estate agent, all your efforts will be focussed on selling that one home, so your sale will never get forgotten or sidelined.
The cons of selling a house without an estate agent
- Estate agents have more experience – estate agents arrange the sale of properties day in and day out giving them lots of invaluable experience. They know where they need to intervene to keep things moving and avoid any problems. You may not see a problem coming until it arrives, and by then it may be too late.
- Estate agents have access to property portals – these days, most people search for a new home on the property portals like Rightmove and Zoopla. You need an estate agent to get your property listed on these sites.
- Estate agents know more potential buyers – an estate agent will often have a presence on the high street where buyers can browse homes and talk to staff who can recommend your property. They will also have a mailing list of people who are already looking for a home like yours.
- Estate agents have established relationships – estate agents work with the same conveyancers and solicitors all the time, and they can use these relationships to hurry things along. This will get them better service that you might get as an individual customer, because the company wants to impress the estate agent so they keep recommending them.
- Estate agents are experienced negotiators – seasoned professionals, who negotiate home sales day in and day out, will usually get a better deal than you can on your own. They know how to get buyers to pay more (and earn them more commission!)
The pros and cons of a fast cash sale
A quick sale to a cash house buyer makes most of these pros and cons irrelevant, as you neither need to use an estate agent or arrange the sale yourself. By selling your home to a cash house buyer, your home never needs to go on the market at all, avoiding all the hassles described above.
A cash buyer will offer you a price for your home, you agree to that price and they take care of everything, putting the cash in your bank as little as 14 days later. It’s as simple as that. There’s no haggling and no price drops after the survey. Plus there’s no estate agent fees to pay and often no legal fees either.
The only downside is that you will get less than the full market value of your home – around 20% less in most cases – in exchange for this fast, fuss-free service with a guaranteed sale at a guaranteed price.
To see how much a cash house buyer pays for homes like yours, click below for your free, no obligation estimate.
Can you save money if you sell a property without an estate agent?
Yes, you can save money, but there will still be costs. As discussed above, a typical estate agent will charge between £2,500 and £5,000 on the average house, but this fee will usually include photography, floor plans, videos, portal listings, advertising and more.
If you are selling a house without an estate agent, you will need to cover these costs for yourself and they can quickly add up. You also need to consider how much of your time selling a house without an estate agent will take and how much that time is worth to you.
You have to ask yourself whether you will be able to strike as good a deal as a professional negotiator can. If you roll over on the price to gain a quick sale, then you could easily lose everything you’ve saved and more. In this respect, like a good accountant, a good estate agent should save you money, not cost you money.
Is a quick sale still possible with an estate agent involved?
Despite all their experience and expertise, some would argue that a quick sale is rarely possible with an estate agent involved. According to Zoopla, it currently takes around 25 weeks to sell a house with an estate agent, from first listing to completion. That’s almost six months, which is not a quick sale by anyone’s standards.
It’s even harder to sell quickly, via a traditional sale, without an estate agent. For this to happen, you’d need to either have a buyer lined up already, or have an exceptionally effective marketing campaign that can rival the reach of an estate agent and the national property portals.
If speed is the most important factor for you, then you are much better finding a fast cash buyer, which will raise around 80% of the value in around two weeks, or finding an auction house, which will raise around 90% and take around two months.
Expert Insight from Kelvin Elliott
Kelvin Elliott, founder and buying director of myhomebuyers.co.uk explains the benefits of selling your home without an estate agent.
“Many people ask MyHomebuyers do you need an estate agent to sell a house, and the answer is no. You can sell your house fast, free of any commission charges, by choosing a fast cash buyer.
You may not get as much for your property, but once you factor in the speed and convenience, as well as the savings on estate agency fees, legal fees and many of the other costs associated with a traditional sale, it’s often a much better deal than it first appears.”
Do you need an estate agent to sell a house?
No, you are under no obligation to use an estate agent to sell your house. You will, however, still need a solicitor or licenced conveyancer to handle the legal side.
Can I access property portals without an estate agent?
No, property portals like Rightmove are only available to estate agents. However, there are some online agencies that can provide access for a lower fee than using an estate agent.
If I have a buyer for my house do I need an estate agent?
Absolutely not. The primary role of an estate agent is to find you a buyer and if you have already got someone interested, then you are well on the way to a swift sale.
What do estate agents do for their high fees?
Estate agents will handle every step of your sale, from valuing and listing your property to finalising the sale price and keeping the sale on track through to completion. A good agent will be good value for money.
Is it free to sell your own house?
Yes, in so far as there is no commission to pay to an estate agent. However, there will still be costs, from photographers to advertising, as well as costs in terms of time and effort.
What is the quickest way to sell my house?
You can avoid both estate agents’ costs and your own time and trouble by selling to a fast cash homebuyer. They will take care of everything, in just two weeks, rather than six months, in exchange for a reduction in the price they pay for your home. This is not right for everyone, but in some circumstances, it can be a swift and simple solution to selling your home.
Conclusion
Estate agents get a bad reputation as being expensive, but if they are skilled, experienced and dedicated, they can be worth every penny. That said, there is nothing that they do that you cannot do yourself, and there’s no legal obligation to use an estate agent to sell your home.
If, having read this article and considered the pros and cons, you still feel that you’re capable of selling a house without an estate agent, then you could save yourself thousands of pounds in fees.
However, if you don’t think you can deal with the demands of selling a home without an estate agent, don’t worry. You always have the option to pay an agent to do it for you, or you can simply sell directly to a cash home buyer. To see what a cash buyer would pay for your home, click the button below.