How to Sell a House by Owner in Arkansas: Your AR FSBO Guide

When the time comes to move, some tenacious homeowners are eager to take over the reins of their home sale and figure out how to sell a house by owner in Arkansas.

With millions of homes sold each year, a modest portion of sellers — about 7%-8%, historically — choose to list “For Sale By Owner” (or FSBO — pronounced fizz-bow).

In this guide to selling FSBO in Arkansas, we’ll cover what can be the most difficult aspects of selling by owner in The Natural State, including the steps that might be harder than you think. We’ll also provide a comprehensive overview of the full process to prep, market, and close on your home without the assistance of a real estate agent.

Unsure About Selling FSBO in Arkansas?

If you don’t have the time or expertise to list your home FSBO, partner with a trusted, top agent in your Arkansas market. We analyze over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to find you the best agent for your unique situation.

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Note: Once you’ve seen what’s required, you can roll up your sleeves and get started with your FSBO sale. Or — in the event you’d prefer to work with a real estate agent — HomeLight would be happy to introduce you to highly-rated professionals in your Arkansas market who can help you command top dollar and provide a low-stress selling experience. 

How does selling by owner (FSBO) work in Arkansas?

Disclaimer: This blog post is intended for educational purposes only. HomeLight recommends that you look into the real estate regulations for your area and consult a trusted advisor.

FSBO is a method of selling your home without the involvement of a listing agent. In a FSBO scenario, the seller assumes the responsibilities that would normally fall to their agent such as pricing the home, arranging showings, and negotiating the deal.

In an agent-assisted sale, the seller typically pays a commission amounting to around 6% of the sale price, which is then most often split 50/50 with the buyer’s agent. That 6% is deducted from the seller’s proceeds at closing. By selling FSBO, a seller can eliminate the cost of the listing agent commission (so around 3%), though they may still need to offer a buyer’s agent commission.

Buyer’s agents will expect compensation for the work they do to bring a buyer to a sale, such as arranging showings and helping to tee up and qualify the buyer. Plus, when a seller isn’t working with an agent, the buyer’s agent may end up carrying more of the weight to get the deal to the finish line.

Next: Consult our guide on who pays closing costs when selling a house by owner for more details.

Finally, a FSBO sale does not mean that a seller won’t need any professional assistance. In Arkansas, sellers are not required to hire a real estate attorney, but FSBO sales typically warrant legal and professional oversight of some kind to avoid an abundance of legal risk.

Most people who sell by owner will need to hire an attorney to review and prepare key documents and make sure paperwork is filled out properly, such as the seller’s disclosures. We’ll address what disclosures are required when selling a house in Arkansas later in this post.

Why sell a house by owner in Arkansas?

The top three reasons people cite for selling FSBO include: “did not want to pay a commission or fee” (36%); sold to a relative, friend, or neighbor (30%); or that the buyers contacted the seller directly (8%), according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

To get a firsthand perspective about selling homes in Arkansas, we spoke with Richard Henley, who’s worked as a top real estate broker in Conway for over 29 years.

We also spoke with Dustin Turner, an experienced real estate agent in Little Rock, who sells properties 67% faster than other agents in his local market.

Henley says that saving money on agent commission is the driving factor of almost every Arkansas FSBO seller he encounters. “They feel like they need to get the most that they can out of the house.”

However, 2021 data from NAR shows that “FSBO homes sold at a median of $260,000 last year, significantly lower than the median of agent-assisted homes at $318,000.” An independent study from 2016 to 2017 bears this out: FSBO homes sold for an average of 5.5% less than agent-marketed sales.

As you can see, FSBO is a mixed bag. So, before we share our selling tips, let’s lay out some pros and cons to help you decide if this is the route for you.

Pros of selling a house by owner

• Ability to save on listing agent commission fees, usually around 3% of the sale price.
• You’re completely in charge and can manage the sale as you please.
• No “go-between” in your communications with buyers.
• You maintain an element of privacy without having a third party involved.

Cons of selling a house by owner

• FSBO listings tend to sell for less, statistically speaking.
• Unless the seller already has a buyer lined up, FSBO listings can take longer to sell. For example, a majority of current FSBO listings in Little Rock have been available for 72+ days, when the median days-on-market is 36 days.
• Managing all communications and negotiations yourself is time-consuming. Not having a communication buffer can be a downside if the buyer pushes back or says negative things about your property.
• You’ll be negotiating without help from an expert, which could mean leaving money on the table.
• Setting the listing price is challenging — you may be tempted to go too high. You could also risk under-selling with a low price.
• Marketing your home is time-consuming.
• You’ll still have selling costs, which may include transfer taxes and settlement fees. Not having agent representation could also lead to paying more in seller concessions.
• There are safety concerns to consider when showing your home to strangers.

In spite of the cons, we’ll help you navigate the challenges of FSBO if you’re committed to selling your Arkansas house without agent assistance.

Steps to sell a house by owner

Next, let’s review the FSBO process step by step.

1. Prepare your house for sale

Whether you’re selling with an agent or FSBO, at a minimum you’ll want to get your Arkansas home into respectable shape before any showings to increase your chances of receiving a fair price. Here are a few standard tasks to add to the list.

Indoors

These efforts will go a long way toward impressing buyers looking for a home in Arkansas:

• Declutter floors, shelves, and surfaces throughout the home.
• Make small fixes and repairs, like a leaky faucet or broken door handle.
• Lightly update with new light fixtures, faucets, or cabinet hardware.
• Refinish hardwood floors.
• Repaint bold walls (or those that look dingy) in a neutral color.
• Reduce furniture in crowded rooms — consider a temporary storage unit.
• Stage the home with final touches like fresh-cut flowers or a basket of fresh produce.
• Use rugs to define spaces and place them strategically.
• Deep clean until the house is sparkling.

Turner says, “A fresh coat of paint and some inexpensive, updated light fixtures make a huge impact on someone’s first impression.”

Outdoors

Data from HomeLight’s 2022 Top Agents Insight Report shows that on average, “Buyers will pay 7% more for a house with great curb appeal versus a home with a neglected exterior.”

Some important curb appeal upgrades can include:

• Mow the lawn and pull weeds.
• Apply fresh mulch liberally.
• Upgrade your landscaping. Consider a new walkway, flowerbed, or shrubs.
• Add a fresh coat of exterior paint.
• Install a new garage door if yours is looking old or not working properly.

Turner never underestimates the power of good curb appeal. “For our clients, we provide a checklist of 97 things to look at [before listing the home], and we always start with the yard.”

2. Do the homework necessary to set a competitive price

You’ve arrived at a critical moment in your FSBO process: setting a listing price. You don’t want to leave money on the table, yet you want to encourage activity on your listing.

Before listing a home, an agent usually conducts a comparative market analysis (CMA). This is a highly-detailed study of “comps” — similar homes nearby that have sold recently, are pending, on the market, or were previously listed but taken off the market. Some may have even been pulled off the market without a sale.

Henley says in the current shifting market, getting good comps is imperative to setting the right price. “It’s hard enough for a Realtor® who’s watching the market on a daily basis to price homes right now. Data from six months ago is totally useless information now. And just because somebody next door sold a house two weeks ago for a certain price doesn’t mean much because prices aren’t jumping up like they were. So, it’s a real challenge.”

Without an agent, you’ll miss out on the complexity of a full CMA and the know-how to interpret it.

However, with a little time and money, you can set a competitive price yourself.

Conduct your own “CMA Lite”

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and research.

Start with an online home value estimate

As a starting point, look at several online estimators for your home’s value. HomeLight’s Home Value Estimator aggregates publicly available data such as tax records and assessments, your home’s last sale price, and recent sales records for other properties in the same neighborhood.

We also add a new layer of information to our estimates using a short questionnaire. Tell us a few details about your Arkansas home, such as:

• How much work does it need?
• What type of home is it (single-family, condo, townhouse, or other)?
• Roughly when was your house built?
• Are you planning to sell soon?

Using these insights, we’ll provide you with a preliminary estimate of home value in under two minutes.

Whether you use Zillow, Chase, Realtor, or Redfin to get a home value estimate, think of any online home price tool as a first step (not your only source of truth) — and recognize that the data used may be limited.

Narrowly filter your search for comps

When you’re ready to find comps, you can choose from sites like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, or Realtor.

You’ll want to filter your searches to the area very near your house (within blocks if possible) and with similar characteristics. If you’re not finding any comps, expand your search map.

You’ll also want to filter results by details like:

• Listing status (look at recently sold, pending, and active)
• Number of bedrooms
• Number of bathrooms
• Square footage
• Home type (single-family, condo, etc.)

Beyond the above criteria, the more houses you find with floor plans and an age similar to yours, the better.

Use a site like Zillow to collect your data

As an example, let’s take a look at how to filter your search for comps on Zillow.

• Navigate to Zillow.
• Type in your address. If a pop-up with your home’s specs appears, close it.
• Filter by “sold.” Yellow dots should appear on the map surrounding your house.

• Now, filter by the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and check the box “Use exact match.”

• Next, filter by home type.

• Next, select the “More” box. Here you can specify square footage, lot size, year built, and — crucially — the “sold in last” (time period) category.

• Scroll down and select to view houses that sold in the last 30 days.
• If you find there are not many results in your area, try expanding to 90 days. However, the further back you go, the less relevant the comps.
• If necessary, click the plus or minus buttons to widen the search area.
• Once you’ve collected data for sold houses, revise or restart the search to view active and pending listings, as well.

Invest in an appraisal

If you want to further reduce guesswork, top agents recommend paying an appraiser to provide a professional opinion of value for your home. An appraiser will combine recent property data, research of the surrounding market, and information collected from a walkthrough of your home to determine an appraised value. For a single-family home, an appraisal will likely cost $500 to $600 — well worth it to avoid possibly over- or underpricing your house by thousands.

Henley says, “The appraiser has the same data as a Realtor®, so when it comes to the opinion of value for a FSBO, that is a great way to overcome the shot-in-the-dark mentality of pricing your property.”

Make sense of the research

Compare your home’s features against the nearby comps you collected. Hopefully, the houses you studied give an indication of an appropriate price range for your home. From there, you can make dollar adjustments based on characteristics that add value (patios, curb appeal, an extra bedroom) versus detracting from it (a busy street, deferred maintenance, less square footage).

Consider the differences and similarities of comps with the appraised value of your home to choose a price that will encourage activity (too high and it may seem out of reach to many buyers) but will also maximize your profit.

3. Photograph your home

Listing photos are powerful, either pulling in buyers for showings or keeping them away.

To give your listing an edge, consider hiring an experienced real estate photographer. While they may charge as much as $140 to $180 an hour, experienced agents say it’s well worth the investment. It could be one of the most important things you do to sell your home.

Turner is adamant: “Cellphone photos will not cut it in today’s market.” He says, “Buyers will make a decision on your house based on the photos before they ever step foot in the property.”

Henley agrees, saying, “The importance of photos cannot be understated. I would focus on the first four photos. The first four photos should show off the best assets of the property.”

But if you do go the DIY route, make sure to:

• Use a good camera with a wide-angle lens.
• Pay attention to lighting.
• Include a photo of every room.
• Take multiple pictures of living areas, kitchens, and bathrooms.
• Try shooting different angles.

Review our guide on how to take quality real estate photos for further guidance.

4. Create a detailed, compelling listing

Along with stellar photos, you’ll want to craft an informative and compelling listing. Leverage both the listing description (a paragraph or two highlighting key features) and the property details to show potential buyers all about your home and what makes it desirable.

Tell a story with your description

Draw in potential buyers with a powerful listing description that tells a story about your Arkansas house, including details like:

• Your home’s most unique and desirable features, like a sunroom, pool, or workshop
• Recent upgrades like a kitchen or bathroom remodel or new roof or HVAC system
• High-end appliances, materials, or finishes
• Outdoor features like a pool or patio
• Neighborhood features and amenities
• Nearby parks, walking trails, restaurants, and attractions

Henley says it’s important to think beyond basic features and include what sets your home apart from the rest. “What is it about this place that’s special? What do you think the next buyer will appreciate?”

Lastly, and this is crucial: specify in your description whether a buyer’s agent will receive a commission from the proceeds. Most agents don’t want to show their clients properties from which they’d receive no commission. You can decide not to offer a buyer’s agent commission, but recognize that doing so could limit your buyer pool as buyer’s agents typically expect to be compensated for their efforts.

Don’t skimp on the property details

Aside from writing the description, you may be prompted to enter information like:

• Age of the home
• Square footage
• Architectural style (i.e. split-level, rancher, craftsman)
• Appliances included
• Exterior building materials
• Flooring types
• HOA fees
• School zone information
• Lot size

Many real estate agents and potential buyers really do read this “fine print” on your listing — so include accurate details, and plenty of them.

5. List your home online

It’s finally time to post your Arkansas home online. While you can create FSBO listings for free on popular search sites, you’d have to painstakingly post site by site, and your listing wouldn’t reach the majority of buyers and agents.

To give your home the most exposure, pay to have your home put on your local MLS (multiple listing service) -– a platform agents use to share properties with one another as well as major real estate sites. Posting there will feed your listing to buyers’ agent databases and to common sites buyers use.

Only licensed real estate agents and brokers who are MLS members can post to the MLS. However, you have two options to gain access: paying an agent to post for you or using a FSBO platform online.

Pay an agent to list your home on the MLS

A local agent may be willing to list your house on the MLS for a flat fee, without any other involvement in your real estate transaction. If you decide to go this route, make sure you ask whether the fee includes updating your listing if necessary.

Use a FSBO platform with an MLS option

There are a variety of paid websites that you can use to list your Arkansas house online as “for sale by owner.” These sites offer packages ranging from about $100 to $400 for just a listing, or a larger flat fee of $3,000 to $5,000 that includes any number of additional professional marketing services.

Some of these companies display their rates on their websites but others won’t quote a fee until you input your address or select an area of the country. A few examples include:

• FlatFeeGroup.com/Arkansas
• ISoldMyHouse.com
• FSBO.com
• Houwzer
• Clever Real Estate
• Homie Real Estate
• Assist-2-Sell
• Help-U-Sell

It’s important to note that most of these companies serve FSBO sellers nationwide, which can cause challenges if the assisting representatives don’t understand the local market trends in your Arkansas neighborhood.

Whatever you choose, read the fine print carefully: some sites may have hidden fees or even take a percentage off your sale – a detour you’d rather avoid on the FSBO route.

Not willing to pay for the MLS?

If you’re determined to save money by foregoing the MLS, creating a free FSBO listing on Zillow might be your top option. You can post video and unlimited photos, and get fairly wide exposure via Zillow and the Zillow-owned Trulia.

6. Market your home

Now it’s time to spread the word about your Arkansas home.

Experienced agents like Turner and Henley know that posting a home on the MLS is just the beginning of the marketing phase. A successful home sale requires a deliberate and targeted marketing plan to reach the right buyers and attract the best offers.

Turner says, “I would say there’s three parts to selling a home: how it shows, how it’s priced, and how it’s marketed. You’ve got to get all three of those things right, if you want to see a home go quickly and for the most amount of money.”

Here are some of the steps you can take to market your home:

Place a nice FSBO sign by the road

Consider getting a custom yard sign rather than purchasing a generic one you write on with Sharpie. You can order a custom sign on a site like Vistaprint with your contact information, plus a stand, for as little as $25 plus shipping. Note that some MLS providers may have rules about whether you can post a FSBO yard sign while your home is on the MLS.

Share on social media

Share your home across social media – and ask your friends to share, too. Facebook, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, and Twitter are all good options to get extra online visibility.

Hold an open house

Try these strategies for a successful open house event:

• Share details on Facebook and Nextdoor.
• Update your MLS listing with the open house details (if you’re able to as part of paying the flat fee), or update your DIY FSBO listing.
• Place open house signs at nearby intersections.
• Tidy up the house before potential buyers come through.
• Pass out info sheets with the address, bullet points about the house, your contact info, and perhaps one photo.
• If you can, collect visitors’ info — then follow up later to ask if they have any questions.

Find more expert tips for how to hold an open house at this link.

7. Manage showings

If your marketing is successful, your next step will be to show the home to prospective buyers. Welcome to the busiest phase of the home sale process. According to Turner, a major reason some FSBO sellers switch to an agent is that they underestimated the time, energy, and expertise needed to manage this crucial step.

Turner stresses the importance of being available at all times. “A buyer who can’t get in to see your house today may not come back a second time. In a relatively hot market or even a neutral market, they might find something before they make it back to your house. So make yourself available.”

To manage the logistics of showings:

• Respond to inquiries ASAP.
• Set end times if you need to fit many showings in one day. This will also create a sense of demand and urgency for buyers to place offers.
• Remove or secure valuables.
• Make sure the home is clean and tidy for showings.
• Follow up with buyers’ agents after showings to get their feedback.
• Have any disclosures available. As a Caveat Emptor (“buyer beware”) state, Arkansan sellers aren’t legally on the hook for disclosures, but it does show good faith to disclose any major issues. Remember, an inspection will reveal issues anyway.

Should you be present for showings?

If you’d rather not be present for every showing, consider using a lockbox with a code to let buyers’ agents enter the house. This is standard industry practice among agents. To ensure you’re working with someone legitimate, use Google or sites like arello.com to check their real estate license number.

With unrepresented buyers, plan to be on the property for the showing. During a showing, we recommend you:

• Point out a few highlights of the house.
• Let buyers look without hovering.
• Be prepared to answer questions.
• Avoid the temptation to tell all — let the house and listing do the talking.
• Not show the house alone, for safety reasons.

Henley says, “I definitely think someone should be at the house when it’s being shown, especially if it’s an occupied home. If you’ve got any valuables at all, then certainly you need to be there.” He goes on to say, “I would always advise to have a friend there as well. Or have your neighbor come over during the showing, or something of that nature.”

8. Evaluate offers and negotiate a deal

You’ve got your first offer — congratulations! Before signing anything, agents say that it’s important to negotiate. Don’t assume that you have to accept the first offer as-is. You can counter-offer for a price or terms that are more in your favor.

Here are key considerations when considering an offer on your Arkansas home:

• Vet potential buyers by requiring a mortgage pre-approval letter or proof of funds.
• Require everything in writing.
• Consider the contingencies you’ll accept.
• Remember you can counter-offer and negotiate.
• Look for a good real estate attorney. (See the next step!)

Henley adds an important reminder about being creative in your negotiations. Talk frankly with your buyer about any roadblocks and look for solutions. “There are alternatives, there are different things that a buyer can do. Don’t give up.”

9. Close the sale — with professional help

Time to button up that deal.

Turner recommends that every FSBO seller in Arkansas hire an attorney to minimize risk and settle the legal documents. “In my experience, the situations where it’s most common for lawsuits to occur are in real estate transactions when one party wasn’t represented. They didn’t know what they didn’t know, and they got into a situation that they weren’t expecting.”

Real estate attorney fees can vary depending on location and how much help you want or need. In Arkansas the average cost is $254 per hour — well worth it for professional guidance in closing one of life’s largest legal transactions.

FSBO mistakes to avoid in Arkansas

On your FSBO journey, watch out for these major pitfalls:

• Missing out on the MLS.
• Forgetting or refusing to pay the buyer’s agent commission.
• Over- or under-pricing.
• Letting your house sit on the market too long.
• Not obtaining legal advice when needed.

Turner says, “Sellers who are not represented by listing agents often have unrealistic expectations about how much their house will bring in and how much they can get.”

Henley adds, “For-sale-by-owner sellers in the lower price range should be prepared to handle multiple offers. There are a lot of legality issues and the fair housing issues that can open up.”

Alternatives to selling by owner in Arkansas

If you decide you don’t want the hassle or pressure of FSBO, you’ve got other solid options.

Enlist the help of a top-rated real estate agent

Ultimately, the services and price gains you can get with an experienced real estate agent may put more money in your pocket than FSBO. A proven agent is also better equipped to help you achieve your selling and moving timelines.

Henley has several stories about clients who thought they wanted to sell on their own, but ended up partnering with him instead.

“One lady said she had no interest in listing [with an agent]. But long story short, after a 25-minute phone call and a quick look at the house, it was clear she was planning to underprice the house. Together, we sold it for more than what she needed, and we went on to list and sell several houses over the years.”

Turner shares a similar experience in Little Rock.

“I had a FSBO client who was adamant about not wanting to use an agent. He tried for a while to sell, but wasn’t happy with the solutions. So his wife suggested calling me. We ended up selling their home –– first day on the market –– for $17,000 more than what he thought was even possible.”

Interested in such expertise? HomeLight’s Agent Match platform can connect you to top-performing agents in your Arkansas market. Our free tool analyzes over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to determine which agent is best for you based on your needs. It takes only two minutes to receive your matches.

Request a cash offer to buy your Arkansas home

If you’d like to skip the sale prep altogether — plus avoid paying agent commissions — you can opt to sell your home “as-is” to an all-cash buyer instead.

For a low-stress experience, consider requesting a cash offer from HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform. Tell us a few details about your home, and in as little as one week, we’ll send a no-obligation all-cash offer your way. If you decide to accept the offer, Simple Sale sellers have the ability to close in as little as 10 days.

Without leaving the Simple Sale platform, you’ll also be able to compare your cash offer to an estimation of what your home would sell for on the open market so you can make an informed decision.

Request a Cash Offer On Your Arkansas Home and Skip The Hassle

If you are looking to skip the sale prep process and sell to an all-cash buyer, Simple Sale can provide a cash offer for your Arkansas home in as little as one week. What’s more – there are no additional fees, agent commissions, or prep work.

Request Offer

Ready to sell your Arkansas home?

Unless you already have a buyer lined up, selling a house by owner in Arkansas requires a significant investment of time and effort. You’ll need to pull your own comps, capture excellent pictures, create a listing, market the house online, field inquiries, host showings, negotiate, and close the deal. And that’s after preparing the house itself.

You also have to consider that FSBO listings tend to sell for less than agent-assisted sales. An experienced agent who knows the area can make recommendations for targeted upgrades to help you maximize your sale price and get a premium offer. This can help to offset or, in some cases, more than make up for the cost of commission — while saving you time and headaches.

If you choose to go FSBO, you should have a good idea now of what to expect from the process. Otherwise, our internal transaction data at HomeLight shows that the top 5% of real estate agents sell homes for as much as 10% more than average, and we’d be happy to introduce you to some of the best agents in your Arkansas market.

Writer Hayley Abernathy contributed to this story.

Header Image Source: (Joshua J. Cotten / Unsplash)