Selling without a REALTOR®: How FSBO works

Written by Samantha SheltonNMLS 1647301Updated October 2026

This article is general information about selling strategy, not legal or tax advice. Disclosure duties, contract language, fair housing obligations and tax treatment depend on your situation and your county. Consult a Michigan real estate attorney and a qualified tax professional.

Selling without a REALTOR® means personally taking on the work a listing agent would run (pricing, MLS access, marketing, showings, disclosure, negotiation and contract-to-close coordination) in exchange for not paying a listing-side commission. It is the uncommon path: 91% of sellers used an agent in the National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, covering July 2024 through June 2025, matching the highest share on record. Your buyer will probably have one too, since 88% of buyers used an agent or broker.

Learn which jobs a for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) seller absorbs, how buyer-agent compensation works after the August 2024 practice changes, and which disclosure duties survive however you sell, or start with our Selling a Home guide.

Key takeaways:

• You are replacing a job, not just a fee: 91% of sellers used an agent in NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers; going without one means owning pricing, MLS access, showings, disclosure and closing coordination.
• Your buyer almost certainly has an agent: 88% of buyers used one, and since August 17, 2024 offers of buyer-agent compensation cannot be communicated through an MLS, so have that conversation off-MLS.
• Disclosure is statutory: Michigan requires a written seller disclosure statement on transfers of 1 to 4 residential dwelling units, and a pre-1978 home adds a federal lead disclosure with a 10-day buyer inspection opportunity.

What does a FSBO seller personally take on?

Seven jobs, and the paperwork ones carry the most risk. FSBO describes representation, not marketing. You can still list on the MLS and pay a buyer’s agent. What you lose is the listing agent who would build your comparable set, control access to your house and drive the weeks between contract and closing, plus the liability a brokerage absorbs. The benefits of working with a seller’s agent are the honest counterweight here.

• Pricing: Build the comparable set from closed sales, not active listings, because closed sales are what an appraiser uses. See pricing a home for sale and pricing for a quick sale.
• MLS access: Only an MLS participant can enter a listing, so reaching agent-represented buyers means hiring a flat-fee or limited-service broker.
• Marketing: Photography, listing copy and syndication are yours, see marketing your home online.
• Showing control and safety: You screen strangers yourself. Require a preapproval letter or proof of funds before scheduling, never show alone, and secure medications, mail and documents.
• Disclosure: The Michigan seller disclosure statement and, on pre-1978 homes, the federal lead disclosure, see how to handle seller disclosures.
• Negotiation: Offers, counters, inspection responses and appraisal problems.
• Closing coordination: Title commitment, lien payoffs, deed preparation and prorations, choose your closing agent early. See how to choose a title company.

Here is how the three paths compare.

How do you get on the MLS without a listing agent?

Through a flat-fee or limited-service broker, because MLS entry is restricted to MLS participants. You cannot upload a listing yourself. The broker enters and syndicates it; you keep showings, negotiation and the contract. Pricing is a flat fee rather than a percentage, but there is no standard package, so get the fee, term, cancellation terms and included services in writing first.

• You have hired a broker: The Fair Housing Act’s narrow exemption for an owner selling a single-family house applies only where the sale is made without the services of any broker, agent or salesperson and without advertising in violation of the Act. An MLS listing spends that exemption.
• The advertising rule never covered it anyway: That exemption expressly does not reach 42 U.S.C. 3604(c), which bars any notice, statement or advertisement about the sale of a dwelling indicating a preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.

So the rule for listing copy is simple: describe the property, never the neighborhood’s demographics and never the buyer you are picturing. Michigan’s exposure is broader, the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act reaches any person engaging in a real estate transaction, not just brokers, and adds age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and marital status to the federal list.

That is why buyer love letters are a liability, not a tiebreaker. Michigan’s statute also bars making a record of inquiry that indicates an intent to discriminate, and a letter with a family photo hands you the characteristics you may not weigh. Tell buyers up front you will not accept or read them, and choose on contract terms alone.

How does buyer-agent compensation work after the 2024 practice changes?

Compensation is still negotiable and still payable by a seller who chooses to pay it. It just cannot be advertised on the MLS. Effective August 17, 2024, the National Association of REALTORS® settlement practice changes prohibit offers of compensation from being communicated through an MLS and require MLS-participant buyer agents to have a written agreement with their buyer before touring a home. It may still be negotiated off-MLS or handled as a seller concession, which many MLSs publish in a dedicated field.

Commission has always been negotiable, and there is no standard or customary rate. If anyone quotes a percentage as “typical,” treat it as a sales position, not a fact. Because 88% of buyers work with an agent, most FSBO sellers face this decision. Three structures work.

• Pay the buyer’s broker directly: A written agreement negotiated off-MLS, paid at closing through the settlement statement.
• Offer a seller concession instead: A credit toward the buyer’s closing costs, which they can apply to what they owe their own agent.
• Offer nothing and price accordingly: Legitimate, but the buyer must then cover their agent under the buyer’s agent agreement they signed, shrinking what they can offer you.

If you go the concession route, the cap depends on the buyer’s loan and no single number covers everything: conventional runs 3%, 6% or 9% of the lower of sales price or appraised value by loan-to-value (2% on investment property), FHA allows 6% of the sales price,¹ and VA allows 4% of reasonable value on top of customary seller-paid closing costs.² The cap-by-cap table lives in seller concessions: what are they. The FSBO-specific wrinkle is worth knowing, though: agent commissions customarily paid by the seller are not counted as an interested-party contribution, so paying a buyer’s agent does not eat the credit budget you were planning to offer. Confirm the limit with the buyer’s lender before you sign.

Which legal duties can a FSBO seller not delegate?

Disclosure, lead paint and fair housing. None of which care whether you hired an agent, and none of which an “as-is” clause waives.

Michigan’s Seller Disclosure Act applies to transfers of not less than 1 or more than 4 residential dwelling units. The written statement must reach the buyer before you execute a binding purchase agreement; deliver it late and the buyer gets a termination right, no later than 72 hours after in-person delivery or 120 hours by registered mail, expiring on transfer by deed. Disclosures must be made in good faith, which the statute defines as honesty in fact, and the Act expressly does not limit other obligations regarding fraud, misrepresentation or deceit. See what a seller’s disclosure is. Selling as-is changes what you agree to repair; it does not license you to conceal a known defect.

For a home built before 1978, federal law requires you to give the buyer the lead hazard information pamphlet, disclose known lead-based paint or hazards with available records, and permit a 10-day period, unless both parties agree in writing to a different one, for a risk assessment or inspection. That duty attaches to the housing, not to how it is marketed, so a cash sale carries it too.

What does the evidence actually say about FSBO outcomes?

FSBO is rare and getting rarer: it accounted for 5% of home sales in NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (an all-time low, covering transactions from July 2024 through June 2025) against 6% the year before, and the same report put seller agent or broker use at 91%.

Be careful with the price comparisons that circulate alongside those figures. Median FSBO prices are routinely reported below agent-assisted medians, but FSBO sellers are not a random sample, a large share involve a buyer the seller already knew. That gap describes who sells FSBO; it does not measure what representation is worth on your house. The real point is narrower: your buyer pool is overwhelmingly agent-represented, and those buyers search the MLS first.

So the honest read is conditional. FSBO works best when you already have your buyer, when your market moves fast enough that exposure does the work, or when you have time to run a transaction on someone else’s deadline. It gets harder in a slow market, see selling a home in a declining market, our Selling Strategies hub, common seller mistakes to avoid, our complete guide to selling your house, and strategies for selling a home quickly.

What do FSBO sellers report struggling with?

Pricing, preparation and timing, according to NAR’s own breakdown of its 2025 survey. In a November 11, 2025 report, NAR said FSBO sellers most often struggled with pricing their home, preparing it for sale and selling within their desired timeframe, and that 40% of FSBO sellers did not actively market their homes at all. The same report traces the long decline in owner sales from up to 21% of home sales in 1985.

NAR also reported the medians behind the price comparison that circulates: $360,000 for FSBO homes against $425,000 for agent-assisted homes, per its November 4, 2025 release. NAR’s caveat in the November 11 report is that the gap may reflect FSBO homes more often being lower-cost mobile homes and being in rural locations, so the two medians do not describe like homes.

Two academic studies narrow the question further. A 2007 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper on sales in Madison, Wisconsin reported no support for the idea that an MLS listing gets sellers a significantly higher price, but found that listing on the MLS shortened the time it took to sell. A 2013 anchoring study of more than 14,000 transactions, listed by the Harvard Kennedy School, found higher starting prices were associated with higher selling prices, but for the average home in its sample, overpricing by 10% to 20% raised the sale price by only $117 to $163. For an owner setting their own list price, that is a case for pricing from the closed sales, not for listing high and waiting.

What does the 2026 market mean for a FSBO seller?

More leverage for buyers, which raises the bar for an owner pricing alone. NAR’s existing-home sales report put September 2026 sales at 3.99 million with inventory rising to 1.60 million homes, and NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said that “higher inventory and lengthening days on market give buyers improved negotiating power.”

NAR’s REALTORS® Confidence Index survey for September 2026 shows what that looks like at the contract stage: 16% of homes sold above list price, down from 21% a year earlier; 27% of buyers paid cash, down from 30%; 20% of buyers waived the inspection contingency; and 7% of contracts were terminated in the prior three months, up slightly from 6% a year ago.

Prices are still rising in this part of the country. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. house prices rose 2.1% from the second quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026, and 4.5% in the East North Central division, which includes Michigan; the release gives no Michigan-only figure. A market with more listings and fewer bidding wars rewards accurate pricing and patience, the two areas NAR’s FSBO sellers said gave them the most trouble.

What contract clauses come with an FHA or VA buyer?

Each program writes a low-appraisal exit into the deal, and an owner drafting their own purchase agreement has to expect it. FHA’s Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (Update 18, last revised August 12, 2026) requires an amendatory clause when the buyer has not received the appraised value statement before signing: the purchaser “shall not be obligated to complete the purchase” or forfeit earnest money until given that statement, and keeps the option to go ahead regardless of the appraised valuation. See FHA loans.

VA’s Home Loan Buyer’s Guide describes the same idea as an escape clause: the buyer has the option not to purchase when the appraisal’s Notice of Value comes in below the contract price. The guide lists the paths after a low value as a Reconsideration of Value, a renegotiated price at or below the appraised value if the seller is willing, or the buyer bringing cash to closing. See VA loans.

Appraisal trouble shows up in the national numbers too: NAR’s September 2026 Confidence Index survey reported 5% of contracts delayed by appraisal issues and 16% with a delayed settlement. If a government-backed buyer’s value comes in short, your choices are the ones those guides list; see the home appraisal process and selling a home with a low appraisal.

How do you protect your sale proceeds from wire fraud?

Treat any change to payment instructions as a scam until you confirm it by phone with someone you already know. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported in June 2023 that business email compromise targets every participant in a real estate transaction, sellers included, and that exposed losses across all business email compromise reports reached $50,871,249,501 from October 2013 to December 2022. The pattern it describes is a fraudulent request to change the payment type, frequently from check to wire, or to move money to a different bank account.

The CFPB’s closing scam guidance says to confirm wiring instructions with your trusted representatives, never follow instructions contained in an email, and avoid phone numbers or links in an email. Without a listing agent, setting this up is your job: agree with your closing agent, in person or on a phone number you looked up yourself, how your payoff and proceeds will move, and tell them you will never change those instructions by email.

Two other cautions for an owner fielding offers alone. Fraud.org warned in June 2023 that quick-cash offers for “ugly” houses may significantly undervalue the home, add junk fees or trap the owner in contracts that are hard to back out of; weigh any such offer against the pros and cons of selling to a cash buyer. And on cash sales, a federal court in Texas vacated FinCEN’s Residential Real Estate Rule on March 19, 2026; per FinCEN, reporting persons are not required to file Real Estate Reports while that order remains in force, and FinCEN and the Department of Justice have appealed.

How does selling without a REALTOR® change your financing plan?

It puts buyer verification on you and makes your net proceeds harder to estimate. Align Lending is a mortgage broker, not a listing brokerage. We do not list homes. We work the financing side, where three things matter.

• Verify the buyer before you go off the market: A prequalification is not an approval. Ask for a full preapproval and confirm what the lender reviewed, see prequalified vs. preapproved and why preapproval matters. On a cash offer, ask for proof of funds.
• Model the net, not the price: Payoffs, prorated taxes, transfer tax, title charges and any concession come off the top, see the finances of selling and seller closing costs.
• Price the gap: If you must buy before this home closes, get bridge financing quoted in advance, not mid-contract.

One tax note. IRS guidance allows you to exclude up to $250,000 of gain on the sale of a main home, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned it at least 24 months of the five years ending on the sale date and used it as a residence at least 24 months of that period.³ See capital gains tax exemptions; have a tax professional apply the tests to your numbers.

What Michigan FSBO sellers should know

Michigan puts transfer tax on the seller and disclosure on a statutory clock, and neither depends on representation. The state does not license an owner selling their own home, though its broker definition reaches anyone selling real estate as a principal vocation.

• Transfer tax comes out of your side: Michigan levies state transfer tax at $3.75 per $500 of value and county transfer tax at 55 cents per $500 in counties under 2,000,000 population, $8.60 per $1,000 combined, or $2,580 on a $300,000 sale.⁴ Both statutes put the tax on the seller, payable to the county treasurer within 15 days.
• Your disclosure clock starts before the contract: The written statement must be delivered on the form the Act prescribes, before you execute a binding purchase agreement. Late delivery hands the buyer a 72- or 120-hour termination right.
• An attorney is optional but common: Michigan does not require one at closing and a title company typically handles settlement, but many FSBO sellers pay an attorney a flat fee to draft or review the purchase agreement. See why title insurance matters.
• Clear the liens first: Gathering payoff statements for every mortgage, home equity line, tax lien and contractor lien is your job, see selling a home with a lien.

What does Michigan law require of a flat-fee broker you hire?

The same core duties any listing broker owes, unless you waive specific services in writing. Michigan licenses and regulates brokers and salespersons under Article 25 of Public Act 299 of 1980, according to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, whose page links license verification and the complaint process. Check the broker’s license there before you sign.

• Duties a lower fee does not remove: MCL 339.2512d lists minimum duties owed to a client, including reasonable care and skill, loyalty to the client’s interest, confidentiality, and referral to other licensed professionals for expert advice on matters outside the broker’s expertise.
• Disclosure comes first: under MCL 339.2517, the written agency disclosure comes before you share confidential information, a seller’s agent acts solely on behalf of the seller, and one licensee may represent both sides only with the written, informed consent of buyer and seller.
• Earnest money has a deadline: a broker holding the buyer’s deposit must place it in a custodial trust or escrow account not later than 2 banking days after learning the offer was accepted by all parties, per MCL 339.2512. A complaint seeking a penalty under that section must be filed within 18 months of the violation or the completed transaction, whichever is later.
• Unlicensed help cannot sue for a fee: MCL 339.2512a bars anyone from suing in a Michigan court to collect compensation for work that requires a license without proving they were licensed at the time.
• Cash now for a listing later has limits: since 2024, MCL 339.2512g makes a right-to-list home sale agreement void if it is not in writing or runs more than 2 years, and limits an early termination payment to what the broker paid the owner plus interest of 6% a year. See how to choose a real estate agent and how agent commissions work.

What does a FSBO net sheet look like?

Start from the price and subtract every dollar that leaves at closing. Hypothetical example, not an offer.

Rates: Michigan Department of Treasury, State Real Estate Transfer Tax and the Oakland County Register of Deeds fee schedule, effective October 1, 2016. Payoff and concession are hypothetical.

The lines left out are the ones you collect quotes for yourself: title and settlement fees from your closing agent, any flat MLS fee, attorney review, prorated property taxes and any buyer-agent compensation you agreed to in writing. Treasury notes that some buyers and sellers agree the buyer will pay the state tax on the seller’s behalf, and that it is paid through the county when the deed is recorded.

To work through your own version, use the seller net sheet calculator or the Michigan transfer tax calculator.

FAQ: Selling without a REALTOR®

Here are answers to common questions about selling without a REALTOR®.

How much money do you save selling without a REALTOR®?

You save whatever listing-side commission you would have negotiated, and nothing more. Commission has always been negotiable and there is no standard or customary rate, so the savings figure is whatever you would have agreed to pay. Against it, count buyer-agent compensation or a concession, a flat-fee MLS listing, photography and often an attorney.

Can I list on the MLS without a REALTOR®?

Yes, through a flat-fee or limited-service broker, because only MLS participants can enter listings. You keep showings and negotiation; the broker handles entry and syndication. Exposure matters because 88% of buyers work with an agent, and agents search the MLS first. See marketing your home online.

What paperwork do I need to sell a house myself?

At minimum: a written purchase agreement, the Michigan seller disclosure statement, a lead-based paint disclosure for a pre-1978 home, the deed prepared for transfer, a title commitment, payoff statements for every lien, tax and utility information, and any HOA resale documents. Many FSBO sellers add a flat-fee attorney review. See what a seller’s disclosure is.

Is FSBO worth it in a slow market?

It is harder. When demand thins, pricing precision and negotiation experience matter more. FSBO holds up best when you already have a buyer, when your market is moving fast, or when the home is distinctive enough that the right buyer finds it anyway.

What services can a Michigan limited-service broker leave out?

Only three. Under subsection (5) of MCL 339.2512d, a limited service agreement may waive accepting and presenting offers and counteroffers, help developing and negotiating offers until all contingencies are satisfied or waived, and help completing the transaction after signing. Marketing the home as agreed and a detailed closing statement stay required, though the statement duty does not apply when a title insurance company conducts the closing.

Do I have to report a FSBO home sale to the IRS?

Yes, if you receive an information return such as Form 1099-S: IRS Topic No. 701 says you must then report the sale even if the gain is excludable. IRS Publication 523 (2025) has you figure the amount realized as the sale price minus selling expenses, which include advertising fees, legal fees and sales commissions, so keep receipts for a flat MLS fee, advertising and attorney review.

Can I get Michigan state transfer tax refunded when I sell my home?

Possibly. MCL 207.526 exempts the sale of a principal residence by a seller who claimed the principal residence exemption when its state equalized value is no higher than at acquisition and the price is arm’s length. With no listing agent, check your closing statement: if the state portion was collected, the Michigan Department of Treasury takes refund claims on Form 2796 no later than four years and 15 days after the sale; allow 6 to 8 weeks before checking.

Does the Clear Cooperation Policy apply to a FSBO seller?

It is written for listing brokers in the MLS. Under NAR’s MLS Clear Cooperation Policy, a listing broker must submit a listing to the MLS within one business day of marketing it to the public, and public marketing includes yard signs, window flyers, public websites and email blasts. NAR’s 2025 Multiple Listing Options for Sellers let a seller direct a delayed-marketing or office-exclusive listing instead.

The bottom line on selling without a REALTOR®

Selling without a REALTOR® trades a commission for a job list: pricing, MLS access through a flat-fee broker, marketing, showing safety, disclosure, negotiation and closing coordination. It is the minority path for a reason, 91% of sellers used an agent in NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, and 88% of buyers used one. If you go FSBO, do three things well: deliver the Michigan seller disclosure statement before any binding purchase agreement, settle buyer-agent compensation off-MLS before you list, and describe the property rather than the buyer in your marketing.

If you’re ready to plan what your proceeds actually buy, talk to Align Lending. We’ll vet your buyer’s preapproval, shop your next purchase across our lender network, and show you the numbers side by side. Call 248-506-5727 or start online. Take contract, disclosure, fair housing and title questions to a Michigan real estate attorney, and tax questions to a qualified tax professional.

Footnotes:

1. Align Lending is not acting on behalf of or at the direction of FHA or HUD. FHA interested-party contribution limits, inducement-to-purchase treatment, and the items excluded from those limits are set by HUD and are subject to change; confirm current requirements with the buyer’s lender. Return to text.

2. Align Lending works with VA-approved lenders and is not endorsed or sponsored by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. VA seller-concession rules and the treatment of customary seller-paid closing costs are set by the Department of Veterans Affairs and are subject to change; confirm the current limit and its scope with the buyer’s lender before agreeing to a concession. Return to text.

3. This is general information, not tax advice. Eligibility for the home sale gain exclusion, your basis, deductible selling costs, and the effect of divorce, death of a spouse, business use, or periods of non-qualified use depend on your individual circumstances. Consult a qualified tax professional about your situation. Return to text.

4. Example figures are hypothetical and for educational purposes only; they do not constitute an advertisement of credit terms or a rate quote under federal or state lending laws. The $2,580 figure is an Align Lending calculation applying the statutory state rate of $3.75 per $500 and the 55-cent county rate per $500 to a $300,000 sale price, and assumes a Michigan county with a population under 2,000,000 and no applicable statutory exemption. Actual transfer tax depends on the county, the value stated on the instrument, and available exemptions; confirm with your closing agent and a qualified tax professional. Return to text.

Sources: 91% of sellers used an agent, matching the highest share on record; 88% of all home buyers and 92% of buyers of previously owned homes used an agent or broker; median time in home before selling of 11 years; survey of transactions between July 2024 and June 2025, National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. For-sale-by-owner sales at 5% of transactions, an all-time low, for transactions between July 2024 and June 2025, against 6% in the prior edition, National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Prohibition on offers of compensation being communicated through an MLS, the requirement that MLS-participant buyer agents enter a written agreement with the buyer before touring a home, and the continued availability of off-MLS compensation and seller-concession fields, effective August 17, 2024, National Association of REALTORS® settlement practice-change FAQs. Fair Housing Act advertising provision barring any notice, statement or advertisement indicating a preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, 42 U.S.C. 3604(c); exemption for a single-family house sold by an owner, available only where the sale is made without the services of a real estate broker, agent or salesperson and without advertising in violation of 3604(c), and expressly inapplicable to 3604(c), 42 U.S.C. 3603(b). Prohibited practices by a person engaging in a real estate transaction, including advertising and records of inquiry indicating an intent to discriminate, and protected classes of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status and marital status, Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.2502. Michigan Seller Disclosure Act, 1993 PA 92: application to transfers of not less than 1 or more than 4 residential dwelling units, MCL 565.952; delivery before the transferor executes a binding purchase agreement, and the 72-hour in-person and 120-hour registered-mail termination rights expiring on transfer by deed or installment sales contract, MCL 565.954; the prescribed Seller’s Disclosure Statement form, MCL 565.957; good faith defined as honesty in fact in the conduct of the transaction, MCL 565.960; preservation of other obligations regarding fraud, misrepresentation or deceit, MCL 565.961. Lead hazard information pamphlet, disclosure of known lead-based paint and hazards and available records, and the 10-day inspection or risk-assessment opportunity for pre-1978 target housing, 42 U.S.C. 4852d. Definition of real estate broker, including an individual who as owner or otherwise engages in the sale of real estate as a principal vocation, MCL 339.2501(u). Maximum financing concessions of 3% above 90% LTV/CLTV, 6% at 75.01% to 90%, and 9% at 75% or less for a principal residence or second home, 2% at all CLTV ratios for investment property, calculation on the lower of sales price or appraised value rather than the loan amount, exclusion of common and customary seller-paid fees, and reclassification of excess contributions as sales concessions deducted from the sales price. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.1-02, Interested Party Contributions (IPCs), version dated May 7, 2025. Interested-party contributions of up to 6 percent of the sales price toward the borrower’s origination fees, other closing costs, prepaid items and discount points; treatment of amounts above 6 percent as an inducement to purchase; and exclusion of real estate agent commissions or fees typically paid by the seller under local or state law or local custom from interested-party contributions, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1. Michigan state real estate transfer tax of $3.75 per $500 of value, MCL 207.525; seller or grantor liability and payment to the county treasurer within 15 days, MCL 207.523. County real estate transfer tax of 55 cents per $500 in a county with a population under 2,000,000, MCL 207.504, and imposition on the seller or grantor, MCL 207.502. Exclusion of up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return, with ownership for at least 24 months and use as a residence for at least 24 months within the five years ending on the sale date, Internal Revenue Service Topic No. 701. Further reading: NAR data on for-sale-by-owner transactions and the legal paperwork behind a home sale.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice. Disclosure duties, fair housing obligations, loan program requirements, statutory rates and tax rules change and vary by program, property, and locality; confirm current figures with your loan officer, confirm contract, disclosure and fair housing obligations with a Michigan real estate attorney, and confirm tax treatment with a qualified tax professional. Figures shown are illustrative, are not a rate quote or an offer of credit, and do not constitute an advertisement of credit terms. Align Lending is an independent Michigan mortgage broker, NMLS #2041154.

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