When the time comes to move, you want the highest proceeds from your home sale. It’s likely you need these funds to help purchase your next house, so every penny counts. To save on agent commissions, some enterprising homeowners in Connecticut decide to take control of their home sale and figure out how to sell a house by owner.
While millions of homes are sold annually, only about 6% of sellers choose the “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) route. Interestingly, 38% of sellers who chose to sell FSBO went with this route to sell to a relative, friend, or neighbor.
In this guide to selling FSBO in Connecticut, we’ll explore the challenges you might face selling by owner in the Constitution State. We’ll also provide a comprehensive overview of the entire process of preparing, marketing, and closing the sale of your home without the help of a real estate agent.
Unsure About Selling FSBO in Connecticut?
If you don’t have the time or expertise to list your home FSBO, partner with a trusted, top agent in your Connecticut market. We analyze over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to find you the best agent for your unique situation.
Editor’s Note: If you’d like to consult with an expert to discuss your options, HomeLight would be happy to introduce you to a highly-rated real estate agent in your Connecticut city. Top agents know the local market and can typically get you a top-dollar sale and provide a better selling experience.
How does selling by owner (FSBO) work in Connecticut?
FSBO is a method of selling your house without hiring a listing agent. In a FSBO transaction, the seller assumes the responsibilities that would normally fall to their real estate agent, such as pricing the home, marketing it to potential buyers, arranging showings, and negotiating the final sale agreement.
In an agent-assisted sale, the seller typically pays a commission amounting to 3%-5.8% of the sale price, depending on who pays for the buyer’s agent commission. That amount is deducted from the seller’s proceeds at closing.
Commission rules and regulations changed after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced a landmark lawsuit settlement on March 15, 2024. These changes started in August 2024 and have “decoupled” seller and buyer agent compensation. Buyers are now responsible for paying their own Realtor fees. By selling FSBO, a seller can eliminate the cost of the listing agent commission (around 3%). However, in some markets, sellers are still offering to pay the buyer’s agent commissions.
Even with new commission rules in place, buyer’s agents in Connecticut will expect compensation for the work they do to bring a buyer to a sale, such as arranging showings and helping to tee up and qualify the buyer. Plus, when a seller isn’t working with an agent, the buyer’s agent may end up carrying more of the weight to get the deal to the finish line.
Selling by owner doesn’t mean you won’t need professional assistance. In Connecticut, sellers are required to hire a licensed attorney to conduct real estate closings. But even if it wasn’t required by law, FSBO sales typically warrant legal and professional oversight to avoid an abundance of legal risk.
Most people who sell by owner hire an attorney to make sure all the paperwork is filled out properly, such as the seller’s disclosures. We’ll address what disclosures are required when selling a house in Connecticut later in this post.