How to Sell a House By Owner in Iowa: A Hawkeye State 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 Iowa.

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 Iowa, we’ll cover what can be the most difficult aspects of selling by owner in the Hawkeye 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.

Feeling Overwhelmed by the Process of Listing Your Home FSBO in Iowa?

If you don’t have the time or the expertise to list your home FSBO, working with a top agent in Iowa could be your best bet. HomeLight analyzes 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 Iowa market who can help you command top dollar and provide a low-stress selling experience.

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

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’s 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 Iowa, a real estate attorney is required at the closing table for FSBO and agent-assisted properties, and 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. Let’s take a look at what disclosures are required when selling a house in Iowa.

What needs to be disclosed when selling a house in Iowa?

Whether you hire a listing agent or not, before you accept an offer to sell your Iowa home, you are required by law to provide a disclosure statement to the prospective buyer, which states the existence of certain conditions affecting the home.

In Iowa, the following disclosures must be listed:

• Appliances, systems, and services included in the home sale
• Conditions and dates of repairs to systems (roof, heating, cooling, septic, well, etc.)
• Evidence of water in the basement or crawl space
• Environmental issues (lead-based paint, contaminations, asbestos, radon, etc.)
• History of infestations (termites, carpenter ants, etc.) and treatments
• Any physical problems or structural damage (foundation, roof, walls, floors, etc.)
• If the property is located in a flood plain
• Zoning, covenants, or common areas
• And other known issues

In the closing documentation, you must prove delivery and receipt of disclosure with a written acknowledgment of receipt from the buyer. The easiest way to do this is for the seller and buyer to sign and date the disclosure. Iowa disclosure stipulations and a sample disclosure form are available from the Iowa legislature. The Iowa State Bar Association also provides a Residential Property Seller Disclosure Statement form.

Why sell a house by owner in Iowa?

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 on selling homes in Iowa, we spoke with Stephanie Kauzlarich, a top-producing agent in Davenport who sells homes 66% faster than the average Davenport agent.

Kauzlarich reports that the Iowa market has the largest number of FSBO properties in the nation. She believes there are several reasons for this irregularity: In the midwest, there’s a lot of trust, so sellers don’t see the risk or dangers involved in a FSBO sale. Or sellers have had a bad experience with an agent.

But the main reason for Iowa sellers to take on the task themselves is because they believe they will save money by not paying the listing agent commission.

“In the midwest, we don’t see the appreciation jump as high as in bigger markets. So people just don’t have as much equity in their home to cover commission if they have to sell within a year or two,” she explains.

However, 2022 data from NAR shows that FSBO homes sold at a median of $225,000, significantly lower than the median of agent-assisted homes at $345,000. An independent study from 2016 to 2017 bears this out: FSBO homes sold for an average of 5.5% less than agent-marketed sales.

Kauzlarich estimates an even greater difference in Iowa:

“In our area, we are running 7% higher [than FSBO sales] on average, which is the inflation rate. So right off the bat, an agent-assisted sale [in Iowa] is 2% higher than the national average.”

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.

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. Kauzlarich believes this is the single biggest drawback: “The house sits longer, deals fall through because they don’t have a professional on their side. It’s so much wasted time on their end.”
• 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.
• Without an experienced local agent, you’ll have to do your own research into the market, local requirements, laws, and more. But you don’t know what you don’t know.
• 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.
• Unless you hire a professional to help with the documentation (highly recommended), you’ll have to navigate the paperwork and legal documentation of the transaction yourself.

In spite of the cons, we’ll help you navigate the challenges of FSBO if you’re committed to selling your Iowa house without agent assistance. For some, selling a home FSBO is a challenge worth accepting, and success can be measured in more ways than one.

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 Iowa 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 Iowa:

• 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.

“You have ten seconds after they walk in the door for the buyer to fall in love or not. Is it clean? Does it smell nice? The four areas that make the biggest impact, the biggest emotional tie for the buyer, are the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, and the master bedroom,” says Kauzlarich.

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.
• Wash your windows.
• Powerwash your siding, driveway, and walkways to remove any mold, dirt, and cobwebs.

“You have about five seconds for prospects to decide whether they want to go in or not. Your exterior is a direct reflection to the buyer of what the interior of the house is going to look like,” explains Kauzlaurich.

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.

“There are market changes daily. For sale by owners don’t have the most recent active data at their fingertips. They’re going to potentially miss out on the market because they’re using Zillow or whatever and they’re getting data too late,” warns Kauzlarich.

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 Iowa 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.

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 or video your home

Listing photos are powerful, either pulling in buyers for showings or keeping them away. In today’s market, video is equally important. Kauzlarich explains:

“51% of buyers are looking on YouTube for videos. It makes a huge difference.”

To give your listing an edge, consider hiring an experienced real estate photographer or videographer. While they may charge as much as $140 to $180 an hour, this could be one of the most important things you do to sell your home.

However, if you do go the DIY route for your home photos, 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.

In addition to the above, Kauzlarich recommends your video features the most valuable and important parts of the home. To take your video even further, consider adding a human touch:

“I literally put myself into every listing video I do. I’m putting myself out there. I become the scenes. Not everybody is comfortable doing that, but it gets easier,” says Kauzlarich.

Review our guides on how to take quality real estate photos and how to make listing videos 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 Iowa house, including details like:

• Your home’s most unique and desirable features, like a breakfast nook or sunroom.
• 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, beaches, restaurants, and attractions.

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 Iowa 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, it’s important not to skip this step as research shows that homes listed in the MLS sell for more than off-MLS homes: as much as 19.7% more in the first quarter of 2022.

You have two options to gain access to the MLS: 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 Iowa 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:

• ISoldMyHouse.com
• Unreal Estate
• 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 Iowa 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 forgoing the MLS, creating a free FSBO listing on Zillow might be your top option. You can post videos 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 Iowa home.

An experienced agent like Kauzlarich knows 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.

According to National Association of Realtors data, 34% of FSBO sellers don’t market their homes at all. This mistake affects your bottom line. A FSBO property with low market exposure has fewer buyers competing for it. Less competition means a lower sale price.

Kauzlarich recommends these steps 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 a 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 and your magazine-quality photos across social media – and ask your friends to share, too. The more exposure your home has, the faster it will sell.

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.

Underestimating the time, energy, and expertise needed to manage showings is one of the top reasons some FSBO sellers switch to an agent.

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 and family photos.
• Make sure the home is clean and tidy for showings.
• Follow up with buyers’ agents after showings to get their feedback.

Vet all buyers before letting them into your home

Kauzlarich strongly recommends vetting an unrepresented buyer before letting a complete stranger in the door.

To protect your home, yourself, and your family, have a pre-approval process that includes:

• Requiring the buyer’s identification
• Requiring the buyer’s pre-approval letter or proof of funds
• Running a background or credit check

“Professional Realtors® get targeted all the time. We get attacked. Just be very careful. Don’t let anyone into your home without requiring documentation first,” Kauzlarich warns.

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.

8. Evaluate offers and negotiate a deal

You’ve got your first offer — congratulations! Before signing anything, know that a written offer becomes a purchase agreement – a binding contract — the moment you sign it. So, before you sign anything, carefully examine the price, know what contingencies are normal, and know who the lenders are. For example:

“[In an agent-assisted sale], we had multiple offers come on a home sale. But there was something off about the best offer. Because we knew the lenders and the other agents, we were able to dig a little and learn that the buyer couldn’t even buy that house. Without that knowledge, a for sale by owner would have potentially accepted — and lost — that deal, and all the others. And that would’ve driven the price down. When you go in blind, you don’t always get the best out,” warns Kauzlarich.

When considering an offer on your Iowa home, avoid risk with these considerations:

• Vet potential buyers by requiring a mortgage pre-approval letter or proof of funds.
• Require everything in writing.
• Study the contingencies carefully to know what you’re getting into.
• Remember you can counter-offer and negotiate.
• Look for a good real estate attorney. (See the next step!)

9. Close the sale — with professional help

Time to button up that deal.

For an hourly or flat fee, FSBO sellers can hire an attorney or a transactional agent to prepare and settle the legal documents and minimize the seller’s risks. In Iowa, Kauzlarich says, a real estate attorney is required to manage the closing and the abstract of title, which is a brief history of the property that helps determine if there are any claims against it.

Real estate attorney fees can vary depending on location and how much help you want or need. In Iowa, they generally run around $243 per hour — well worth it for professional guidance in closing one of life’s largest legal transactions.

FSBO mistakes to avoid in Iowa

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. Lack of activity is a common reason FSBO sellers turn to an agent for help.
• Not meeting all the legal requirements involved in the transaction.

Request a Cash Offer on Your Iowa Home and Skip the Prep Work

Skip the prep work and the agent commissions by requesting a cash offer for your home. With HomeLight’s Simple Sale, you can receive a no-obligation all-cash offer in 24 hours, and close the sale in as few as 10 days.

Request Offer

Alternatives to selling by owner in Iowa

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.

“I worked with a couple who had tried to sell their home FSBO. In their desperation to get the home sold, they kept dropping the price. They’d dropped it $30,000 and were getting ready to drop it another $15,000. I ran the comps (comparable sold listings) a couple of different ways: what their home looked like at the moment and what it would be with minor changes. With my recommendations, I was confident we could get them back up where they started. They spend a few thousand on minor upgrades: cabinet pulls, paint, staging. We were able to swing them $40,000 in the opposite direction from where they were heading. It was a short amount of time and a small investment, but they got so much out of it,” Kauzlarich shares.

Interested in such expertise? HomeLight’s Agent Match platform can connect you to top-performing agents in your Iowa 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 Iowa 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 few as 48 hours, 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.

Ready to sell your Iowa home?

Unless you already have a buyer lined up, selling a house by owner in Iowa 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 chose 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 Iowa market.

Writer Hayley Abernathy contributed to this story.

Header Image Source: (Clay Banks / Unsplash)