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Guide · For sale by owner

Selling your home without an agent

You can sell a California home without an agent. That’s called for sale by owner, or FSBO. The escrow works the same way: it holds the money, follows the written instructions you and the buyer both sign, and closes when the deed records. You take on the paperwork an agent would do, including the disclosures. Escrow can’t do that part for you, because it stays neutral.

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What changes without an agent?

The agent’s work falls to you. You and the buyer write and sign the purchase contract, and you give the buyer the disclosures the law requires. A real estate attorney is a smart call for the contract.

Selling on your own doesn’t change what escrow does. What you save is the commission, and that’s outside escrow. Call us at (714) 544-6525 for a quote.

What must the seller supply?

Without an agent, all of this is yours to deliver. Most of it has to reach the buyer as soon as practicable before closing.

Disclosures to the buyer

  • A Transfer Disclosure Statement about the home’s condition (Civil Code §1102.3)
  • A Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement, if the home is in a mapped flood, fire or earthquake zone. A report from an expert in natural hazards can be used (§1103.4).
  • For a home built before 1978, before the buyer signs the contract: what you know about lead paint, any reports you have, and the lead pamphlet from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The buyer also gets 10 days to test for lead, unless they waive it (EPA disclosure rule).
  • If there’s a homeowners association (HOA): its governing documents and a statement of dues and any unpaid amounts (§4525)
  • A notice that supplemental property tax bills may follow the sale (§1102.6c)
  • Since January 1, 2026: a statement suggesting an inspection of the electrical system (§1102.6i)

In the contract

  • The notice about the state’s online database of registered sex offenders, required in every contract to sell a home with one to four units (§2079.10a)
  • For a home built before 1978: the Lead Warning Statement, in the contract or attached to it (EPA)
  • The price, the deposit, the deadlines and which side pays each cost

For escrow

  • The signed purchase contract, with every addendum
  • Your lender’s name and your loan number
  • Form 593 for California tax withholding, including any exemption you claim (Franchise Tax Board)
  • A current photo ID for signing

Selling a condo or a home in an HOA? Ask the association for its documents early, so you can pass them on.

When do the disclosures have to reach the buyer?

As soon as practicable before the sale closes (Civil Code §1102.3, §1103.3). Sooner is better. If a disclosure, or a material change to one, reaches the buyer after they sign an offer, the buyer gets 3 days to cancel after it’s handed over, or 5 days after it’s mailed or sent electronically.

The buyer can’t waive these disclosures. The law says any waiver is void (§1102). If you learn something new before closing, give the buyer a written update (§1102.9).

How a sale without agents moves through escrow

Your contract sets the timing. Most sales follow this order.

  1. Step 1: Sign a written contract

    You and the buyer agree on the price and the terms, in writing. Escrow can’t write the contract or suggest terms.

  2. Step 2: Open escrow

    Send us the signed contract and both sides’ contact details. The buyer’s deposit goes to escrow, not to you.

  3. Step 3: Deliver the disclosures

    Give the buyer the statements listed above, and keep a signed copy of each. The EPA says to keep the signed lead disclosure for three years (EPA).

  4. Step 4: Title and payoffs

    The title company searches the county records. We order a payoff demand from each of your lenders.

  5. Step 5: Sign

    You sign the grant deed and your escrow papers in front of a notary. The buyer signs theirs, plus the loan papers if there’s a loan.

  6. Step 6: Closing

    The deed records with the county. Escrow pays your loans and costs, then sends you the rest the way your signed instructions say.

What escrow does, and doesn’t, in a sale without agents

Escrow does

  • Hold the deposit and the buyer’s money
  • Write escrow instructions from your signed contract
  • Order payoffs from your lenders
  • Coordinate with the title company and any lender
  • Prepare the closing statement and pay everyone at closing

Escrow doesn’t

  • Write your purchase contract
  • Negotiate the price or the terms
  • Tell you what to disclose, or how
  • Advise you on legal or tax questions
  • Side with you or with the buyer

Why does escrow stay neutral?

Because both sides trust it with their money and their papers. California law defines escrow as a third party that holds what one side hands over until a stated condition is met, then delivers it (Financial Code §17003). A holder that took a side couldn’t do that job.

The disclosure law says it plainly too: an escrow holder isn’t the seller’s or the buyer’s agent for these disclosures, unless a written agreement says so (Civil Code §1102.11). So escrow can explain what a form is for, but it can’t tell you what to write on it.

When you need advice, call a real estate attorney, who can work for you. Escrow works for the instructions you both signed (California Department of Real Estate).

How Alliance Mutual Escrow helps

We run a sale without agents the same way we run any other, with the same steps. We explain what each escrow paper does, and we tell you and the buyer what we still need.

We can’t choose your terms or your disclosures. We can make sure the money and the papers move only as you both agreed.

Questions about selling without an agent

Can escrow write our purchase contract?

No. The contract comes from you and the buyer, often with an attorney’s help. Once you both sign it, we open escrow from it and write the escrow instructions to match.

Do I still owe disclosures if I sell without an agent?

Yes. The Transfer Disclosure Statement is the seller’s duty, agent or not, and any waiver of it is void (Civil Code §1102). If the home is in a mapped hazard zone, a seller without an agent makes the natural hazard disclosure too (Civil Code §1103).

Does escrow cost less without agents?

The escrow work is the same with or without agents. What you save is the agents’ commission, which isn’t part of escrow. Call us at (714) 544-6525 for a quote.

Who holds the deposit when there are no agents?

Escrow does. The buyer sends the deposit to escrow, never straight to the seller, and it stays there until closing or until both of you sign to release it.

Sources and fine print

  1. Cal. Civil Code §1102 (the disclosure law, and no waivers)
  2. Cal. Civil Code §1102.3 (when the disclosure is due, and the right to cancel)
  3. Cal. Civil Code §1102.6c (supplemental tax bill notice)
  4. Cal. Civil Code §1102.6i (electrical inspection notice, 2026)
  5. Cal. Civil Code §1102.9 (amending a disclosure)
  6. Cal. Civil Code §1102.11 (escrow isn’t either side’s agent)
  7. Cal. Civil Code §1103 (natural hazard disclosure)
  8. Cal. Civil Code §1103.3 (when the hazard disclosure is due)
  9. Cal. Civil Code §1103.4 (reports from hazard experts)
  10. Cal. Civil Code §2079.10a (sex offender database notice)
  11. Cal. Civil Code §4525 (HOA documents for the buyer)
  12. EPA: Real estate disclosures about potential lead hazards
  13. Cal. Financial Code §17003 (the legal definition of escrow)
  14. Franchise Tax Board: real estate withholding (Form 593)
  15. California Department of Real Estate Reference Book, chapter 8: Escrow

Sources checked September 2026. Page updated . General information, not legal or tax advice.

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