Is a for-sale-by-owner sale using only an attorney (no realtors) worth the money saved, and is the process much harder?

You can save money going FSBO with just an attorney, and you can also lose more than you save. The biggest concern is liability, including landing in a deal with a buyer who cannot actually perform. We have watched a for-sale-by-owner seller get flooded with calls, half from agents soliciting the listing and half from unqualified buyers, and they had to handle all the scheduling and buyer-qualifying themselves on top of everything else. Depending on your state's requirements, the paperwork alone can be a real headache. There is one scenario where skipping agents makes real sense: selling to someone you already know and trust, like a former neighbor, before the home ever hits the market, where both sides genuinely agree on value and the relationship is amicable. Going FSBO purely to dodge a commission is the weaker bet, since unrepresented sellers often net less overall. Even in the friendly-sale case, keep the standard protections: - Keep the inspections. - Have a real estate attorney, or a friend who is a realtor, draw up a proper, binding contract so both sides are protected. Compensation is negotiable in any sale, so price out what representation would actually cost before assuming going alone is the cheaper path.