To sell a house by owner in Louisiana, you price the property, list it (usually through a flat-fee MLS service), complete the state’s mandatory property disclosure, sign buyers to the Louisiana Residential Agreement to Buy or Sell, clear any liens, and close before a Louisiana notary public who drafts and executes the Act of Sale. Skipping a listing agent saves you the 5–6% commission, but Louisiana’s civil law system — the only one of its kind in the United States — reshapes several steps of the sale in ways you need to plan for.
Price the Home and Get It in Front of Buyers
Without an agent pulling comparable sales for you, pricing is your first problem. A licensed appraiser will produce a formal valuation for a few hundred dollars, and because appraisers have no stake in the sale price, their opinion tends to be more objective than an agent’s informal estimate. Many agents will also prepare a comparative market analysis at no cost in hopes of winning your listing later. If a dispute over value ever arises, the appraisal carries more weight.
Exposure is the other early hurdle. The Multiple Listing Service is where agents find properties for their clients, and listings there syndicate automatically to Zillow, Realtor.com, and similar sites. Only licensed agents can post to the MLS, so FSBO sellers use flat-fee MLS services: you pay a one-time fee and a licensed broker enters your listing. Basic packages typically start around $300 and climb into the low thousands if you add photography or negotiation support.
Since August 2024, MLS platforms no longer display offers of buyer-agent compensation alongside listings. You can still offer to pay a buyer’s agent, and doing so often makes your home more attractive to represented buyers, but the offer now happens off the MLS — through direct negotiation or your listing description on other platforms.
Complete Louisiana’s Required Disclosures
Louisiana law requires every seller of residential property to complete a property disclosure document in a form prescribed by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission, filled out in good faith based on what the seller actually knows as of the signing date.1Louisiana State Legislature. RS 9:3198 The form covers the condition of major systems (roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing, water and sewer) along with questions about past flooding, structural repairs, wood-destroying insects, and neighborhood nuisances. You can answer “Unknown” to any question where you genuinely lack information, but deliberately omitting known problems opens the door to misrepresentation claims after closing.
Download the current version from the LREC website before you start, since the commission periodically updates the form’s language and categories.2Louisiana Real Estate Commission. Forms
If your home was built before 1978, federal law adds a lead-based paint disclosure. You must give the buyer a completed disclosure form, a copy of the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home,” and a 10-day window to conduct a lead inspection or risk assessment before the sale becomes binding.3U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X) Skipping it can bring federal penalties and gives the buyer grounds to unwind the sale.
Radon isn’t a required test in Louisiana, but if you’ve had one done, the results belong on the disclosure. The EPA recommends mitigation at or above 4 pCi/L and suggests homeowners consider action between 2 and 4 pCi/L.4U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. What is EPA’s Action Level for Radon and What Does it Mean A proactive test, usually under $200, lets you either fix the problem before listing or disclose transparently.
Use the State’s Purchase Agreement
Louisiana requires licensed real estate professionals to use the Louisiana Residential Agreement to Buy or Sell as the starting point for any residential contract. The LREC publishes an updated version each year under its mandatory forms.5LREC. Mandatory Forms If no agent is involved on either side, you aren’t technically bound to use it, but you should. The form is built to satisfy Louisiana’s legal requirements, and judges, notaries, and title companies all expect to see it. Drafting your own contract from scratch invites gaps that can blow up the deal.
The agreement covers the essentials: the property’s legal description (pull this verbatim from your current deed), the sale price, the deposit amount, who holds the deposit, and an expiration date and time for the offer. If the deadline passes without a signature, the offer dies automatically.
Inspection Period
The form sets the number of days the buyer has to inspect the property, typically 10 to 14 days. During this window the buyer can hire professionals to evaluate the home and request repairs or a price reduction based on findings. If you can’t agree, the buyer can usually walk with their deposit. Resist the temptation to skip or shorten this period to move faster; doing so makes buyers nervous and can scare off financing.
Financing Contingency
Most buyers need a mortgage, and the contract should include a financing contingency specifying the loan type, maximum interest rate, and a deadline (typically 30 to 60 days) for the buyer to secure approval. If the loan doesn’t come through in time, the buyer cancels without forfeiting the deposit. If you receive a cash offer with no financing contingency, you can often close faster, but verify proof of funds before celebrating.
Clear Liens and the Title
Any existing mortgage on the property must be paid off from the sale proceeds. Your servicer will issue a payoff statement showing the exact amount owed as of the expected closing date, including per-day interest. The closing agent routes that payment directly to the lender and makes sure the mortgage cancellation gets recorded.
A title search is standard and usually ordered by the buyer’s lender or the closing notary. The search examines public records in the parish where the property sits, looking for outstanding liens, unpaid taxes, judgments, or ownership disputes. If something turns up (a forgotten contractor’s lien, an old IRS tax lien), it has to be resolved before the sale can proceed. Many issues can be cleared by paying the debt at closing from your proceeds; some require more paperwork and time. Don’t wait until the last week to find out.
Title insurance protects the buyer and their lender against defects the search didn’t catch. Premiums vary with the sale price and coverage level, commonly running from several hundred to over a thousand dollars. Local custom and the purchase agreement together determine who pays.
Close Before a Louisiana Notary
This is where Louisiana departs most sharply from other states. Instead of a closing attorney or title company running the signing, you need a Louisiana notary public. These are civil law notaries, with powers usually reserved for attorneys elsewhere, including authority to draft, prepare, and execute acts of sale, mortgages, and other legal instruments affecting property.
The notary prepares the Act of Sale — the deed transferring ownership. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 1833, the Act of Sale must be executed as an “authentic act”: signed by both parties, two competent witnesses, and the notary, all present at the same time.6LSU Law Center. Louisiana Civil Code – Art. 1833 A transfer of immovable property must be made by authentic act (or act under private signature) to be valid, and it only takes effect against third parties once filed for registry in the parish where the property is located.
After signing, the notary or the buyer’s representative records the Act of Sale with the Clerk of Court in that parish. Recording fees follow a tiered structure based on page count; across multiple parishes, the pattern is roughly $105 for documents up to five pages and $205 for six to twenty-five pages.7Clerk of Court: Recording Fees. Recording Fees A standard residential Act of Sale rarely exceeds the lower tiers.
One warning worth taking seriously: wire fraud. Scammers intercept emails and send fake wiring instructions to redirect sale proceeds. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends confirming all wiring instructions by phone using a number you verified in advance, never one pulled from an email, and never emailing financial account information.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mortgage Closing Scams: How to Protect Yourself and Your Closing Funds
What You’ll Pay at Closing
Even without a listing agent commission, plenty of costs still apply. Budget for these upfront to avoid surprises at the closing table.
- Notary or closing attorney fees for preparing the Act of Sale and handling disbursements. Fees vary but typically run from several hundred to over a thousand dollars for a standard residential sale.
- Recording fees to the parish Clerk of Court, roughly $105 to $205 for a typical Act of Sale depending on page count.9St. Charles Parish Clerk of Court. Recordation Fees
- A Louisiana state transfer tax on real estate sales, scaled to the sale price and customarily paid by the seller.
- Title insurance, if you’re paying for the buyer’s owner’s policy (common in some Louisiana parishes), with a premium scaled to the sale price.
- Property tax proration. Louisiana taxes are paid in arrears, so at closing you credit the buyer for the portion of the current tax year during which you owned the home. Close in June and you owe roughly half the year’s taxes as a credit.
- Mortgage payoff — the remaining loan balance plus per-diem interest through closing.
- Flat-fee MLS listing, typically paid upfront rather than at closing.
- Buyer’s agent compensation, if the buyer is represented and you agreed to cover it. The amount is negotiable; there is no standard rate.
Total closing costs for a Louisiana FSBO seller commonly land between 1% and 3% of the sale price, depending on the specifics and local parish customs.
Understand Redhibition Before You Sign
Redhibition is the Louisiana doctrine most likely to blindside a first-time or out-of-state seller. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2520, the seller automatically warrants the buyer against hidden defects. If a defect makes the home useless or so inconvenient that the buyer wouldn’t have purchased it, the buyer can demand the sale be rescinded. If the defect merely reduces value, the buyer can demand a price reduction.10Louisiana State Legislature. CC 2520 – Redhibition This warranty exists by operation of law. It applies whether or not your contract mentions it.
How Long Buyers Have to Sue
The deadline depends on what you knew. If you genuinely had no knowledge of the defect, the buyer must file within two years of delivery or one year of discovering the defect, whichever comes first. If you knew (or a court decides you should have known), the buyer gets one year from discovery or up to ten years from the date the contract was perfected, whichever comes first.11Louisiana State Legislature. CC Art. 2534 – Prescription That ten-year window is where the real exposure lives. Honest disclosure on the front end is the single best way to limit your risk.
Waiving the Warranty With an “As-Is” Clause
Louisiana law allows the parties to exclude or limit the redhibition warranty, but the waiver language must be clear and unambiguous and must be brought to the buyer’s attention.12Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 2548 – Exclusion or Limitation of Warranty In practice the language goes in the Act of Sale itself, not just the earlier purchase agreement. A typical clause states that the buyer accepts the property in its present condition, at their own risk, and waives all claims for hidden defects.
The critical limitation: a waiver does not protect a seller who knew about a defect and failed to disclose it. If a buyer can show you were aware of a foundation crack, a recurring leak, or termite damage and stayed quiet, a judge can void the waiver entirely. Thorough, honest completion of the disclosure form matters as much for your protection as for the buyer’s.
Taxes on the Sale
Most homeowners who sell a primary residence owe no federal capital gains tax, thanks to the Section 121 exclusion. Single filers can exclude up to $250,000 in gain; married couples filing jointly can exclude up to $500,000.13Internal Revenue Service. Publication 523 (2025), Selling Your Home To qualify for the full exclusion, you must have owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least two of the five years before the sale. The two years of residence don’t have to be consecutive; a total of 730 days during the five-year window counts. For married couples filing jointly, both spouses must independently meet the residence requirement, though only one needs to meet the ownership requirement.
If you don’t hit the full two-year threshold because you moved for a job, a health issue, or an unforeseeable event, you may still qualify for a partial exclusion scaled to the time you did live there.
The person responsible for closing — typically the notary or settlement agent — must file Form 1099-S with the IRS reporting the sale proceeds. Reporting can be waived if you certify in writing that the home was your principal residence, the full gain is excludable, and the gross proceeds don’t exceed $250,000 ($500,000 for a married seller).14Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-S Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions Even if no 1099-S is filed, keep records of your purchase price, improvement costs, and sale expenses. If the IRS ever questions the transaction, your documentation is your defense.