To a realtor, you might come across from the start as a PITA. Or you have no idea of the value of your home, and you won't get the highest possible price.

"Or you have no idea of the value of your home"

My house was appraised recently.

What do you hope to gain from this?

"What do you hope to gain from this?"

Sell my house, but only if I get the amount of money I want for it and don't want to "officially" list it.

In reality, how is this different from you listing your house for x selling price- and realtors show it to people who will pay x. Once they come and look at the house though, they can make an offer for any amount.

I think you're saying you don't want to be really hassled with showings etc, so I guess you could approach a realtor and see if theyd do it as an exclusive listing?

Again, the drawback to that is without the multiple listing service, if your house is not unique, you will have way fewer people even aware of your house.

There is no guarantee you'll get the amount you have in your mind....

Yes, here it is a long term sell. You usually need a previous relationship with a realtor. We have neighbors doing this. Their home is a geo dome. It will take just the right buyer. They are also selling lake property with this realtor. Many people in our town sell their home through a realtor and it never hits the market. On the flip side, the realtors are not shy about knocking at doors for clients looking for a suitable retirement set up.

Sell my house, but only if I get the amount of money I want for it and don't want to "officially" list it.

That second part is what I’m asking about. Why not officially list it? I get that the process can be unpleasant and you don’t want to go through it only to be lowballed, but compared to the potential reward it’s not a lot of work.

Good friends had a 1950 cape, maintained “ok” but very little upgraded at all in 70+ years. Livable. This past November they signed with a friend of theirs (and old friend of mine), a respected local agent who thought they’d be looking at mid 7’s. She recommended listing low and seeing what happens. I’m using texts and Zillow to put this together:

Nov 19, listed for 699.

Nov 24, very excited at a high offer of 765. Decided to close bidding next day.

Nov 25, even more excited at an offer for 840, which they accepted.

If they had done a quiet sale and used the realtor’s “appraisal” of 750, they’d have ended up 90K lower. That’s a lot of money for cleaning up the house and taking pictures.

I put appraisal in quotes because it technically wasn’t, but then an agent would do similar analysis to an appraiser, looking at comps and coming up with a number. It’s not an exact science. I’ve had two appraisals in my life and they both “miraculously” came in at the exact amount of what my offers were.

I have the same question as FOS........Why don't you want to officially list it? Is it that you don't want other people (specific other people?) to know you're selling until it's sold? There are agents who will do that type of private sale, but I think you'd need a very valuable property to make it worthwhile to them.

I could be wrong, but aren’t there regulations on RA’s related to “ secret” listings? Maybe not too burdensome but maybe has something to do with the timeframe. Something like, the agent has to get the listing ahead of time and can maybe “ shop it” to selected buyers for ? 24 hours or so, and make the transaction in less than x amount of time, otherwise has to put the listing up publicly ( on the agency website). . May vary by state certainly.
So of course you could talk with an agent and find out how things work.

We own multiple properties. Many years back when we used to flip homes my DH did what you are talking about.

Listed a fair non negotiable price. It sold.

In this climate, buyers expect to negotiate and so sellers anticipate that in their listing price.

It is currently a buyers market and house prices are dropping. Very rare to see a bidding war.

I get where you are coming from. You can certainly try it.

"That second part is what I’m asking about. Why not officially list it?"

I don't want people to know, I want to keep it on the down-low. I also don't want the hassle of showings. All I want is X-amount of money so I can cash out and move. I don't have to move and don't necessarily want to move but if I got X-amount I'd pack up and go.

My home almost doubled in value in the 9 years I've been here, I'm sitting on a pile of cash, I want to sell and go pay cash for a smaller, "better" house that I don't have to continue to put so much money into (still have a long list of repairs/improvements that need to be done, none of which are inexpensive). DH is retiring in another year and a half, so we won't be tied to this expensive area of the state anymore (expensive particularly in taxes). I can still afford to live here even after he retires, so if I don't move that's fine too. A major factor in my favor is this area is still hot for home sales, and I have a one-story with a basement and the market is on fire for those.

I'm ambivalent about moving -- some days I really really want to and be rid of the burden of mortgage payment, ridiculously high property taxes, and the never-ending list of things that need to fixed; other days I look around and think I live in one of the most beautiful places there is and I love it here. So the selling price would have to make it worth my while -- and I know exactly what that price is.

Couple of you have experience with this approach, good to know others have done it.

There are companies who will buy homes, sight unseen. Usually, they buy way below market price. But my cousin did it. He told the company he wanted to sell the house for X and they came back to him and said you have a deal.

They had a house built so the company either delayed closing or more likely allowed them to rent until they could move i to their new home.

He was very happy with the whole process

“A major factor in my favor is this area is still hot for home sales, and I have a one-story with a basement and the market is on fire for those.”

And you’re willing to settle for the appraised amount?

I also sold my last house without officially putting it on the market. It was quick and painless, so I totally get where you’re coming from. But was it the best financial decision, absolutely not. As long as you know that and are ok with that, as I was, go for it.

“Lots of improvements needed which are not inexpensive.” That might put a damper on bidders and your set-in-stone price. As a buyer that would turn me off bigtime.

I have an experience where this approach was proposed by one of two co-owners. It wasn't followed, and doing so would have been a costly mistake.

This happened about 4 years ago, involving relatives on my wife's side. A brother (a doofus) and sister (nice person, normal in most respects) started the task of selling their parents' house, after the second of the two died. I know all the details because I was an active "adviser" to them all along the way, at their request. The house needed a lot of work but was in a great location in LA.

The two siblings are cordial with one another but not close. S distrusts B. They started by deciding each would talk to realtors and would report back to the other to propose one. S identified a realtor through a friend, one who had produced great results on two properties. She looked at it and presented good ideas of how to bring it to market. B brought a proposal to the discussion - "I have a friend who's a realtor, who knows a guy looking for houses. He showed him the place. He's willing to buy it for $950K. I think we should take it". S says she would like to talk with the realtor she'd found, ask what she would do. "Okay", said B.

S's proposed realtor said "We can't ever be sure of the market and how potential buyers will react. Here's my suggestion - give me the listing for 30 days. I'll list it at $950K. If I can't do better, I'll end the listing and you can go with the other guy"

I thought that was a great idea, B+S thought so too.

The first two weeks were spent cleaning up the place, moving everything out (sent to charities and to the dump) and getting it thoroughly cleaned. Then, the house was staged with furnishings that made it much more attractive than it had been (I saw photos). All done at the realtor's expense.

Third week - an open house was held on Saturday. By Wednesday, 7 offers had been received, all above the listing price. (Yeah, I know, that's not believable but it is true). "What should we do", I was asked. My suggestion - don't counter. Tell each bidder there are others being considered, all over the asking price. Ask if still interested for each to submit a last, best offer by Friday no lower than $X, the highest offer on the table.

A surprising outcome. The highest bid was $1,475,000, and it was accepted. It came from a buyer represented by the "selling" realtor who had the 30 day listing. The realtor voluntarily offered along with the offer her client submitted, to drop the commission to 4% from the 6% in the listing agreement. I told them to not to ask how it was her client's bid came in the highest, easy enough to guess.

It's truly never ever possible to know in advance what a property is worth, appraisal or no appraisal. Let the market decide.

“Lots of improvements needed which are not inexpensive.”

I should clarify that statement. I don't think "needed" was the right word to use; "desired" or "wanted" would have been better words.

The only improvement that must be done is the master bathroom, it isn't waterproofed properly, so yes that would have to be taken into account.

The other improvements are things we should do/want to do for our own benefit and to up the odds of being able to age in place comfortably but aren't things that have to be done.

Meet with three agents. Tell them you are thinking of selling, you don't have to do so now, but you could. You want to see what your home would list for and are preliminarily shopping for agents. You might actually be enticed to list through this process and pick one of them. Or after meeting with all three you just tell them all that you aren't ready to sell yet but if they know of someone who wants to buy at X price you'd be motivated to move. That seems honest enough to me.

I met with five agents to decide who to use. They all told me to list way higher than I thought my house was worth, thinking I'd see dollar signs and choose them. Nope. It is so easy to spend an hour online searching comps of what has sold in the last 6 months in your neighborhood.

Anytime I have listed, I pick my last resort price, added 10-20% as the listing price. I have always eneded up getting what I wanted, and in some cases a lot more.

If your area is truly hot, you should not have a problem. If you have the flexibility to move, I'd not sit on a home in a hot market right now. You don't know when it will cool.

Stax, the article you linked to is about a different topic.

I deleted my above post because Elmer J Fudd is always right.

Turns out, he is mistaken, the link is spot on to the subject of this post.

Here it is again:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2025/06/25/compass-zillow-lawsuit-secret-listings/

The fact pattern as I understood it was that the porkchop wants to hire a realtor to find a buyer. Using no means of any kind to advertise or spread the word that the property is for sale.

Did I misunderstand?

Zillow is an aggregator, which means, it pulls together public information for its site. Its gripe is that what would otherwise be public information is withheld. The article is about "multiple listings" that are kept private within one realtor corporation or other non-multiple listing means. Or, delayed before being made public.

porkchop expressly wants no listing. She wants no one but her agent to know the house is available. "If you find someone (not sure how that would work), link us up".

Common agreements between a prospective seller and a realtor are called "multiple listing agreements". They result (absent added provisions) in "for sale" info being publicly disseminated. porkchop expressly doesn't want that.

As I said, it's about a different situation.

You clearly did not read the whole article... too bad.

I'll leave this to you. lol

"The fact pattern as I understood it was that the porkchop wants to hire a realtor to find a buyer. Using no means of any kind to advertise or spread the word that the property is for sale. Did I misunderstand?"

You understood correctly. Thanks for your story, BTW -- I get what you're saying.

Kendrah -- That is a good idea, I might do that.

I would just contact a realtor and run this idea past them. It doesn't cost anything to talk to them about this idea. They will either go for it or not.

I just ran across an article about this sort of deal. It’s behind a paywall but i’ve copied a paragraph to give you an idea about what an uproar what you are proposing could create. Besides perhaps being unethically handled.

‘Starting Monday, Zillow will be banning home listings that have been marketed publicly by a real estate agent — which includes everything from planting a for-sale sign in the front yard to posting on Facebook — without being shared in the local databases that feed home listings to the rest of the real estate industry, including Zillow and other search websites, within one business day. The move is part of a broader fight over "exclusive inventory" or "hidden homes" — basically, properties advertised in some places but not others. In an attempt to seize more control over their listings, agents at some real estate brokerages have been advertising homes in internal databases or posting them only on their own websites, out of reach of the search portals.’

It is called a pocket listing. No advertising of any kind, not on mls, not on any websites. Not illegal as far as I know at this time.

It is an interesting way to sell a home. The sole advantage I can think of is that it is very quiet. Hardly no foot traffic, not a lot of showings. It can take forever to sell and in the end it will probably cost the seller more money besides.

If you're in a hot market - and you really want to sell - it offers you no advantages. IMO, of course. However if you really don't care if it sells or not, and you want almost no disruptions to your life...then a pocket listing can't hurt you anyway.

Please know that the value a house appraises for, especially if the appraisal is a "soft appraisal" such as for a refinance (vs a purchase) is not equal to the market value of the house. They are more flexible in terms of comparables (window of sale time, may include listings that did not sell, size, finishes, etc). Many people assume they can sell their home for that appraisal price and sit on the market for a long time because they are overpriced.

I bought my last home while it was not officially on the market. It had been previously listed and the listing expired. My realtor contacted the owners and they were still interested in selling and we came to an agreed upon price.

In general you will get the best offer on a property when there is some competition by qualified buyers. This is ideally achieved by marketing and generating interest, showing to qualified buyers, and if possible getting multiple offers. If getting the best offer is less important to you than avoiding listing (which I can understand) then maybe this isn't necessary for you. Every time we've listed a property it's been an unpleasant, but necessary, process to show the house.

It seems to me that the number one question for OP is if the number he/she wants is a realistic number? Many of us would be thrilled to have someone knock on our door and offer to buy our home for a price well above market value. Is that what the OP is really getting at here?

We live in a highly desirable neighborhood and property tax records are public, so people know we’ve lived here for decades. So they pretty much figure we’re empty-nesters and are likely to sell at some point soon.

We get at least four or five letters per year asking us to sell our house. Some of the letters come from realtors or investors; but some of them come from regular people usually near us living in a different neighborhood that want to buy our house and then include a picture of their family with their perfect kids and the golden retriever.

If you live in a place and have a home THAT desirable, then go for it. That’s what we’re going to do if we ever move. But if you don’t live in a place at home that is that desirable, then it probably won’t work out for you.

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I don't see compelling advantages to NOT listing a house that you want to sell.

Is it because you aren't sure you want to move? Maybe you don't want to hear that the house isn't worth what think, or fear negotiating the push/pull of a sale -- from first prep through the closing. Examine your motivations before deciding your course.

Selling your family home is a major undertaking. This is one reason sellers accept below-market prices from the Quick Deal buyers making fortunes flipping properties. I think more people today are also reclusive, even more worried about the unfamiliar fray of the marketplace, especially as it concerns what is for many their biggest investment.

It seems to me that, just as people use financial advisors for other investments, they can benefit from using a realtor. If you can't DIY, you have to trust someone, someone with experience in the field.

Motivations: I'm reminded of two sets of heirs who sold the family homes of their respective Aged Parents to investors who popped up with the first printing of obituaries. After decades of dealing with dug-in, needy old people, whatever money they realized was evidently secondary to their closing out the stress.

I've sometimes had discussions with people about how much money would motivate them to sell and move.. If someone walked up to their front door and offered them X amount of money, how much would X have to be to convince them to be willing to sell. It's kind of an interesting question - not the same question as the OP, but a little related.

Ha, if I were offered my Zestimate with no contingencies, I’d be gone by the morning!

"If someone walked up to their front door and offered them X amount of money, how much would X have to be to convince them to be willing to sell. It's kind of an interesting question - not the same question as the OP, but a little related."

It's a lot related question. That is the question that spurred my whole thought process...along with the wish someone would actually do it...

Bingo!

That‘s where I thought you might be going. Wouldn’t we all love that to happen?

As stated above, I think you would have to possess a particularly unique property- and one that broadcasts that to the casual observer. Perhaps that is exactly what you have. Otherwise, how would that buyer come to know about your property? Most of us don’t have that. Thus, we list our homes and properties for sale whether with a realtor or as a FSBO.

So, you could list, set your price (reasonable or unreasonable) and hold fast to that number. If an offer wasn’t to your liking, you could reject it. The uncomfortable truth though, is that you have to let people inside the home or onto the property to view it. And as you stated in your original post, requiring that someone will agree to pay your price, non-negotiable BEFORE you’d even let them see the house is nonsensical. You could require that your realtor confirm that a potential buyer is preapproved or has the monetary means to pay your asking price should they choose to make an offer, and you could reject that offer if it wasnt to your liking.

But an interesting thing often happens once you list your home (even casually with no great need to sell). You may have a phychological shift and decide you really want to get the deal done and the thought of negotiating may become a little less distasteful.

" You may have a phychological shift and decide you really want to get the deal done and the thought of negotiating may become a little less distasteful. "

Interesting - for me, it's the opposite: If I really want to get the deal done, negotiating is less compelling. Completing the deal is more important than maximizing the selling price.

I sold one of my homes by owner. The man knocked on the front door and wanted to buy it for his wife for mothers day. He barely spoke English. I used standard contracts and a title company. He allowed me to sell it to him and stay there and rent while my house was finished being built. Easy peasy but I did have a sign on the lawn and I had already painted and took photos and was ready for a buyer.

I have not stayed in one home longer than 11 years so far. For me, I have to know where I am going. Once I find someplace else to be, clearing and releasing the old house becomes fun. Have you considered fixating on where you plan to go? Once you find an area or even a home that calls you then you will be motivated to clear and release your old space. There will be a process involved so you have to line up with it. You will always be able to control the showings as it is your home.

If someone knocked on your door tomorrow with your asking price, no questions asked. How quick could you be out and where would you go? Does that sound like an awesome spot to be in? It would not work for me personally. I would need the next better place already lined up.

Toronto, I think we each said the same thing, just a little differently. I meant to infer that the OP who seems to be unwavering in his desire for a certain number may be willing to negotiate on his price (or to entertain an offer which is lower than his desired number) once he decides that he really does want to complete the deal.

Porkchop is a she :0)

Eek! Sorry. Your question has evolved into a very nice, thoughtful discussion

A house's true valuation is not by appraisal....it is the price a buyer and seller can agree upon. That's how flipping works. It's also why overpriced homes sit on the market.

And a lender just wants to make sure the house is worth what they want for it if they have to foreclose.

I was curious and found this interesting article about pocket listings: https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/pocket-listing. Looks like the National Association of Realtors banned them, but has a few alternatives that might appeal to you.

Zillow offers free listings For Sale By Owner if you want to test the market with no open house. Use the Zestimate as a starting point fior determining asking price.

As mentioned be ready to move.

As I am sure you know one can google most addresses and Zillow and other sites come up with an estimate of value maybe pictures from the last sale. A friend recently updated pictures on a home she needs to sell at some point, to test the water as mentioned above. I found it curious that now when you google the address Zillow did not come up until the second page of sites to find. It's the only site with current pictures and info but somehow now it sunk to the bottom of the pile.

Zillow offers free listings For Sale By Owner

I did not know that.

But I just checked and got this message: "Unfortunately, we’re not able to show any selling options for this home."

I did sell one home privately. Quite a pain that led me to become a real estate broker. (Severe allergies to feathers and fur put an end to that career.)

I believe you must "claim" your home on Zillow. I have done so, and I get an option when you click "more" in the upper right corner a drop down menu for Listing FSBO.