Selling a house without a real estate agent — often called "for sale by owner" or FSBO — is completely legal in Queensland, provided the sale still runs through a licensed real estate agency for the parts of the process the law requires it for. Here's exactly how the process works, from the day you decide to sell to the day you hand over the keys.
1. Get your property genuinely market-ready
Before anything goes live, you need accurate details: address, land size, floor area, number of bedrooms/bathrooms/car spaces, and an honest description of condition and features. Buyers verify this against public records and their own inspection, so accuracy matters more than polish.
2. List on a major portal, not just word of mouth
The overwhelming majority of Queensland property buyers search on Domain.com.au or realestate.com.au before anywhere else. A private listing that only exists on a noticeboard or a Facebook group will structurally underperform one on a major portal — this is the single biggest reason FSBO sellers historically struggled, not the absence of an agent.
3. Professional photography and a floor plan
Listings with professional photography and a floor plan consistently attract more serious enquiries than phone-camera photos. A 3D virtual tour lets interstate or overseas buyers shortlist your property before booking an inspection, which matters more than ever given how much of the buyer search process now happens before a single physical inspection.
4. Manage enquiries and inspections
Every enquiry should be logged and followed up quickly — buyers moving through multiple listings will simply move on if a seller is slow to respond. For inspections, you can meet buyers yourself, or engage a licensed agent to attend on your behalf for a per-visit fee, which matters especially if you work standard business hours or the property is tenanted.
5. Take and compare offers
An offer is an expression of interest, not a binding contract. Compare offers on price, deposit, settlement timeframe, and any conditions (finance, building & pest) — a higher headline price with a shaky finance condition can be worth less than a lower, cleaner offer.
6. The Heads of Agreement and the formal Contract of Sale
Once you accept an offer, the agreed terms are typically documented first as a Heads of Agreement — a summary both parties sign to confirm the deal before the formal, legally binding Contract of Sale is prepared. The Contract of Sale itself must be prepared by a licensed conveyancer or solicitor; this step doesn't change whether you sold through an agent or privately.
7. Conditions, cooling-off, and settlement
Most residential contracts in Queensland include a statutory cooling-off period for the buyer, plus any negotiated conditions like finance approval or a building & pest inspection. Settlement — the day money and title actually change hands — typically follows 30 to 90 days after the contract becomes unconditional, depending on what was agreed.
Why this still needs a licensed agency
Queensland's Property Occupations Act 2014 regulates who can market and sell residential property for a fee — this is why "FSBO" platforms in Queensland operate as licensed real estate agencies themselves (charging a flat fee instead of a percentage commission), rather than being a way to bypass the licensing requirement entirely. The saving comes from the fee structure, not from skipping the legal framework.