Why I Created List It Yourself

After more than forty years as a licensed real estate broker, I've watched thousands of people navigate the sale of their home. And somewhere along the way, I noticed something that wouldn't leave me alone: a certain number of people are always going to try to sell their home themselves — and when they do, far too many of them are doing it without the information they need. List It Yourself exists to change that.

The people I couldn't stop thinking about

Here's a truth about real estate that doesn't get said often enough: no matter what anyone recommends, a portion of home sellers will always choose to go the for-sale-by-owner route. Some do it to keep more of their equity. Some do it because they're comfortable with the process. Some do it because it simply feels right for their situation. Their reasons are their own, and they're valid.

I'm not here to talk anyone into selling their home themselves, and I'm certainly not here to talk anyone out of working with an agent. Agents provide real value, and for many sellers, hiring one is absolutely the right choice. But for the people who have already decided to sell on their own — the ones who are going to do it regardless — I kept seeing the same painful pattern. They were capable, motivated people, stumbling not because FSBO is impossible, but because they didn't have a clear, trustworthy roadmap.

What I saw go wrong, again and again

Over four decades, the FSBO sellers who struggled almost never failed because they lacked intelligence or effort. They failed because they didn't know what they didn't know. They'd price their home on emotion instead of real comparable sales. They'd get an offer before they understood their state's disclosure obligations. They'd sign something without fully grasping what it committed them to. They'd arrive at closing unsure of what was even happening.

None of those mistakes were necessary. Every single one came down to a gap in information — the kind of information that, frankly, sits in the heads of experienced brokers and rarely makes it into the hands of the everyday seller trying to do this on their own.

The decision to build something

For years, I did what I could one conversation at a time — answering questions, pointing people toward the right forms, explaining what a disclosure actually requires or how closing works in their state. But one seller at a time isn't enough. There are people in every state, right now, deciding to sell their home themselves, and most of them will never sit across a table from a broker willing to walk them through it honestly.

So I decided to take what I know — the practical, real-world knowledge of how a home sale actually works — and put it into one clear, complete resource. Not a sales pitch. Not a course that leaves you more confused than when you started. Just the genuine, broker-grade information a person needs to sell their home themselves with confidence, organized in the right order, and tailored to the rules of their specific state.

What List It Yourself is — and what it isn't

List It Yourself is a straightforward, state-specific packet built to guide someone through the process of selling their own home. It covers the things that actually trip people up: pricing your home based on real market data, understanding your state's disclosure requirements, preparing for the paperwork, handling offers and negotiation, and knowing what to expect at closing.

What it isn't: it isn't a promise that FSBO is right for everyone, and it isn't a nudge to skip professional help when professional help is what you need. If you decide partway through that selling yourself isn't the right fit, that's a perfectly good outcome too. My goal was never to push a particular choice. My goal was to make sure that the people who do choose to sell their own home aren't doing it blind.

Why this matters to me personally

Forty years in this business teaches you that a home sale is rarely just a transaction. It's someone's next chapter — a move closer to family, a downsizing after the kids are grown, a fresh start after a hard season, the equity that funds whatever comes next. When someone gets that process wrong for lack of good information, it isn't an abstract mistake. It costs them real money, real time, and real peace of mind during what's often an already stressful moment in their life.

I couldn't fix that one seller at a time. But I could take everything I've learned and put it somewhere any seller could reach it. That's what List It Yourself is. It's the resource I wish every by-owner seller had in their hands before they started — built by a broker, for the people who've decided to do this themselves, so they can do it well.

If you're one of those people

If you've decided to sell your home yourself, I want you to know two things. First, it's a capable, reasonable choice, and you don't have to feel alone in it. And second, doing it well comes down to having the right information in the right order — which is exactly what this is here to give you. One clear step at a time, you can absolutely do this.

Michelle's Advice

If there's one thing I hope you remember from this article, it's this: If you've decided to sell your own home, you're capable of this. The right information, in the right order, is all it takes.

— Michelle