Seller’s DeskNational
Should I Sell My House Off-Market?
Privacy, no repairs and a closing date you choose, in exchange for fewer buyers bidding. How an off-market sale works for owners, and how to judge an offer.
Topic
Pricing, timing, commissions, disclosure and what a seller keeps.
Seller’s DeskNational
Privacy, no repairs and a closing date you choose, in exchange for fewer buyers bidding. How an off-market sale works for owners, and how to judge an offer.
Seller’s DeskNational
A three-number test for deciding, the repairs that usually earn their cost back, the ones that rarely do, and what selling as-is does not change.
Seller’s DeskNational
A new job, new orders or a start date weeks away. The four ways to sell on a deadline compared side by side, a timeline that works backward from your start date, and how to close from another state.
Seller’s DeskNational
How to read what the market is telling you, a symptom-by-symptom guide to the fix, and what your listing agreement says before you change course.
Seller’s Desk
Who can sign, whether you can sell before probate closes, the tax rule that helps heirs most, and a checklist of the papers to gather.
3 min readSeller’s Desk
Every line that comes out of the price, who usually pays it and how to shrink it, followed by a worked net sheet comparing a listing with a private sale.
3 min readSeller’s Desk
The personal signs that usually decide it, the four market numbers worth tracking and how to read them, and why the season and mortgage rates matter less than they seem.
3 min readSeller’s Desk
From the first conversation to the keys, what happens when you sell directly to a buyer, and what to ask at each stage.
2 min readSeller’s Desk
National studies put the strongest seller premiums in March through June and the weakest in September and October. Westport’s thin inventory and a 7.28 percent mortgage rate complicate the choice.
3 min readSeller’s Desk
Buyers now sign their own agent agreements, and offers to pay buyers’ agents are off the MLS. In Connecticut there has never been a standard rate. What that means when you list.
2 min readMarket Report
The single-family median is up 5.9 percent through August, and the number of houses for sale is down by more than a third. Mortgage rates just reached their highest level since November 2023.
4 min readSeller’s Desk
For-sale-by-owner deals fell to 5 percent of U.S. sales, a record low. If you go it alone in Connecticut, the disclosures, the attorney and the closing rules still apply.
2 min readMarket Data
Offers accepted between September and December have tracked the market for three years running. Price per square foot rose every fall, while the median house price flattened in 2025.
2 min readSeller’s Desk
Whether to sell with the furniture in place is one of the first decisions before listing. The national data cannot settle that exact question, but it says a good deal about what buyers respond to.
2 min readSeller’s Desk
Sellers of one- to four-unit homes owe buyers a Residential Property Condition Report or a $500 credit. Since July 2025 the form asks about flooding in detail.
2 min readBuyer’s Guide
The 2025 revaluation set every assessment in town for five years. There is a yearly appeal deadline, relief programs for older and disabled owners, and a few things buyers should check before closing.
2 min readBuyer’s Guide
Connecticut requires an attorney to conduct every closing. Sellers owe you a condition report or a $500 credit. Radon, oil tanks and lead paint are yours to check.
3 min readSeller’s Desk
Conveyance taxes to the state and town, commissions that are openly negotiable, and a capital gains exclusion with a two-year test. The math on a Westport sale, with a $3 million example.
4 min read