You can make an offer on a house without a realtor. About 29% of recent home buyers did exactly that, according to a Clever homebuyer sentiment survey.[2]
The process is doable, but it's unforgiving. Mistakes, such as overlooking clauses in the contract or agreeing to contingencies you don't understand can cost you money. The post-NAR settlement rules add wrinkles most online templates haven't caught up to yet.
Here's how to write, time, and submit a credible offer without a buyer's agent in 2026.
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Should you make an offer without a realtor?
While everyone can make an offer on a house without an agent, that doesn’t mean everyone should make an offer on a house without an agent. Whether you should buy a home without a realtor depends on the property, the market, and how much risk you'll absorb yourself.
You're a good fit if:
- You have professional experience in real estate, mortgage lending, sales, or law.
- The home is move-in ready with no major repairs, specialty inspections, or HOA hurdles.
- You know the seller (family deals, friends, or private off-market sales).
- You're willing to hire an attorney for $750–$1,250 to review the paperwork.
Think twice if:
- You're competing in a hot market. Listing agents push their seller toward represented buyers when there are multiple offers.
- You're using FHA or VA financing. Both add appraisal and inspection complexity that benefit from agent guidance.
- The home has complications. Condo HOA approvals, title issues, and estate sales all add risk.
- You don't have a flat-fee agent or attorney lined up. Going alone without backup is the highest-risk path.
What changed after the NAR settlement
The August 2024 NAR settlement rewrote the offer playbook for unrepresented buyers. Most other guides still haven't caught up.
Buyer-broker compensation is now negotiated separately
Before the settlement, sellers published a buyer-agent commission in the MLS — usually 2.5–3%. Sellers are no longer allowed to advertise buyer-agent compensation with the listing. Instead, buyer-broker compensation now gets negotiated in the offer itself, between you and the seller.
If you go without a buyer's agent, ask the seller to credit that 2–3% (the typical buyer's agent fee) back to you as a closing-cost concession. Sellers in slow markets often agree. Sellers with five competing offers usually don't.
You'll likely need a written buyer-broker agreement
Most state associations and major brokerages require buyers to sign a written agreement before a representing agent will tour them through a home. Even if you go through the listing agent for a tour, you may have to sign a limited or transactional brokerage agreement.
Read it carefully. “Dual agency” means one agent represents both buyer and seller — legal in some states, banned in others. “Transactional” or “designated” brokerage means the agent acts as a neutral facilitator. They cannot give you advice on price.
Your offer must address compensation directly
Don't write an offer that ignores the compensation question. If your offer is silent, the seller pockets what would have been the buyer-agent commission — because the home was almost certainly priced with that commission in mind.
Pros and cons of going without a buyer's agent
Pros:
- Cost savings. You may negotiate a closing-cost credit equal to the buyer's agent commission, typically 2–3% of the purchase price. On a $400,000 home, that's $8,000–$12,000. Don't take these savings for granted--it depends on the seller.
- Direct communication. You hear the seller's reaction in real time and can adjust faster.
- Total control. Every decision is yours.
Cons:
- Negotiation disadvantage. The listing agent has done this hundreds of times and is legally working for the seller.
- No MLS access. Public-side comps on Zillow and Redfin run a few weeks behind, and you won't see private remarks or full sale-price history without paying for it.
- Earnest money risk. Without contingency guidance, it's easier to write yourself out of a refund.
- Legal exposure. Your signature on the offer is binding. A typo in the closing date or a missing financing contingency can cost you the deposit.
The honest answer to “do you actually save money?” is sometimes. You save when the seller credits the equivalent commission back, when you negotiate well, and when you don't pay an attorney enough to absorb the difference. In a hot market, you often save nothing.
How to make an offer on a house without a realtor
Each step has a specific deliverable — a document, a number, or a decision.
1. Get pre-approved and gather proof of funds
Pre-qualification is a soft estimate. Pre-approval is a hard credit pull plus document review, and it's the only one a listing agent will respect.
Get pre-approved for your maximum budget so you can shop the full range, then ask your lender to re-issue at the actual offer amount when you submit. The seller sees a letter for $425,000, not the $475,000 you could afford. A home affordability calculator can help you bracket the range.
If any portion is cash, attach proof of funds — bank letterhead, dated within 30 days, signed by a banker, balance equal to or greater than the cash portion. Account numbers can be redacted.
2. Disclose you're unrepresented before you submit
Call the listing agent — don't email — and tell them upfront that you don't have a buyer's agent.
This signals you're serious, opens the conversation about how compensation and representation will work, and surfaces any brokerage policies that affect how the offer needs to be structured.
The listing agent legally represents the seller. They cannot advise you on offer price. Anything they say — “this seller would take $390k” — is information, not strategy.
3. Research comps and pricing
Pull 3–5 sold properties within half a mile, similar in square footage and bed/bath count, sold in the last 90 days. Publicly available tools — Redfin, Zillow, Realtor.com — cover most of this. For actual sale prices in non-disclosure states, your county assessor or recorder's office is the source of truth. The best home buying websites walk through the trade-offs of each.
Adjust for condition. A renovated kitchen is worth $15,000–$30,000 over a comparable un-renovated home in most markets.[3]
Don't forget the list-to-sale ratio. If homes are selling at 102% of list, you'll need to come in above asking. If they're selling at 96%, you have negotiating room. Redfin publishes this for most metros.
4. Source your state's offer form
Most unrepresented buyers don't know where to get the actual document. There are a few legitimate ways.
State real estate commission templates. Most states publish a standardized purchase agreement — for example California's CARRPA, Texas's TREC One-to-Four Family Residential Contract, or the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar Contract. These templates are available through your state's commission. Cost ranges from free to $20–$50.
State bar association forms. Many state bars publish or endorse a real estate purchase form. They tend to be more conservative on contingency language, which is usually a good thing for an unrepresented buyer.
Attorney-drafted custom offers. A real estate attorney drafts a custom offer for $300–$700 in most markets. This is the gold standard, especially in attorney-closing states like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Georgia.
Online platforms like DotLoop and OfferDirect exist, but most buyers should use a state-standard form.
At minimum, your offer must include:
- Identified parties (buyer's full legal name, seller's full legal name)
- Property description (address and tax parcel ID)
- Purchase price
- Financing terms (loan type, down payment, contingency)
- Closing date
- Contingencies
- Earnest money amount and timeline
- Signatures
5. Choose your contingencies
Contingencies let you back out without losing your earnest money. Waive too many to look competitive, and you've turned your deposit into a hostage.
Jaklin Sookiassian, a real estate attorney in Las Vegas, warns buyers about overlooking contingencies that might benefit them. "When you waive a contingency, you’re not just removing a box on a form — you waived your leverage," she says. "Winning the deal feels great in the moment, but the goal isn’t just to win the house — it’s to win the deal on terms that actually protect you. I had a buyer who waived inspection, then found significant plumbing issues during renovations — tens of thousands of dollars."
Financing contingency. Your out if your loan falls through. Almost never waive this unless you're paying cash. Specify the loan type, maximum interest rate, and a deadline for loan commitment (typically 21–30 days).
Inspection contingency. Your right to walk if the inspection turns up major issues. Standard window is 7–14 days. Waiving this is the riskiest move.
Appraisal contingency. Protects you if the home appraises below your offer. Waive it and you're on the hook to make up the difference in cash or walk away and lose your deposit.
Home sale contingency. Lets you back out if your current home doesn't sell. Sellers hate this one and often pass on offers that include it.
Title contingency. Lets you walk if the title search turns up liens or ownership disputes. Almost always included by default in state forms.
Zoning / HOA contingency. Critical for condos, planned communities, or any property where you need HOA approval.
Nick Heimlich, attorney and founder of Nick Heimlich Law in San Jose says “I had a client purchase a house after waiving the financing contingency to be competitive. The appraised value came back well below the sale price, leaving my client financially responsible for the gap. Waiving contingencies without fully understanding what you’re giving up can lead to significant liability — always weigh it against the benefit of a stronger offer.”
6. Set earnest money and figure out escrow
Earnest money is the deposit you put up to show the seller you're committed. American Land Title Association (ALTA) practice norms put the typical range at 1–3% of the purchase price; in hot markets, it climbs to 5–10%.
Without a buyer's agent, you'll need to choose the escrow holder yourself. In most of the country, the holder is a title company, escrow company, or real estate attorney; in a few states, it's the listing brokerage. The listing agent usually suggests a default. You can request a different one.
Earnest money is refundable when a contingency triggers, and forfeited when you back out for reasons not covered by a contingency.
7. Negotiate seller concessions and closing date
The most-asked concession is closing-cost help. Sellers can typically credit you 2–6% of the purchase price toward closing costs, depending on loan type. FHA caps seller contributions at 6% of the sales price; conventional varies by down payment; VA caps seller concessions — prepaid taxes, discount points, gifted personal property, and similar items — at 4% of the lower of the appraised value or the sales price.[4]
Actual closing cost coverage is separate and uncapped.
This is also where you ask for the buyer-broker commission credit if you're unrepresented. Frame it as a closing-cost concession, not a commission rebate.
Closing date is leverage. A short timeline (under 30 days) signals you're ready to move. A longer timeline (45–60 days) gives you breathing room but tells the seller you're less prepared.
📃 Sample escalation clause
“Buyer agrees to increase the purchase price by $1,000 over any bona fide competing offer received by Seller, up to a maximum purchase price of $[X]. Buyer requires written documentation of the competing offer in the form of a signed offer with personal information redacted.”
How it works: the increment is how much you'll out-bid the next offer. The cap is your real ceiling. The documentation requirement protects you from a phantom competing offer.When to skip it: low-inventory markets where escalation clauses signal desperation, or jurisdictions where the seller can't legally share competing offer details.
8. Submit your offer
Email the signed offer to the listing agent (or the seller for FSBO listings). Attach the pre-approval letter, proof of funds, and any addenda. A short cover note works — friendly, professional, two sentences max.
The numbers in the table assume everything goes smoothly. Marilyn Comiskey, team owner, The Comiskey Group at Compass, San Diego, says "A good offer is specific: ‘10 days for inspection, financing, and appraisal.’ Vague language like ‘inspection as needed’ signals inexperience to the listing agent."
Expect a response within 24–48 hours. Most offers don't get accepted as written; expect a counter on price, terms, or both. Don't volley too many times — each round signals you'll keep moving, and the seller may decide they have a better offer waiting.
If accepted, escrow opens within 1–3 days, and the inspection, appraisal, and financing sequence begins. Each one has a deadline that ties back to your contingencies.
9. Move into escrow and close
Most of the post-acceptance work — inspections, appraisal, financing, title search — deserves its own deep dive. The pitfalls unrepresented buyers tend to hit at this stage are calendar pitfalls: missing the inspection addendum deadline, accidentally waiving the appraisal contingency in writing, or signing a contingency-release form before they should. Closing costs covers what you'll owe at the table.
If you didn't hire an attorney for the offer stage, hire one now. Closing attorneys typically charge $750–$1,250 — cheap insurance on a six-figure transaction.
What happens next:
- Inspection. Your inspection contingency window — typically 7–14 days — starts the day the offer is accepted. Schedule the inspection within 48 hours so you have time to negotiate repairs or back out if the report is bad. Our home inspection guide walks through what inspectors flag and when to walk away.
- Appraisal and financing. Your lender orders the appraisal within a few days of accepted offer. If it comes in low, your appraisal contingency is your out — or your negotiating lever. Loan commitment usually lands 21–30 days after acceptance.
- Closing. Two to three days before closing, your lender sends a Closing Disclosure with the final numbers. Compare it to your loan estimate line by line. Our closing costs for buyers breakdown covers what you'll owe at the table.
Attorney, flat-fee agent, or fully unrepresented?
Most buyers think they're saving 3% by going fully unrepresented. They're often saving zero, because the seller priced for a 3% buyer commission and the buyer doesn't know to negotiate it back.
Here are some general guidelines and suggestions to help you effectively put in an offer on a house without an agent.
| Real estate attorney only | Flat-fee agent or attorney + agent hybrid | Fully unrepresented | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost[1] | $750–$1,250 | $1,500–$3,500 flat fee, or 1–1.5% commission | $0 in fees |
| What they do | Draft or review your offer, flag legal risk, handle closing paperwork | Pull comps, draft the offer, negotiate concessions, walk you through closing | You handle every step yourself |
| What they don't do | Pull MLS comps, negotiate price, or scout the market | Match a full-service agent on local relationships or off-market access | Owe you any duty of advice or loyalty (the listing agent works for the seller) |
| Best fit | Buyers in attorney-state markets (NY, NJ, MA, GA) or with a target home in mind | Buyers who want representation but want to keep most of the commission savings | Experienced buyers, family deals, or buyers who accept the risk |
Marilyn Comiskey shares what can happen when representing yourself goes wrong. “On a $2.5 million La Jolla home, an unrepresented buyer skipped the inspection to win. They found the roof needed full replacement — $40,000 in problems," says Comiskey. "They lost the deposit and watched the home sell again later for 8% less."
Buyer letters and fair-housing risk
Skip the love letter. It's overrated as a tactic and risky for an unrepresented buyer.
In 2021, Oregon was the first state law to restrict buyer-letter consideration.[5]. A 2022 federal court ruling enjoined enforcement, but the law remains on the books.[6] Beyond Oregon, individual MLS associations and major brokerages bar listing agents from sharing buyer letters with sellers as a fair-housing precaution.
If you do write one, the safe content is financial qualifications, your timeline, and feature-based reasons you love the home (the kitchen's natural light, the fenced backyard). Anything that signals familial status, race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or any other class protected under the Fair Housing Act is a legal liability — for you, the seller, and the listing agent.
When in doubt, skip the letter and let the offer terms speak.
Submitting your offer in under 24 hours
Sometimes you don't have days. You toured at noon, offers are due tomorrow morning, and you need to move.
🕐 Hour 0–2: Call your lender. Have them re-issue your pre-approval letter at the offer amount, dated today. Pull 3–5 sold comps within half a mile from the last 90 days.
🕑 Hour 2–4: Call the listing agent. Tell them you're unrepresented. Ask the list-to-sale ratio in the area, whether there are competing offers, and the seller's preferred closing timeline.
🕓 Hour 4–8: Download your state's offer template from the real estate commission website.
🕗 Hour 8–16: Fill out the offer. In an attorney-closing state, schedule a same-day call with a real estate attorney for an offer review (typically $200–$400).
🕛 Hour 16–24: Submit. Email the signed offer with your pre-approval and proof of funds attached. Confirm receipt in writing.
Will the seller take you seriously?
Yes — if your offer is clean.
What signals credibility:
- A pre-approval letter at the offer amount, dated within the last 30 days
- Proof of funds for any cash portion
- A reasonable contingency stack (financing, inspection, appraisal) — not a wishlist
- A signed state-standard form, not an offer scribbled in plain email
- Fast, professional communication
What signals inexperience:
- A lowball with no comps to back it up
- Six contingencies and a 60-day close in a hot market
- An offer composed in the body of an email with no real form attached
- Going dark for 48 hours after you send it
Alex Wright, a former Realtor, Keller Williams and founder of DealForge says “Unrepresented buyers tend to trip over the contract itself — missing details, using wrong forms, not understanding what they’re agreeing to. A clean, well-written offer often gets picked over a higher one because it signals an easier transaction. When an offer comes in messy or unclear, it’s hard to take it seriously.”
If you want representation but want to keep most of the savings, a flat-fee or low-commission agent is the middle path. You can negotiate realtor commission in almost any market.
Is making an offer without a realtor right for you?
If you're well-researched, working with a real estate attorney, and buying in a market where you have leverage, you can write a strong offer without a buyer's agent. The savings are real when you negotiate them. The risks are real when you don't.
If your offer gets accepted, congrats — you're a homeowner. If it doesn't, keep going. Roughly 85% of recent buyers had to make compromises along the way.citation]id="homebuyerSentiment2024" sourceName="Clever Real Estate" anchorText="American Home Buyer Report: 2024 Edition" url="https://listwithclever.com/research/homebuyer-sentiment/" updated="May 13, 2024"[/citation]
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Frequently asked questions
Yes. The offer's enforceability depends on whether your state requires a specific form or attorney involvement. At minimum, the document needs identified parties, property description, purchase price, financing terms, contingencies, closing date, and signatures. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and a handful of other attorney-closing states make DIY harder.
Not always required by law, but typically smart. Several states require attorney involvement at closing (listed below), and most charge $750–$1,250[1] for offer review and closing. On a $400,000 transaction, that's a small premium for someone whose entire job is to catch the things you'll miss.
States that require an attorney at closing:
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It depends on your contingencies. If a condition in your offer isn’t met (like financing or inspection), you may be entitled to a refund. If you back out without cause, you could lose your deposit.
Yes, if your offer is clean. Pre-approval at the offer amount, proof of funds for any cash portion, reasonable contingencies, and fast response time are the signals listing agents look for. Some sellers and brokerages do hesitate — call the listing agent before you submit to gauge it.
After the August 2024 settlement, buyer-broker compensation is no longer pulled from the seller's commission automatically. As an unrepresented buyer, ask the seller for a closing-cost concession equal to what would have been a 2–3% buyer-agent commission. The seller has to agree, and it has to be in writing. Clever's homebuyer sentiment study has more on how buyers are navigating the change.
Methodology
The Clever Homebuyer Sentiment survey polled 920 U.S. buyers in April 2024.
For this article, we gathered expert perspectives from real estate attorneys and industry professionals with direct experience representing unrepresented buyers and reviewing purchase offers. Each source was evaluated for relevance, credential fit, and firsthand experience with the topics covered. The following experts contributed perspectives that appear in this article:
- Alex Wright, a former Realtor with more than six years of experience at Keller Williams in Bozeman, MT, and 307 Real Estate in Cody, WY, now founder of DealForge, a real estate deal analysis tool.
- Jaklin Sookiassian, a business and real estate attorney based in Las Vegas, NV, licensed in Nevada and New York, with experience representing buyers and sellers in real estate transactions and business litigation.
- Nick Heimlich, founder of Nick Heimlich Law in San Jose, CA, a real estate and business litigation attorney with more than 20 years of experience representing buyers in property disputes, non-disclosure claims, and real estate transactions across the Bay Area.
- Marilyn Comiskey, team owner of The Comiskey Group at Compass, San Diego, CA, ranked in the top 0.1% of real estate agents nationally by the Wall Street Journal, with more than $445 million in team sales across La Jolla, Del Mar, Carlsbad, and surrounding San Diego County markets.