How to Sell a House by Owner in Georgia: Your GA FSBO Guide
Selling your house on your own comes with challenges, but it is doable. Here’s everything Georgia residents need to know about selling FSBO.
When the time comes to move, some tenacious homeowners are eager to take over the reins of their home sale and figure out how to sell a house by owner in Georgia.
With millions of homes sold each year, a modest 6% of sellers choose to list “For Sale By Owner” (or FSBO — pronounced fizz-bow).
In this guide to selling FSBO in Georgia, we’ll cover what can be the most difficult aspects of selling by owner in the Peach State, including the steps that might be harder than you think. We’ll also provide a comprehensive overview of the full process to prep, market, and close on your home without the assistance of a real estate agent.
Overwhelmed By The Process of Listing Your Home FSBO in Georgia?
If you have done the research on selling your home yourself in Georgia and have found that it’s just too much, have no fear. Working with a listing agent to sell your home might be your solution. HomeLight analyzes over 27 million transactions to find the best agent for your unique situation.
Note: Once you’ve seen what’s required, you can roll up your sleeves and get started with your FSBO sale. Or — in the event you’d prefer to work with a real estate agent — HomeLight would be happy to introduce you to highly-rated professionals in your Georgia market who can help you command top dollar and provide a low-stress selling experience.
How does selling by owner (FSBO) work in Georgia?
FSBO is a method of selling your home without the involvement of a listing agent. In a FSBO scenario, the seller assumes the responsibilities that would normally fall to their agent, such as pricing the home, arranging showings, and negotiating the deal.
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. By selling FSBO, a seller can eliminate the cost of the listing agent commission (around 3%), though they may still need to offer a buyer’s agent commission.
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. However, in some markets, sellers are still offering to pay the buyer’s agent commissions.
Buyer’s agents 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.
Sellers should also consider things like whether or not their HOA will allow yard signs (many don’t!) or if they can put their house on the MLS. In Georgia, you don’t need a real estate agent to do this, but you also can’t do it yourself — you would need to hire a flat-fee MLS listing service to do it for you, and you’d still have to provide your own listing information and photos.
Next: Consult our guide on who pays closing costs when selling a house by owner for more details.
Finally, a FSBO sale does not mean that a seller won’t need any professional assistance. In Georgia, sellers are required to hire a real estate attorney, so FSBO sales typically warrant legal and professional oversight of some kind to avoid an abundance of legal risk.
Most people who sell by owner will need to hire an attorney to review and prepare key documents and make sure paperwork is filled out properly, such as the seller’s disclosures. In Georgia, sellers are required to disclose the following:
- Any known material defects in the property (such as information about the home’s condition)
- Information requested directly from the buyer, meaning that sellers must answer the buyer’s questions truthfully
Georgia is also what’s known as an attorney state, which means sellers are required to hire a real estate attorney for closing as opposed to using a title company.
