How to sell your house without an agent in Australia.
It is legal in every state, tens of thousands of Australians do it every year, and the money involved is not small. Here is what it costs, what you have to do yourself, and who it does not suit.
You can sell your own home in every Australian state and territory without a licence. You still need a conveyancer for the contract and settlement. An agent costs about 2.2% commission plus $3,000 marketing, roughly $22,800 on a $900,000 sale. Selling privately on Propa is free, or $899 one-time for Premier.
Is it legal to sell your house without an agent?
Yes, everywhere in Australia. No state or territory requires a seller to use a licensed agent, and you do not need a licence to sell property you own. What you cannot skip is the legal work: a conveyancer or solicitor has to prepare the contract of sale and handle settlement, and each state sets its own disclosure obligations that fall on you as the seller rather than on the agent.
The requirements differ enough between states to matter. In Victoria a Section 32 vendor statement has to be given before signing. In South Australia it is a Form 1. In New South Wales the contract has to be prepared before the property is advertised at all. Those differences are set out per state on the suburb pages further down, and your conveyancer will handle them properly.
How much does it actually save you?
On a $900,000 sale, roughly $21,901. The national average agent commission is about 2.2% of the sale price, which is $19,800 on that example, and most sellers also pay a marketing budget of around $3,000 up front whether or not the property sells. That is about $22,800 in total. Propa Premier is $899, one time, with no commission at settlement, and a Propa listing on its own is free.
Two things worth knowing about that number. Commission is negotiable in every state and is not set by law, so the 2.2% average hides a wide spread. And the marketing budget is usually payable even if the home does not sell, which is the part sellers are most often surprised by.
Figures are indicative only and are not a valuation, an appraisal or a quote. Commission varies by state, by agent and by property and is always negotiable. Your costs and savings may differ materially. How we calculate this.
The eight steps, in order
The order matters more than people expect. Step one is the one most private sellers do last, and doing it last is what causes the delays.
Engage a conveyancer before you advertise
Do this first, not last. In several states the contract or a disclosure statement has to exist before the property can legally be marketed, and in the rest it saves you a fortnight later. A conveyancer or solicitor is the one professional you cannot skip when you sell privately.
Work out what it is worth
Look at what has actually sold nearby in the last three months, not what is currently listed. Sold prices are the market; asking prices are opinions. Book a paid independent valuation if the property is unusual, or if you and your partner disagree by more than five percent.
Get the photos right
This is the part that most affects how many enquiries you get, and it is the part private sellers most often do cheaply. Hire a property photographer for a few hundred dollars. Shoot on a bright day, tidy every surface, open every blind, and get the hero shot of the front of the house.
Write the listing like a person
Lead with the two or three things that are genuinely true and specific about the home. Skip the phrases every agent uses, because buyers have learned to read past them. Say the number of bedrooms, the land size, the year it was built and what the street is like.
Publish it where buyers will see it
List it on Propa, and decide separately whether you also want to pay a flat-fee service for a realestate.com.au and domain.com.au listing. Share it to local community groups and Facebook Marketplace. Put a signboard out the front, because the street still generates enquiries.
Answer every enquiry the same day
Speed matters more than polish here. A buyer who has to wait two days for a reply has already booked three other inspections. Keep every enquiry in one place so nothing gets lost between the first question and the offer.
Run the inspections
Open homes or private appointments both work. Take a name, an email and a phone number from everyone who walks through, follow up two days later, and ask directly whether they are interested. That follow-up call is most of what an agent is paid to do.
Take the offer to your conveyancer
When you agree on a price, the conveyancer prepares the contract of sale and handles settlement. Do not sign anything, accept a deposit or agree to conditions without them. This is the point where selling privately looks exactly like selling with an agent.
Can you list your own house on realestate.com.au?
Not directly. realestate.com.au and domain.com.au only accept listings from licensed agencies, which is the whole reason flat-fee listing services exist: they hold the agency relationship and resell you access, generally for somewhere between $845 and $979 for a standard campaign. If a portal listing is what you want, that is how to get one.
Propa does not syndicate to those portals, and that is a choice rather than a gap we are working around. Propa is its own buyer platform. A Propa listing carries no exclusivity, so nothing stops you running one alongside a paid flat-fee campaign, and a fair number of sellers do exactly that. We have compared the flat-fee services side by side, with the price we read from each one and the day we read it.
Who should not sell without an agent?
Three groups, honestly. Anyone who cannot reply to an enquiry within a day, because response time is what converts enquiries into inspections and it is the single most common way private sales stall. Anyone selling under real time pressure, where a fortnight of learning costs more than the commission. And anyone whose property needs explaining: an unusual title, heritage constraints, significant defects, a deceased estate or a contested sale.
The part that catches people out is not the paperwork, which is manageable, it is hearing what strangers think of your home and then negotiating with them about it. If you already know you will take that personally, an agent is worth the fee purely as a buffer. That is a real service and it is what the commission is for.
Questions people actually ask
Is it legal to sell your house without a real estate agent in Australia?
Yes, in every state and territory. There is no law requiring you to use an agent to sell your own property and you do not need a licence to do it. You do need a conveyancer or solicitor for the contract of sale and settlement, and each state has its own disclosure requirements the seller must meet before or at the point of sale.
How much can you save selling your house privately?
On a $900,000 sale, an agent at the 2.2% national average commission plus about $3,000 of marketing costs roughly $22,800. Selling privately on Propa costs $899 for Premier or nothing at all for a free listing, so the difference on that example is about $21,901. Commission is negotiable and varies by state, agent and property.
Do I still need a conveyancer if I sell my house myself?
Yes. Selling without an agent removes the agent, not the legal work. A conveyancer or solicitor prepares the contract of sale, handles the disclosure requirements in your state and manages settlement. Engage one before you advertise, because in some states the contract or disclosure statement has to exist before the property can be marketed.
Can I list my own house on realestate.com.au?
Not directly. realestate.com.au and domain.com.au only accept listings from licensed agencies, which is why flat-fee services exist: they hold the agency relationship and resell you a listing, typically for $845 to $979. Propa does not syndicate to those portals. It is its own buyer platform, and you can use both at once if you want to.
How long does it take to sell privately?
About the same as with an agent, which nationally runs to roughly a month on market for a well-priced home, longer in a slow market or for an unusual property. Price is what moves that number, not who lists it. A private sale priced above the market sits just as long as an agent listing priced above the market.
What is the hardest part of selling without an agent?
Negotiating with someone who is buying your home, and hearing what they think of it. Most private sellers find the admin manageable and the emotional distance harder. If you know you will take a low offer personally, or the sale is happening under time pressure or in a difficult separation, an agent earns their fee as a buffer.
Who should not sell without an agent?
Anyone who cannot answer enquiries within a day, anyone selling under real time pressure, and anyone selling a property that needs an explanation, such as an unusual title, heritage constraints or serious defects. A deceased estate or a contested sale is also usually worth handing over.
The rules where you are
Disclosure obligations, contract timing and cooling-off periods are set by each state, not nationally. Each page below carries a plain-English summary for that state.
Those summaries are plain English, not legal advice, and Propa is a marketing service rather than a real estate agency or a law firm. Propa does not act on your behalf, negotiate for you, give real estate advice or hold deposits. Always engage a conveyancer or property lawyer in your state for the contract of sale.
Start with the free listing
It costs nothing for up to six months, there is no exclusivity on it and no card is needed. If selling privately turns out not to suit you, you have lost an afternoon rather than a marketing budget.