The Middle Tennessee FSBO Seller Checklist

Pull your mortgage payoff statement (call your servicer; free, takes a day). Subtract payoff, roughly 1–2% for closing costs, and any repairs from your expected sale price. That's what you walk away with. If it's not enough, you aren't ready to list.

Homes within half a mile that sold in the last 90 days, same bed/bath count, within 20% of your square footage. Sold, not listed. Three to five real comps beat any online estimate. (We don't give pricing advice; this is how to find your own.)

You'll find what the buyer's inspector will find, while you still control the timeline and the price. Sellers who skip this negotiate from behind.

Split the report into three piles: fix now (safety, water, roof, HVAC, electrical), disclose and price for it, ignore (cosmetic). Write it down. This becomes your negotiating position.

Ask your closing attorney or a title company for a quick title search. Old liens, an unreleased second mortgage, a boundary issue: better to find it now than at the closing table.

Windows, baseboards, inside the oven, grout. Buyers can't articulate "clean" but they feel it in the first ten seconds.

Closets half empty, counters bare, every room with a clear path. Rent a storage unit for a month if you have to. Space sells.

Paint anything bold, dated, or scuffed. Warm white or light greige. Fresh paint is the highest-return dollar in the process.

Dripping faucets, sticking doors, cracked outlet covers, the burned-out bulb. Buyers count small defects and multiply.

Mulch, trim, pressure-wash the walk, clean the front door, new house numbers if dated. The first photo they see is the front of the house.

Everything else just needs to be clean and mostly empty. A stager can do a two-hour consult if you're unsure.

Phone photos are the single most common reason a FSBO listing gets ignored. Clear day, lights on, blinds open, mid-morning or late afternoon.

Required by state law. Complete and honest; "unknown" is acceptable, a lie is not. Download the current form from the state.

Read our disclosure guide →

Federal requirement, separate form, plus the EPA pamphlet. Much of Nashville's housing qualifies. Skipping it is the most common FSBO legal error.

Survey, HOA documents and fees, permits for any work, appliance manuals and warranties, 12 months of utility bills, the inspection report, the disclosure. One shared folder. Buyers who get answers fast make offers.

In Tennessee, attorneys or title companies handle closings. Pick one, ask what they charge, and ask them for the standard purchase agreement so you have it ready.

Price, beds, baths, square feet, year built, lot size, and a description that names what's actually good: specifics, not adjectives. Our form checks for Fair Housing problems automatically.

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Nashville Buys, Zillow's free FSBO listing, Facebook Marketplace, your neighborhood group, a yard sign with a phone number. Your listing link works everywhere.

Appointments only. Two hours' notice. Never show alone. Photo ID at the door, a sign-in sheet. Lock up medications, jewelry, documents.

Any serious buyer has one. No letter, no second visit.

"Thanks for coming, send me your offer in writing." Verbal numbers in a hallway are how sellers give away money without noticing.

Speed is the one edge you have over agent-listed homes.

No showings: it's the photos or the price. Showings but no offers: it's the price or a defect they're all seeing. Adjust once, decisively, not in small steps.

The Tennessee Association of Realtors purchase agreement is the standard; your attorney can provide it. Never a text, never a handwritten note.

Financing type, earnest money, inspection period, appraisal contingency, closing date, what conveys, any seller-paid costs. A lower price with clean terms often nets more.

24 hours is standard. Open-ended negotiations lose momentum and buyers.

Never to you. If a buyer wants to hand you a check directly, that's a red flag.

Inspection period end, financing contingency, appraisal, closing. Missing one can void the contract or cost you leverage.

You already know what's on it. Decide in advance: fix, credit, or decline. Credits are usually cleaner than repairs.

If the buyer is financing, the lender orders one. If it comes in low: buyer covers the gap, you reduce, or you meet in the middle. Have your comps ready to share with the appraiser.

Don't remove fixtures you agreed convey. Don't let the yard go.

Ask what to bring: ID, all keys and openers, any final paperwork.

Payoff, prorated taxes, attorney fee, credits. Errors are easy to fix the day before, hard at the table.

The buyer does one 24–48 hours before. Clean, agreed repairs done, everything that conveys still there.

Confirm wiring instructions by phone with the attorney's office, never by email alone. Wire fraud targets closings.

There's a federal tax exclusion on gains from a primary residence you've lived in for at least two of the last five years. Ask a tax preparer whether it applies to you.