How to Sell a House by Owner in Missouri

Selling your Missouri home without an agent is a realistic goal. The state keeps the paperwork lighter than many places do, and once you understand who handles the closing and what you owe a buyer, the rest is process. Here is what matters most.

Who runs the closing in Missouri?

Missouri is a title company and escrow state. You are not required to hire an attorney to close a residential sale. A title company acting as the closing agent orders the title search, issues title insurance, holds the earnest money and other funds, prepares the settlement statement, and records the deed after signing. Under RSMo 381.022, a title company that runs a home closing must keep the money in a separate trust account and either issue title insurance with closing protection letters or tell you in writing that your closing funds are not protected. Under RSMo 381.412, it must generally require a buyer or seller who brings more than $2,500 to closing to pay in certified funds. That said, hiring a real estate attorney to draft or review your contract is money well spent when you are selling on your own, especially if the deal has anything unusual about it. Interview two or three local title companies early, since their fees and service vary.

What must you disclose when selling a house in Missouri?

Missouri follows a caveat emptor, or buyer beware, standard for the general condition of a home. There is no statute that forces a private seller to fill out a general property-condition disclosure form. What the law does require is honesty: you may not actively conceal a defect or misrepresent the condition of the home. Licensed agents carry a specific duty under RSMo 339.730 to disclose to buyers the adverse material facts they know or should have known. A few narrow disclosures are set by statute regardless of how you sell:

• Methamphetamine. Under RSMo 442.606, you must disclose in writing if you know the property was used to make methamphetamine, or if you knew or should have known it was the home of a person convicted of a methamphetamine crime.
• Radioactive or hazardous contamination. Under RSMo 442.055, if you have received a report stating that the home is or was contaminated with radioactive or other hazardous material, you must disclose that in writing. Failing to do so is a class A misdemeanor.
• Landfills and registered hazardous waste sites. Under RSMo 260.213, if the land contains a solid waste disposal site or demolition landfill, you must tell the buyer early in negotiations that it exists and where it is, and that the buyer may take on liability for cleanup. RSMo 260.465 sets a similar rule for a site on the state registry of abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.
• Lead paint. For a home built before 1978, federal law requires you to give the buyer the EPA lead pamphlet, a lead warning statement, any lead reports you have, and 10 days to test before the contract binds them.

In the other direction, RSMo 442.600 says that a home having been the site of a homicide, suicide or other felony, or an occupant having HIV, is not a material fact you are required to disclose.

Even though the general form is optional, completing one is smart practice. Missouri REALTORS publishes a Seller’s Disclosure Statement for Residential Property (Form DSC-8000) that covers the statutory items and the general condition of the home. A written statement like it builds buyer trust and limits later claims that you hid something.

What transfer taxes do you pay in Missouri?

This is where Missouri sellers catch a break. Missouri imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax. Article X, Section 25 of the Missouri Constitution, adopted by voters on November 2, 2010, prevents the state, counties, and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of real estate, so there is no per-thousand deed tax to budget for at closing. You will still see recording fees and prorated property taxes on the settlement statement, but none of the transfer-tax line items that sellers in many other states pay.

How is the deed recorded in Missouri?

The deed must be signed by you and acknowledged before a notary or another officer allowed to take acknowledgments (RSMo 442.130 and 442.150), and it must state whether each person signing is married. It is recorded with the recorder of deeds for the county where the home sits, or with the recorder for the City of St. Louis (RSMo 442.380). The first page needs a blank top margin of at least 3 inches and must show the document title, the date, the sellers’ names and marital status, the buyers’ names, and the legal description (RSMo 59.310; RSMo 59.313 sets similar rules for the City of St. Louis), and the deed must give a mailing address for one of the buyers (RSMo 59.330). Until it is filed for record, the deed is valid only between you and the buyer and against people with actual notice of it (RSMo 442.400). Recording fees are set by state law and charged by the page.

Can you sell without an agent in Missouri? The bottom line

Missouri is a friendly state for a for-sale-by-owner deal: no mandatory general disclosure form, no transfer tax, and a title-company closing. Price the home well, make the required disclosures in writing, and lean on a title company or an attorney for the contract and the settlement so nothing slips.

This guide is general information and is not legal advice. For questions about your specific sale, consult a licensed Missouri real estate attorney or title professional.

Every state's disclosure rule sits side by side, with a CSV, in seller disclosure requirements by state.

What is your home in Missouri worth? Get a free estimate from your ZIP code, with the agent fee on that price. No email, no account.

Where can you list a home for sale by owner in Missouri? See how the US for-sale-by-owner sites compare on cost and MLS access.

Selling by owner in a neighbouring state: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee.