For sellers
Selling your own home puts you in control of the price, the showings, and the negotiation. The tradeoff is that you also take on the marketing. This guide explains how For Sale By Owner works in the Chicago area and how our professional marketing package gives an owner-listed property the kind of presentation buyers expect from the major real estate platforms.
Professional photography, a dedicated property website, and 90 days of search visibility work for $1,500 per property.
Listing commissions are negotiable, and many sellers still pay a combined five to six percent of the sale price when they offer compensation to a buyer's agent. On a $400,000 Chicago home, that can be $20,000 or more. Selling on your own lets you decide what, if anything, you pay.
You set the price, approve every showing time, talk to buyers directly, and negotiate on your own schedule. Nobody pressures you to drop the price to close a file faster.
Owners can speak to the block, the neighbors, the mechanicals, and the upgrades with a level of detail no third party can match. Direct conversations with serious buyers often surface that value.
Most owner-listed properties do not fail on price. They fail on presentation and reach. Dark phone photos, a thin description, and a sign in the yard cannot compete with professionally marketed listings, and buyers searching online judge a property in seconds. A For Sale By Owner listing has to look as credible as everything else a buyer scrolls past, or it gets skipped.
That is the specific problem our marketing package was built to solve. Instead of squeezing your home into someone else's template, we build your property its own dedicated showcase website with professional photography, full property details, neighborhood context, and search engine optimization on a best-effort basis, then we monitor and adjust the search visibility work for 90 days.
One link for everything: a dedicated website gives you a single professional link to share in yard-sign riders, social posts, online marketplaces, and messages to interested buyers. Every channel you already use gets stronger when it points somewhere impressive.
$1,500 per property
A professional photo set for the property, with up to 40 photos used across the showcase website. Strong photography is the single biggest upgrade most owner-listed homes need.
A standard static website built only for your property: address, price, key features, room and lot details, neighborhood and school context, presented in a format similar to popular real estate platforms.
Search engine optimization on a best-effort basis, plus search monitoring for 90 days with adjustments approximately every 15 days during that period.
What we cannot promise: no company involved guarantees rankings, traffic, leads, offers, a sale, a price, or any specific outcome. The guarantee is that the showcase website remains accessible for the applicable term and the listed deliverables are provided. The full terms live on the marketing package page.
For Sale By Owner is one of three common paths for a Chicago seller. There is no single right answer, and you can change paths at any time. Here is how they compare.
Selling on your own means running your own numbers and your own checklist. These free tools were built for exactly that.
Estimate what you would actually walk away with at different price points before you commit to one.
Illinois and Chicago transfer taxes are a real line item. Know the number before a buyer asks about it.
Disclosures, attorney review, and closing logistics still apply when you sell on your own. Use the checklists and ask your own professionals.
Illinois practice note: most residential closings in the Chicago area involve a real estate attorney for each side, and Illinois sellers are generally required to provide a Residential Real Property Disclosure Report along with other applicable disclosures. Selling For Sale By Owner does not remove those obligations, so engage your own attorney early. This is general information, not legal advice.
One package: professional photography, a dedicated property showcase website, and 90 days of search visibility work for $1,500 per property. Review the full terms and sign up on the marketing package page, or request more information first.
Yes. An owner can sell their own property in Illinois without a real estate license or a listing agent. Most Illinois closings involve a real estate attorney, and sellers remain responsible for required disclosures, so plan to work with your own attorney even when you sell on your own.
Professional photography with up to 40 photos, a dedicated standard static showcase website for the property presented in a format similar to popular real estate platforms, search engine optimization on a best-effort basis, and search monitoring with adjustments approximately every 15 days during a 90-day period. The package is $1,500 per property.
No. The showcase website is a standalone marketing website for your property. It is not an MLS listing, and the package is not a brokerage service. Some owners pair the showcase website with a flat-fee MLS listing arranged separately through a licensed broker.
The marketing package is $1,500 per property and includes the showcase website live for 90 days. Keeping the website live beyond 90 days costs $95 per month, up to a 365-day total. Full terms are in the Marketing Services Agreement on the marketing package page.
Yes. The showcase website is an advertising and presentation service, so it can run alongside any sale path you choose, including a traditional listing, a flat-fee MLS listing, or a direct sale. Confirm with your own broker or attorney that your overall marketing complies with any agreements you sign.
You keep every option. You can extend the website hosting, list with an agent, or request a direct cash offer from us at any time through the Get Your Offer page. No company involved guarantees rankings, traffic, leads, offers, a sale, or any specific outcome from the marketing package.
Sell Chicago Properties, MFV RE, LLC, and Omega Business Consulting, LLC provide marketing and presentation services only. This page is general information and not legal, tax, financial, brokerage, or appraisal advice. The marketing package is provided under the Marketing Services Agreement on the real estate marketing page, which controls in the event of any conflict with this summary.