BestFSBOGuide.com team
Marcus Bell
United States contributor
Covers the US private-sale process from primary sources, with attention to how much it varies by location: state disclosure forms, whether a county closes through a title or escrow company versus a real estate attorney, and the transfer taxes that can apply at the federal, state, and local levels at once. Works from county recorder requirements and statute rather than national rules of thumb, and tracks how the 2024 commission changes reshape what a seller should know before listing.
The first thing that catches a US seller off guard is that there is no national land registry to record a sale against. Every county keeps its own recorder or registry of deeds, and the deed has to be recorded there after closing for the public record to reflect the new owner. Plenty of sellers only discover that final step exists once they are sitting at the closing table, which is why the guides on BestFSBOGuide.com treat recording as part of the sale rather than an afterthought.
Who actually runs that closing table changes with geography. Roughly a dozen states default to a real estate attorney, while the rest rely on title or escrow companies. That split shapes both cost and timeline, so the guides spell out which arrangement governs each state.
The tax side is worth pinning down early. Transfer taxes can land at the state, county, and city levels all at once, and the disclosure forms a seller must complete differ from one jurisdiction to the next. Sorting those out before a listing goes live, rather than days before closing, is the habit these guides recommend to anyone selling on their own.
Areas of focus
- Tracks state-by-state disclosure forms and closing procedures across attorney-closing and escrow-closing states
- Follows federal, state, county, and city transfer tax rules and deed recording requirements
- Monitors the 2024 buyer-broker commission changes and their effect on FSBO sellers
Bylines
Guides Marcus wrote
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