Selling without an agent is a challenge. Among the things that an agent takes care of is listing of your house on the (MLS). This is the primary source for most
real estate agents who are searching for properties on behalf of clients. It is not unusual for agents to only show homes that are listed on the MLS because they know that there will be another agent for them to negotiate with, rather than having to deal with an unknown, non-professional seller. That said, while not having an MLS listing can be quite significant, many homes are still sold successfully through newspapers and classified ads.