How to Sell Your House Without a Realtor in Maryland: Steps, Costs and Tradeoffs

Selling without a Realtor means you take on the listing agent’s job: setting the price, marketing the house, showing it, negotiating, and keeping the contract on track until settlement. Plenty of Maryland owners do it, especially when they already have a buyer in mind, such as a tenant, a neighbor or a relative. This guide walks through the steps, what Maryland law requires, what it costs (with Baltimore City and Baltimore County as the worked example), how FSBO compares with hiring an agent, and what to do if the house doesn’t sell.

Should you sell your house without a real estate agent?

It comes down to three questions. Will a buyer’s lender finance the house as it stands? Do you have the time to answer calls, run showings and track contract deadlines for a month or more? And are you comfortable negotiating price and repairs directly with a buyer, or with a buyer’s agent? If the answer to all three is yes, selling by owner can work well. If any answer is no, read the FSBO vs. Realtor comparison below before you decide.

How to sell a house by owner in Maryland, step by step

1. Set a price from recent sales. Look at closed sales of similar homes nearby from the last few months, not asking prices. Some owners pay for an appraisal so they have a number to show buyers.
2. Prepare the house and the paperwork. Fix what a lender’s appraiser would flag, and fill out the Maryland disclosure or disclaimer statement and, for a pre-1978 home, the lead paint disclosure before anyone signs.
3. Get it in front of buyers. A flat-fee MLS listing puts the house on the same sites buyers already search. Add good photos, a yard sign and the price.
4. Show the house and take offers. Ask for a lender pre-approval or proof of funds with every offer, and compare offers on price, financing, contingencies and settlement date, not price alone.
5. Sign a complete written contract. Use a full Maryland residential sales contract. Many FSBO sellers pay a Maryland real estate attorney to review it.
6. Open settlement with a title company. Send the signed contract to a title company or settlement attorney. They search title, order your mortgage payoff and prepare the deed.
7. Get through inspection and appraisal. Respond to repair requests in writing and keep track of every contingency deadline in the contract.
8. Settle. Sign the deed, the title company pays off your loan and the taxes, records the deed, and sends you what’s left.

Three ways to sell without a listing agent

• For sale by owner (FSBO). You market the house yourself, often with a flat-fee MLS listing, yard sign and online ads. Best for a house in good shape that a financed buyer can purchase.
• Sell to someone you already know. A tenant, neighbor or family member. There is no marketing, but you still need a written contract, the disclosures below and a title company.
• Sell directly to an investor or cash buyer. No showings or repairs, usually at a lower price. Our Maryland page explains how a direct sale to Maryland House Pros works, and the Baltimore page covers the city.

Paperwork Maryland requires from every seller

Disclosure or disclaimer statement

Real Property §10-702 requires the seller of a single-family home to give the buyer either a written property condition disclosure statement on the Maryland Real Estate Commission form or a written disclaimer statement. If the buyer doesn’t get one before signing, the buyer can cancel the contract until it is delivered or within 5 days after receiving it. A disclaimer does not excuse you from disclosing latent defects you know about.

Lead paint disclosure for pre-1978 homes

Much of Baltimore’s housing, including most rowhouses, was built before 1978. For those homes, federal rules require the seller to give the buyer the EPA lead pamphlet, disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards, hand over any lead reports, include a lead warning statement in the contract, and allow the buyer a 10-day period for a lead inspection unless the buyer waives it. Keep signed copies for three years.

Condo and HOA resale packages

If the house is a condominium or in a homeowners association, Maryland requires extra documents. A condo buyer gets the declaration, bylaws, rules and a resale certificate, and has 7 days after receiving them to cancel (Real Property §11-135). An HOA buyer gets the association’s disclosures, and can cancel within 5 days if they arrive after the contract is signed (§11B-106). Order the package from the management company early.

A written contract and a title company

Use a complete Maryland residential sales contract, not a one-page form from the internet. A title company or settlement attorney orders the title search, gets your mortgage payoff, collects the transfer and recordation taxes, and records the deed. Many FSBO sellers pay a Maryland real estate attorney to review the contract before signing.

What it costs: a Baltimore worksheet

Every Maryland sale pays the 0.5% state transfer tax plus a county transfer tax and recordation tax, and the county rates vary. Here are the government charges on a $250,000 sale in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, using the FY 2025-2026 local rates published by the Department of Legislative Services; that same table lists every other county. The contract decides who pays each one, so negotiate it in writing.

One rule the contract can’t change: if your buyer is a first-time Maryland homebuyer who will live in the house, the state transfer tax drops to 0.25% and the seller pays all of it (Tax-Property §13-203).

On top of those, budget for:

• A buyer’s agent fee, if any. Many buyers work with an agent, and that agent may ask you to cover their fee. It is negotiable, and you can say no, but it can affect which buyers make offers. Since August 17, 2024, an agent must have a written agreement with their buyer before touring, and MLS listings can no longer show an offer to pay the buyer’s agent, so any such payment is agreed directly.
• Marketing. A flat-fee MLS listing, photos and signs.
• Repairs a buyer’s lender requires. FHA and VA appraisals in particular can call for repairs before the loan closes.
• Holding costs. Mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities for every month the house is on the market.
• Attorney review of the contract, if you use one.

FSBO vs. Realtor in Baltimore County and the rest of Maryland

The law and the paperwork are the same whichever way you sell. What changes is who does the work and who you pay.

When FSBO works, and when it doesn’t

FSBO tends to work when:

• The house is in good condition and a buyer’s lender will finance it as-is.
• You have time for showings and a 30- to 60-day financed closing.
• You are comfortable negotiating and keeping track of contract deadlines.
• You already have a buyer.

It tends to struggle when:

• The house needs major work (roof, structure, systems) that financed buyers can’t take on. See selling a Maryland house that needs major repairs.
• There are open code violations, liens or title problems. The liens and title guide explains what has to be cleared at settlement.
• The house is occupied by tenants who won’t cooperate with showings.
• You have a fixed deadline, such as a move or a foreclosure date.

In those cases, compare a listing with an agent and a direct as-is sale. The repair-and-list vs. as-is comparison puts both through the same worksheet so you can see what you would keep.

What if your house doesn’t sell?

Whether you are in Halethorpe, Towson or anywhere else in Maryland, start by comparing your time on the market with what is normal locally. In August 2026, Baltimore-area homes went under contract in a median of 15 days (see how long it takes to sell a house in Maryland). If yours has sat for several weeks with few showings or no offers, one of these is usually the reason:

• Price. Buyers compare your price with what similar homes actually sold for. A reduction to match recent sales is the most common fix.
• Condition. If showings end in no offers, or offers fall apart after inspection or appraisal, the house may need repairs a lender won’t finance.
• Exposure. Without the MLS and good photos, many buyers never see the listing.
• Buyer’s agent pay. If you refused to discuss it, some agents may steer their buyers elsewhere.

Then choose a next step:

• Reprice, fix the items that keep coming up, and relist.
• Hire a listing agent for the next round.
• Rent the house out for now; the landlord guide covers what renting in Maryland involves if you later decide to sell.
• Sell as-is to a direct buyer. You give up some price in exchange for no repairs, no showings and a settlement date you choose. You can see an as-is estimate before deciding.