Selling your house yourself saves the listing agent's share of the commission. On a $900,000 Orange County house at a 2.5% listing side, that's $22,500. It's a lot of money, and it's the reason people try it.
Fewer do every year. For sale by owner deals made up 5% of home sales in the National Association of Realtors' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the lowest share on record.
What you still pay
The buyer's agent, usually. Most Orange County buyers come with an agent. Since the NAR settlement rules took effect in August 2024, that agent's pay is set in a written agreement with the buyer, and it gets negotiated into the purchase contract. Many buyers will ask you to cover it. At 2.5%, that's $22,500 on a $900,000 sale. You can say no. Some buyers will move on to a house whose seller said yes.
Escrow, title and the transfer tax. The sale still closes through escrow, the seller in Southern California customarily pays for the owner's title policy, and the county documentary transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000, which is $990 at $900,000. None of that changes without an agent. We listed the typical ranges in what it really costs to sell a home in Orange County.
The disclosures. On most one-to-four-unit homes, California requires the seller to give the buyer a Transfer Disclosure Statement and a Natural Hazard Disclosure, with or without an agent. The hazard report comes from a disclosure company for a fee. A house built before 1978 also needs the federal lead-based paint disclosure. Get these wrong and the problem can follow you after closing.
Getting it seen. Most of the home search sites buyers use are fed by the MLS, and only a licensed broker can put a house there. Owner sellers usually pay a company for an MLS-only entry, then pay a photographer on top.
What you take on
The price. Too high and the house sits until it takes a cut. Too low and the first offer is the one you live with. Pricing off the closest sales in your tract, adjusted for condition and view, is most of what a listing agent does in week one.
The showings. Every request, every weekend, and every stranger walking through, scheduled around your own week.
The negotiation. Most of the time you'll be negotiating with a buyer's agent who does this every week. That runs from the offer through the inspection, the repair request, the appraisal and every contingency deadline in escrow.
The paperwork. The purchase contract, the counteroffers, the disclosures and the escrow instructions. Many owner sellers pay a real estate attorney to review them, which is money well spent.
Against a flat fee
Against a traditional listing, selling on your own saves the listing side. Against us, it saves our fee, and the fee pays for the pricing, the showings, the negotiation and the paperwork.
| Sale price | A 2.5% listing side | Our flat fee |
|---|---|---|
| $700,000 | $17,500 | $12,500 |
| $900,000 | $22,500 | $12,500 |
| $1,300,000 | $32,500 | $19,500 |
Based on a total commission model of 5%. Savings vary by property and price. Commissions are always negotiable and are not set by law.
Those savings come before you pay for photography, an MLS-only entry and anything else an agent would otherwise have covered. Our fee includes the pricing, the photographs, the MLS, showings, open houses, the negotiation and escrow. The full list is on our sellers page.
When selling it yourself can make sense
You've already got a buyer. A neighbor, a relative, a tenant who wants to stay. There's no marketing to do and the price is agreed. Even then, use a proper escrow, give the full disclosures, and have someone who knows the contracts look them over.
For anything else, run the numbers both ways. Ask for a seller's net sheet at your expected price with an agent, and build your own without one, including the buyer's agent and your time. The schedule at any price is on our flat fee page.
This is general information about how these sales usually work in California, and it isn't legal advice. For a specific question about disclosures or a contract, talk to a California real estate attorney.