The best way to sell your house without a realtor in Tennessee depends on your goals, experience, and local market:
💵 If you want to avoid paying a commission to a listing agent but still want your house listed on your local multiple listing service (MLS), you should use a Tennessee flat fee MLS company.
- You'll save an average of 2.91% of the sale price of your home by not paying a commission.[3]
- You'll maximize your exposure to buyers who look for homes to buy on the MLS.
- You'll retain full control of your sale.
- But you'll pay an average of $100–$500 to list on a Tennessee MLS. You'll also need to look out for hidden fees and other charges that can increase your selling costs.
⚒️ If you want to avoid paying a commission to a listing agent and you don't want to list on the MLS, consider using free do-it-yourself resources.
- You'll save the 2.91% commission, and you can list on free for sale by owner websites like ForSaleByOwner.com or Zillow's free listing option.
- But your home listing on a free site will have far less visibility than if you use an agent or a paid flat fee MLS service. Virtually all buyers and their agents use the MLS, so you won't reach a critical mass of potential buyers. Free listings on Zillow are in a different section of the site, so most home shoppers won't even see them.
- Because you'll have less competition among buyers, your house will probably stay on the market for a while, and you're more likely to sell for less than market value.
- When listing on free sites, you'll also likely attract attention from investors, home flippers, and real estate agents. Investors and agents may make lowball offers on your home, and agents may promise to connect you with buyers if you give them your listing.
⏰ If you want to sell your home fast or as is, a cash home buyer such as an iBuyer or local investor may be best.
- You'll save the 2.91% commission.
- You won't have to list your home on the MLS or for sale by owner websites.
- You can use an offers marketplace like Clever Offers to compare offers. They'll source competing local offers on your behalf, which makes selling your property more efficient.
- But you'll likely get only 60%–80% of the home's after-repair value from a cash buyer.[4]
💰 If you want to save on realtor commission but are open to having an agent for the right price, consider selling with a low commission realtor.
- You'll likely make more money on your home sale using an agent. Homes sold with agents sell for an average of 13% more than homes sold without a realtor.[5]
- You don't have to pay high commission fees to get the support of a full-service agent. You can use a service like Clever Real Estate to match you with a full-service local agent from Keller Williams, RE/MAX, or other well-known brands who will charge just 1.5% to sell your property.
Should I sell my house without a realtor?
Selling without a realtor may be right for sellers who have the following going for them:
- They've previously sold a home in Tennessee. You're more likely to avoid financial or legal missteps than a first-time seller.
- They have a lot of time to handle the details of a sale. Houses spend an average of 56 days on the market in the U.S.[6]
- They already have a buyer lined up. About 38% of sellers without a realtor sold to a family or a neighbor, streamlining the selling process.[7] If you fall into this group, check out our tips for selling to a family member.
- They're in a hot seller’s market. In a hot market, you’re more likely to sell for list price or above when selling without a realtor.
- They need to sell fast. You can sell to a Tennessee cash home buyer within a few days.
Selling without a realtor may be wrong for sellers with the following goals and experience:
- They want to sell for market value — or higher. Sellers without a realtor got around 13% less than sellers who used an agent. Cash home buyers typically pay 60%–80% of a home's after-repair value.[8][9]
- They don’t have a lot of free time. You’ll have to do almost everything an agent does when selling for sale by owner (FSBO), without the efficiency and knowledge an experienced real estate agent brings to the deal.
- They've never sold a home in Tennessee. Again, when you sell without a realtor, you’ll have to learn to do everything an agent in the state can do.
- They want to limit their exposure to legal risks. About 36% of recent sellers not using a realtor say they made legal mistakes because they didn’t use an agent. An agent can guide a seller through the maze of contracts and paperwork.[10]
Overall, selling a home without a realtor is best for experienced sellers who can dedicate lots of time to their home sale. Approximately 53% of buyers said they didn't trust sellers who didn't have an agent, so you'll need to work hard to make a buyer feel comfortable.[11]
💸 If you don't want the pressure and responsibility that comes from selling without a realtor, we recommend working with a top-rated local agent who charges a reduced listing fee.
7 steps to sell a home in Tennessee without a realtor
1. Set a competitive price | 2. Prepare your home | 3. List your home | 4. Manage your showings | 5. Review offers | 6. Perform due diligence | 7. Close the sale
🔑 Key takeaways for selling without a realtor in Tennessee
- You aren't legally required to hire an attorney to sell without a realtor in Tennessee. Many sellers employ an attorney, though, to help with the most complicated parts of the process. Real estate attorneys in Tennessee typically cost $150-150 per hour.
- You must disclose issues with your house. State law requires you to fill out a seller's disclosure form for Tennessee.
- You can use a For Sale by Owner sign in your yard to advertise your sale.
1. Set a competitive price
One of the biggest challenges of selling without a realtor is figuring out how to set a listing price for your home. When you sell with a realtor, your agent will perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) by evaluating similar, recently sold properties in your area.
You can get a rough estimate of your home’s value by using a real estate website like Zillow to compare your home to similar recently sold properties in your area.
Doing your own analysis won’t be as accurate as a realtor's CMA. Local real estate professionals can access more data from the MLS than is publicly available, and they have professional knowledge about how your home’s features and market conditions affect your home value.
Tennessee real estate agents may perform a CMA for free to try to earn your business. But don’t ask for a CMA if you plan to mislead an agent into thinking you need their services.
However, if you’re open to using a real estate professional, asking for a CMA will allow you to weigh the costs and benefits of hiring an agent. You’ll also feel confident that you’ve evaluated all your options.
Get a pre-listing appraisal
A professional pre-listing appraisal offers another way to determine your home’s market value. In Tennessee, you can hire an appraiser typically for between $206–$262. Find an appraiser near you through the U.S. government’s Appraisal Subcommittee website.
As you figure out your list price, consider if you’ll be subject to capital gains taxes on your sales profit next tax season. It may affect how you choose to price your home.
💸 Nearly half of sellers who didn't use an agent (49%) wish they'd priced their home differently, while 73% of represented sellers say their agent priced their home correctly.[12]
If you're concerned about mispricing your home, we can help. Connect with a top agent near you and get a professional pricing consultation. It's free, and there's no obligation to sign.
2. Get your home ready to sell
Fix any minor but obvious issues that might repel buyers, like chipped paint or holes in the drywall. Fixing bigger issues like an outdated kitchen or a worn roof depend mostly on whether the returns will be worth it.
You’ll also have to base your repair decisions around what the market calls for — though, as a seller without a realtor, you might not know the latest styles and standards.
In a regular sale, your real estate agent would provide guidance on the market. As a seller without a realtor, you’ll have to do some research to figure out what to do based on the particulars of your home and market.
💰 If your home needs too much work to sell to a typical buyer, consider selling to a cash buyer in Tennessee. Use our free tool to compare cash offers against your home’s value on the open market — for free, no obligations.
When you’re ready to put your home on the market, here’s how to make it attractive to potential buyers:
- Stage your home to help potential buyers imagine themselves living there. Consider a virtual staging if you’ve already moved out or the house is empty.
- Improve your curb appeal to make a good first impression.
- Hire a photographer to make your listing photos stand out. A professional real estate photographer in Tennessee costs an average of $171 per session.
- Write a listing description to spotlight your home’s best features and capture details that photos can’t convey.
- Fill out property disclosures to be up-front about issues with your property and help head off potential legal troubles.
Get in-depth tips on how to prep your home in our general guide to selling your house without a realtor.
3. List and market your home
The best place to market your home is on your local multiple listing service (MLS).
The MLS is a digital database of home listings by licensed real estate agents in the region. It’s the first stop for buyer’s agents searching for properties for their clients. Most MLSs also syndicate to Realtor.com, Zillow, and other real estate sites.
🚨 Only licensed realtors can list homes on the MLS. However, sellers without a realtor can still list their properties on the MLS with the help of a realtor via a flat fee MLS company.
List using a flat fee MLS company in Tennessee
Tennessee flat fee MLS companies are run by brokers who will list your home on the MLS for a relatively small fee of $100–$500.
You won’t have much help from a real estate agent (though some flat fee MLS plans offer limited agent support), but they’ll list your home alongside the other properties being sold by agents.
List directly on free platforms
ForSaleByOwner.com, Zillow, and others are among our picks for the best for sale by owner real estate websites.
You can also promote your home sale for free on social media.
Rules for listing your home
Before listing your home online or anywhere else, read Tennessee's rules for advertising real estate. Most of these rules apply to realtors, but it’s best to make sure your actions don’t violate state regulations.
For instance, as in some other states, Tennessee allows you to use a yard sign to get the word out if your home is listed on the MLS. Yard signs cost $2–$75.When you use a flat fee service, you'll decide if you want to offer a concession to cover commission for the buyer's agent. Many companies will recommend you offer 2–3% as that is what most buyer's agents have agreed to be paid from their clients. You can offer less than 2–3%, but it might make your house much harder to sell if similar homes in your area are offering a concession. How commissions work in a real estate transaction changed in August 2024 after a settlement against the National Association of Realtors went into effect.
4. Manage your showings
Set up private appointments or open houses for potential buyers to visit your home.
Keep track of your appointments and buyers’ contact information with scheduling tools like Google Calendar or apps like ShowingTime, Doodle, and Calendly.
Tips for successful home showings
- Keep your home between 68 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Potential buyers should walk into a comfortable environment.
- Let in plenty of natural light. Studies show that natural light improves people’s moods.
- Use a neutral scent. Try subtle candles or air fresheners.
- Let buyers tour the home on their own. Your presence can be a distraction, and potential buyers might not feel comfortable having an honest conversation with their real estate agent. Use a lockbox to provide agents access and plan to be away from the home before they arrive.
- Schedule back-to-back showing appointments. Blocks of appointments fuel the impression your home has multiple interested buyers. You’ll also reduce the number of times you’ll leave your home while buyers tour it.
- Share disclosure forms and property fact sheets. Keep them in a noticeable spot in the home, like on a kitchen counter.
- Promptly respond to buyer questions. Buyers typically see many properties. If you’re not responsive, they may lose interest in your home and focus on other options.
Check our for sale by owner toolkit for more tools to help you through your sale.
5. Review offers and negotiate
In addition to the offer price, a buyer’s offer will usually include:
- Closing costs information. Look for whether the buyer wants you to cover some or all of their closing costs.
- Closing timeline. The buyer’s proposed closing date will usually be in 30–60 days.
- The buyer’s pre-approval letter. If they don’t have loan pre-approval from a bank, the sale may fall apart. A buyer with a cash offer doesn’t need a pre-approval letter.
- Contingencies. All criteria must be met before finalizing the sale.
Evaluate the offer and choose one of three options to proceed:
- Reject the offer. Send a polite no to the buyer or the buyer’s agent if the offer is far from what you’re looking for. The buyer may come back with a better offer. Think hard about whether to accept an offer. Approximately 46% of sellers without a realtor rejected an offer that ended up being their highest.[13]
- Accept the offer. Say yes if the price and terms are what you were hoping for.
- Make a counteroffer. Almost everything’s up for negotiation in real estate. If you don’t like the offer but it’s in the ballpark, or if you have other offers, consider making a counteroffer. You can counter the price as well as the terms of the deal.
6. Allow the buyer to conduct due diligence
The time between accepting a buyer’s offer and the closing date is the due diligence period, during which the buyer can inspect the property and its history.
A buyer may take one or more of the following steps:
- Home appraisal
- Home inspection
- Mortgage underwriting
- Property title search
- Termite inspection
- Walk-through
If the buyer finds any issues, they may try to reopen negotiations. During the due diligence period, both the buyer and seller have the right to withdraw from the purchase agreement.
We recommend talking to an attorney before walking away from any deal to ensure you follow the law.
7. Close the sale
You'll follow these three steps during closing:
- Review and sign the closing paperwork. The closing paperwork documents the final terms and closing costs. Sellers without a realtor are typically responsible for drawing up the final sales contract.
- Hand over the house keys. Give them to the buyer’s agent or your attorney, if you're using one.
- Get paid. You’ll receive a statement detailing the proceeds from the sale and how much you can expect to take home after paying off your mortgage balance and closing costs. You should receive your payment via a wire transfer or check on closing day.
💸 30% of sellers say they had unexpected closing costs, so be diligent as you go through the final stages of your sale to see if you can head off any surprises.[2]
Real estate investor Richard Latimer suggests sellers without a realtor set aside more money than they think they'll need for expenses related to the home sale to cover unforeseen costs.
» MORE: Tips for selling without a realtor
You must use a title company or an escrow agent to facilitate closing in Tennessee, even if you're selling without a realtor.
Although Tennessee doesn't require sellers to hire a real estate attorney, consider hiring one to draw up your sales contract and make sure you comply with local laws. Real estate attorneys usually work for an up-front flat fee or an hourly rate. In Tennessee, a real estate attorney typically costs $150-150 per hour.
Find Tennessee lawyers near you by searching the Tennessee Bar Association.
Pros and cons of selling without a realtor in Tennessee
✅ Pros
- You don’t have to pay the 2.91% average listing commission in Tennessee.[14]
- You may not have to pay the typical $100–500 it costs to list your home on the MLS if you have a buyer lined up and can bypass a flat fee MLS service.[15]
- You have full control of your sale. You can set the price and the timeline as you wish.
🚫 Cons
- You’ll likely sell your house for 13% less than an agent-led home sale.[16]
- You’ll likely get only 60%–80% of your home's fair market value if you sell to a cash home buyer.[17]
- You’ll risk making a legal mistake, as 36% of sellers without a realtor say they did.[18]
- You’ll spend a lot of time managing the sales process.
Selling without a realtor vs. selling with a realtor: Who nets more?
You can usually net more selling with a real estate agent than you will selling without a realtor.
On the surface, sellers without a realtor appear to have an advantage. Because they don't have to pay a listing agent, sellers in Tennessee save the 2.91% commission.[19]
But homes sold without a realtor go for 13% less than homes sold by an agent.[20] On a home in Tennessee with a median value of $427,400, that's a difference of $55,562. [21]
Sellers without a realtor also have to pay a flat fee MLS company $100–$500 to list their property on the MLS for agents and their buyers to find.[22]
Use our calculator below to estimate how much selling without a realtor will likely cost you.
💰 Want to sell for more but still save on real estate commissions? Our free platform matches you with agents who charge a 1.5% listing fee (half the typical rate). Find agents in your zip code today and see how much you can save!
Common costs for sellers without a realtor in Tennessee
When you sell without a realtor, approximately 7.5% of the final home sale price goes toward closing costs, versus about 10% when selling with a real estate agent.
The prices below cover common services for those selling without a realtor in Tennessee.
- Flat fee MLS listing: $100–$500
- Home appraisal: $206–$262
- Professional home photography: $171 average
- Real estate attorney: $150–$150 per hour
- Staging: $280 average
Seller closing costs in Tennessee include:
- Concession to cover buyer’s agent fee: 2–3% of the sale price
- Recording fees: $156 average
- Title insurance: $1,834 average
- Title service fees (search and transfer): $1,444 average
- Transfer tax: Typically paid by buyer
As of August 2024, following a lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors, buyers and sellers must negotiate their fees directly with their agents. However, most buyers will still expect sellers to cover the cost of their agent through a seller concession. Sellers that don't offer a concession increase the amount of cash that a buyer needs to bring to the closing table. Not offering a concession also demotivates agents from showing your property because they know it will be more expensive for their buyers. We recommend that you discuss the pros and cons of offering a concession with a listing agent.
Paperwork for selling a house by owner in Tennessee
You'll need to fill out or obtain at least 14 documents, including the sales contract, closing statement, and bill of sale. If you're using an attorney, they'll likely supply those and other documents you need to complete your sale.
Check our paperwork for selling without a realtor in Tennessee article for a full rundown of documents you'll need and links to free paperwork.
Find everything Tennessee requires you to disclose in the seller's disclosure form. You'll also need to follow federal disclosures surrounding lead paint, plus any local disclosure laws.
Alternatives to selling without a realtor
Low commission real estate brokers in Tennessee
Tennessee low commission real estate brokers are full-service realtors willing to work for a reduced listing commission rate. Sellers can save thousands and receive all the traditional services from an expert local agent.
Cash home buyers in Tennessee
Tennessee cash home buyers purchase properties directly from home sellers for cash.
Marketplaces like Clever Offers provide a safe and efficient way to compare cash offers. They screen cash buyers before accepting them into their network and source competing offers on your behalf.
iBuyers in Tennessee
iBuyers are real estate companies that make near-instant cash offers on homes, using technology to determine a price.
FAQ
Selling a house without a real estate agent usually isn’t worth it for most homeowners in Tennessee, unless you’re an experienced home seller or in a hot seller’s market.
If you don’t price your home accurately, you can miss out on thousands of dollars. A National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey found that selling without a realtor resulted in a final sale price around 13% less than sellers who used an agent.[1]
No, Tennessee doesn't require a real estate attorney to sell a house. It's still a good idea to hire one to ensure you comply with local laws.
In Tennessee, attorneys cost $150–$150 per hour.
You'll need at least 14 documents, including the purchase agreement, closing statement, and bill of sale.
Check our paperwork for selling without a realtor in Tennessee article for all the documents you'll need, plus links to the paperwork.
Whether selling without a realtor is right for you depends on a lot of factors, including your selling experience and the state of your local market.
Approximately 80% of sellers who sold without an agent expressed regrets about their sale, and 24% of those believe the buyer got the better end of the deal.[2]
If you’re unfamiliar with your local real estate market or aren’t comfortable negotiating with prospective buyers, consider working with an agent instead.
Why you can trust us
Real Estate Witch’s mission is to provide accurate, actionable, and practical information you can use to make better decisions on your real estate journey.
We’ve built this article on a foundation of data from multiple reliable sources, including studies and surveys conducted by the Real Estate Witch team, U.S. government databases, the National Association of Realtors, and other independent groups.
We update the article at least every three months to keep up with market events, trends, and other developments that may impact those who want to sell their house without a realtor.
