How to Sell A Condo Without a Realtor

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  Written by Alex Long

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  Edited by Galina Velgach

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  Reviewed by Steve Nicastro

Prep your home | Set your asking price | Market online | Negotiate offers | Close on the sale

Selling a condo is a lot like selling a single-family home, with one key difference — condos generally belong to homeowner’s associations (HOAs). This means there are extra rules you need to adhere to when selling your condo.

Below we break down the process of selling your condo without a realtor and getting the most out of your sale.

Understand your HOA’s rules and regulations

Contact your HOA before listing your condo to make sure you have all the necessary paperwork. HOAs can have a variety of stipulations for selling a condo, such as:

• Transfer fees and charges
• Providing copies of the bylaws to buyers
• Approval of the buyers

Preparing your condo for sale

1. Make repairs and improvements

Before listing your condo, make sure your home’s systems are in working order. For example:

• Fix holes or damage in drywall.
• Replace broken appliances.
• Address plumbing leaks.
• Ensure electrical components are up to code.

Check if the other condos in your development are recently updated. If they aren’t, then you may be able to avoid costly kitchen or bathroom renovations.

Before making any repairs yourself, see if your HOA will pay for them — particularly if it’s not only your unit having issues. If it agrees, document that timeline to show your buyers.

Keep your target buyer in mind as you address repairs and make any cosmetic improvements.

2. Clean and declutter

Pay particular attention to higher-traffic areas like the kitchen, bathrooms, and living areas.

Remove any personal items, family photos, or distracting artwork. You want your condo to be homey but also a blank slate.

Stick to neutral colors (whites, tans, and light grays) and subtle aesthetics so the buyer can imagine the home as their own. Neutral decor is also more appealing for photographs since it reflects light better.

3. Take listing photos

The photos on your listing are probably the first thing that attracts buyers, and they have possibly the most influence on a buyer’s decision to schedule a showing.

📸 Some tips for taking listing photos

• Use a wide-angle lens that shows more of a room in one photo.
• Take the photos with a high-quality, high-resolution camera.
• Use digital editing tools, if possible, to touch up your images.
• Include photos of condo amenities — e.g., pool, fitness center, security gates.

You can always hire a professional if you don’t feel comfortable handling this yourself.

Determining your condo’s value

When you sell a condo without a realtor, you need to determine the fair market value to help set your list price — you can do this yourself or hire an appraiser.

Conduct a comparative market analysis (CMA). This involves finding local homes that have sold in the past 6 months. Choose 3–5 “comparables” (or “comps”) that are the most similar to yours in size and quality, and use those sale prices to estimate how much your home is likely to sell for.

Use a site like Zillow or Trulia to find recently sold comps. These sites usually have pictures of the property and details about square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms, and amenities.

Account for differences in size, quality, and amenities between your condo and your comps. For example, a condo that’s 200 square feet larger with an additional bathroom likely won’t sell for the same price as yours.

We recommend working with an appraiser, which typically costs $350–500. These professionals are experts in valuing real estate and will account for the state of your local market, as well as the condition, size, and amenities of your condo.

Advertising your condo for sale online

Start by listing your condo online, which is where almost half of home buyers start their searches.

To get the most traffic from serious buyers, you can get your listing on the MLS, which is the primary venue where realtors seek out properties to show their clients, with the help of a flat fee agent or company.

Common places to post your listing online for free:

• Zillow or Trulia (in the for sale by owner section)
• Facebook Marketplace
• ForSaleByOwner.com

» MORE: Free FSBO sites

Avoid listing on more obscure places like Craigslist. Although free, these sites usually get less traffic and are more prone to scams, which makes them more trouble than they’re worth.

Alternatively, you could also try old-school methods like posting a “for sale” sign or flyers in your community, but check with your HOA first.

Reviewing offers

Only engage with formal, written offers — verbal offers are not legally binding. Serious buyers usually submit a purchase agreement that includes the following:

• Purchase price
• Financing method (cash or mortgage)
• Earnest money deposit
• Desired closing date
• Contingencies (Inspection, financing, appraisal, HOA)

The basic options for responding to offers are to accept it, reject it, or counter-offer. Unless the offer is extremely good or extremely bad, counter-offering is the most common approach.

You and the buyer will agree on who will conduct the closing prior to the closing date.

Everything is negotiable, not just the purchase price

For example, you can ask buyers to offer more earnest money to show they’re serious, while they can request contingencies to let themselves back out of a deal without penalty.

Buyers often include an inspection contingency, which allows them to negotiate for repairs or other concessions. Documenting the results of a pre-inspection and any repairs you may have already made could prevent you from lowering your final sale price.

Other common contingencies relate to appraisal, financing, buyers selling their current home, and HOA review.

Closing on the sale

Generally, it takes 30–45 days to close on a traditionally financed offer. This gives the buyer enough time to conduct all their due diligence prior to closing. Cash offers can sometimes close faster, but they’re less common unless you sell to an investor.

The closing date sometimes needs to be pushed back if a buyer requests additional inspections or HOA documents aren’t delivered in a timely manner. If the buyer included a contingency on selling their current home, that could also cause delays.

Legal documents

Provide the required disclosure forms, sign the purchase and sale agreement, and eventually sign the closing statement. A closing statement itemizes all the transactions involved in completing the sale of your condo, and it will need to be signed before you can transfer the title and deed.

» SEE: All the paperwork you’ll need to sell FSBO

Usually, closing appointments are managed by a title company or a real estate attorney. Reach out to a real estate attorney for advice if you’re unsure of what to do at any point in the process of selling your condo.

Related reading

How To Sell Your House Without A Realtor. FSBO can be hard, but we’re here to help with this comprehensive guide.

25 of the Top for Sale by Owner Questions, Answered. Looking for advice about pricing, FSBO paperwork, and if you can save money? We answer the top FSBO questions, for both sellers and buyers!

Do I Need A Real Estate Agent to Sell? Confused about what exactly realtors do to earn their commission? Read this to learn more.

Should You List FSBO on Zillow? Zillow is undoubtedly one of the hottest real estate sites around. Check out these tips if you’re ready to list your home for sale there.