Selling process
Selling Land Without a Realtor: What It Really Involves
May 9, 20266 min read
You can absolutely sell land yourself. Here is the honest list of what you take on when you do, and when hiring someone is worth the commission.
There is no law requiring an agent to sell real estate. Plenty of land changes hands every year without one. Whether you should is a different question, and the answer depends mostly on how much of the work you want to do.
What the commission actually buys
On vacant land, agent commissions typically run 6 to 10 percent — higher than on houses, because land takes longer to sell and requires more explaining. On a $60,000 parcel at 8 percent, that is $4,800.
In exchange you get MLS exposure, someone to field calls and run showings, help pricing it, and someone to keep a transaction moving when it stalls. On land specifically, the value varies enormously with how well the agent knows land — many residential agents genuinely do not.
What you take on if you sell it yourself
- Pricing it, using recorded comparable sales rather than listing prices
- Marketing — land-specific listing sites, local classifieds, a sign, and reaching adjacent owners, who are often the most motivated buyers
- Fielding inquiries, including a steady stream of people who will not buy
- Answering hard questions about access, zoning, septic, and flood zones
- Getting a purchase agreement drafted that is enforceable in your state
- Coordinating title, escrow, survey, and closing
- Making sure the deed is prepared and recorded correctly
Never skip the title company
Whatever else you do yourself, close through a licensed title company or a real estate attorney. They verify identity, confirm clear title, hold funds in escrow, and record the deed. A handshake and a personal check is how people get defrauded on both sides.
The neighbor strategy
If you do nothing else, do this: write to the owners of every parcel that touches yours. Adjacent owners are consistently the highest-paying buyers for rural land because it expands what they already have, they already know the area, and they do not need to be sold on it.
The county assessor's website will give you their mailing addresses for free. A plain letter works better than anything designed.
The third option
Listing and selling it yourself are not the only choices. Selling directly to a land buyer means no commission, no marketing, no showings, no repairs, and no financing contingency — the buyer already has the money.
The tradeoff is a lower gross price. Whether that trade is worth it depends on how much your time and certainty are worth to you. Get a direct offer, get an agent's opinion of value, and compare net proceeds rather than gross price.