{"id":25180,"date":"2024-07-22T04:00:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=25180"},"modified":"2025-10-30T09:52:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T16:52:49","slug":"buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house-without-a-realtor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house-without-a-realtor\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s How You Can Make an Offer On a House Without a Realtor\u00ae in 9 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Making an offer on a house without a Realtor\u00ae or a real estate agent is kind of like trying to represent yourself in a court of law \u2014 it\u2019s possible, but it\u2019s not a good idea. There\u2019s more that goes into making an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-much-should-i-offer-on-a-house\/\">offer<\/a> than landing on a purchase price.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven as an agent with over 400 homes under my belt and 11 years of experience, I would never buy in a market in which I\u2019m not licensed without a real estate agent,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/agents\/jessica-arledge-ga-340456\">Jessica Arledge<\/a>, a top agent who works with over 76% more single-family homes than the average <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/savannah-ga\/top-real-estate-agents\">Savannah<\/a>, Georgia, agent.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Step one: Talk to a few buyer's agents!<\/h3>\n                        <p>Tell us a little bit about your plans (where you&#8217;re looking to buy and when you want to make a purchase) and we&#8217;ll connect you with top-rated buyer&#8217;s agents in your area. It takes only a few minutes, and it&#8217;s free.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Get Started<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/span><\/p>\n<p>However, if you\u2019re dead set on making an offer on a house without a Realtor, we have a step-by-step guide with some tips from the professionals on how to buy a house without an agent. <div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"What\u2019s a Realtor\u00ae, and what\u2019s an agent?\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div><\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s a Realtor, and what\u2019s an agent?<\/h2>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-what-does-a-real-estate-agent-do\/\">real estate agent<\/a> is licensed to help people buy, sell, or rent different housing or real estate property types. To obtain this license, individuals must take prelicensing education, which varies by state. Some states require only 40 hours of pre-licensing classes, while others may require more than 200 hours, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Once classes are completed, aspiring real estate agents must take the licensing exam, which will test their knowledge of federal real estate laws, general real estate principles, and state-specific laws. When the exam is passed, the real estate agent can find a sponsoring broker or a brokerage firm where they can begin working.<\/p>\n<p>A Realtor is a real estate agent or broker who is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nar.realtor\/membership-marks-manual\/definition-of-realtor\">member of the National Association of Realtors<\/a> (NAR). To become a member, agents or brokers must join a local real estate association, agree to conduct themselves and their business according to the NAR\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nar.realtor\/about-nar\/governing-documents\/code-of-ethics\/2024-code-of-ethics-standards-of-practice\">Code of Ethics<\/a>, and pay annual dues to their association.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe National Association of Realtors really plays a large role in the decision-making process for rules governing Realtors and monitoring Realtors,\u201d Arledge says. \u201cWe\u2019re bound by a certain code of ethics that really governs everything that we do and is designed to protect our clients and to put our clients first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By becoming a Realtor, agents and brokers have access to special discounts and educational resources to help improve their practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are good reasons why you should use a Realtor. But if you\u2019re set on doing it alone, here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house without a Realtor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":45986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,630,629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-down-payments","category-home-financing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Make an Offer on a House Without a Realtor\u00ae in 9 Easy Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are good reasons why you should use a Realtor. But if you\u2019re set on doing it alone, here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house without a Realtor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house-without-a-realtor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here\u2019s How You Can Make an Offer On a House Without a Realtor\u00ae in 9 Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are good reasons why you should use a Realtor. But if you\u2019re set on doing it alone, here\u2019s how to make an offer on a house without a Realtor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-make-an-offer-on-a-house-without-a-realtor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-22T11:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-30T16:52:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Untitled-design-2024-07-22T215411.878-min.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josephine Nesbit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jtibsen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josephine Nesbit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Make an Offer on a House Without a Realtor\u00ae in 9 Easy Steps","description":"There are good reasons why you should use a Realtor. 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