Handling showings and offers without a listing agent in Utah

Utah law lets you sell your own home without a license. Utah Code § 61-2f-202(2)(a)(i) exempts a person who, as owner, performs brokerage acts with reference to real estate that person owns. That means you can set showing rules, talk to buyers and their agents, and negotiate and sign a contract yourself. It also means nobody on your side of the deal owes you the fiduciary duties a listing agent would, so this page walks through the parts a listing agent would normally handle: showings, buyer agents, compensation requests, reading and comparing offers, countering, and handing the contract to the title company.

This page is general information, current as of October 2026. It is not legal or tax advice. Read the actual contract and forms you sign, and consult a Utah real estate attorney about your situation.

If you haven't yet, read the overview at /utah/sell-by-owner/, the REPC deadline guide at /utah/sell-by-owner/repc-explained/ and the disclosure guide at /utah/sell-by-owner/seller-disclosures/. Your disclosures are what buyers will rely on during showings and due diligence, so it helps to have them ready before the first showing.

Buyer agents expect to book a showing quickly, and a slow reply often means a buyer sees another house first. Put a phone number and email on your listing that you actually answer, and respond the same day if you can. Decide your rules before the first request comes in:

• Which days and times you can accommodate, and how much notice you need.
• Whether you will be home, step out, or wait outside during agent-accompanied showings. Most buyers speak more freely with their agent when the seller isn't in the room.
• How long each showing can last, and how much time you want between showings.
• Whether you will use a lockbox or a showing service, and who gets access.
• How you will handle buyers who contact you without an agent: ask for their full name, phone number and, if they are financing, whether they have spoken to a lender.
• Whether and when you will hold open houses.

Keep a simple log of every showing: date and time, the agent's name and brokerage, the buyer's name, and any feedback. The log helps you follow up, shows you which agents are actively working with buyers, and gives you a record if anything goes missing or a dispute arises later.

Some flat-fee and limited-service brokerages that put your home on the MLS also offer a showing-request system or lockbox access as part of their service. What's included depends on your listing agreement, so read it rather than assume. If you are selling without an MLS listing, you can still use a key lockbox you control and give out the code only for confirmed appointments, changing it regularly.

You are letting strangers into your home. A few habits reduce most of the risk:

• Lock away or remove valuables, jewelry, cash, firearms, prescription medications, spare keys and garage remotes.
• Put away mail, bills, tax papers, checkbooks and anything with account numbers or your signature. Shut down or lock computers.
• Take down anything you don't want photographed: family photos, children's names on walls, calendars, documents on the fridge, and visible security system details.
• Confirm who is coming. Get a name and phone number before any showing. For a buyer's agent, confirm their license with the Utah Division of Real Estate's online license lookup and note their brokerage.
• For a buyer without an agent, have another adult with you, keep your phone on you, and stay with the visitor during the tour.
• After every showing and open house, walk through and check doors, windows, and the garage, and look for anything moved or missing.
• Tell your homeowner's insurer the home is for sale if your policy asks you to report changes, and keep your coverage in place until closing. Under the REPC, the risk of loss before closing stays with the seller (Section 20.2).

Open houses work best with structure. Ask every visitor to sign in with a name and phone number, keep bedrooms and closets you can't monitor closed or have a second adult in the house, and set a firm end time. Have printed copies of a property information sheet available, and point visitors to your seller disclosures rather than answering detailed condition questions from memory.

A buyer's agent may want to tour your home with their client during an open house. Under the NAR settlement practice changes, an MLS participant working with a buyer must have a written agreement with that buyer before the buyer tours a home, including a live virtual tour. That obligation is the buyer agent's to meet, not yours, but it explains why agents may ask clients to sign one before they come to your door.

Let buyers look. When they ask questions, answer honestly, and when you don't know something, say so rather than guess. Anything you say about the home can become part of a later dispute, so keep your answers consistent with your written disclosures.

• Do point buyers to your seller property condition disclosure. Under REPC Section 10.3, the seller agrees to disclose in writing known defects that materially affect the value of the property and that a reasonable inspection by an ordinary prudent buyer wouldn't discover. Your spoken answers should match what you wrote.
• Do not overstate square footage, permit history, the age of the roof or systems, or recent repairs. If you aren't sure, say you aren't sure and let the buyer verify it during due diligence.
• Do not reveal your bottom line, your deadline to move, or how many other showings or offers you've had unless you've decided that information helps you. Remember that the buyer's agent works for the buyer and is expected to use what you tell them.
• Do not describe the neighborhood, schools or the home in terms of who lives there or who the home would suit. Describe the property and its features. See the fair housing section below.

For what you must disclose and when, see /utah/sell-by-owner/seller-disclosures/.

Most buyers who tour your home will have an agent. It helps to know exactly what that agent owes you and what they owe their client, because the difference shapes every conversation you have with them.

Separately, Utah's licensing law makes it unlawful for a licensee to make a substantial or intentional misrepresentation or a false promise likely to influence or induce, to engage in any other conduct that constitutes dishonest dealing, or to act for more than one party in a transaction without the informed written consent of the parties (Utah Code § 61-2f-401(1), (2) and (16)). Those rules protect you as a party to the deal. They don't make the buyer's agent your advisor.

Expect the agent to identify themselves and their brokerage. In the REPC, Section 5 confirms the agency relationships: whose agent each licensee is, and their Utah license numbers. If you have no agent, the seller's agent and seller's brokerage lines stay blank. Check that the buyer's agent and brokerage are filled in and marked as representing the buyer.

A buyer's agent may offer to act as a limited agent for both sides. A licensee representing both parties must first explain in writing what will be held confidential and what will be disclosed, and get each party's written acknowledgment waiving undivided loyalty, absolute confidentiality and full disclosure (R162-2f-401a(3)). Don't sign that kind of consent casually. If you want help on your side, hire your own broker or attorney instead.

• Communicate in writing where you can, and keep copies. Under REPC Section 18, notices must be in writing, signed by the party giving notice, and received by the deadline.
• Ask the buyer's agent for their buyer's lender letter or proof of funds early, before you agree to anything.
• If you agree to something by phone, confirm it by email and get it into a signed addendum. The REPC can't be changed except by written agreement of the parties (Section 14).

Under the National Association of REALTORS® settlement practice changes that took effect August 17, 2024, offers of compensation to buyer brokers can't appear on MLSs covered by the settlement, and buyers working with an MLS participant sign a written agreement before touring a home. That agreement must state what the agent will be paid and bars the agent from receiving more than that amount from any source. Commissions were negotiable before the settlement and still are. For the full background, see /selling-costs/buyer-agent-commission/.

For you as a for-sale-by-owner seller, the practical result is that the buyer's agent will often ask, before or with an offer, whether you'll pay some or all of their fee. You have three basic responses, and you can mix them:

• Offer compensation. You can tell agents, off the MLS, that you'll contribute a set percentage or dollar amount to the buyer's brokerage. Whatever you agree to belongs in REPC Section 4.3(e), the Seller's Compensation Contribution line.
• Consider it offer by offer. You can say you'll look at a request as one term of each offer, alongside price and everything else.
• Decline. You can say you won't pay the buyer's agent, knowing the buyer may then pay their agent directly or ask for a lower price or a concession instead.

How REPC Section 4.3(e) works: you agree to contribute a percentage of the purchase price or a dollar amount to the buyer's brokerage. If no amount is entered, you haven't agreed to compensate the buyer's brokerage in the REPC. The buyer also agrees that your contribution, combined with any payment from a seller's brokerage, won't exceed what the buyer agreed to pay their own brokerage in their written buyer-broker agreement. The compensation is paid from your proceeds at closing (Section 4.3(f)).

Here's a hypothetical example. On a $500,000 offer, a buyer's agent asks for a 2.5% Seller's Compensation Contribution, which is $12,500. You can accept, counter at a lower percentage or a flat amount, or strike the request in your counteroffer. If you know the buyer's written agreement caps their agent's pay at $10,000, an amount above that wouldn't reach the agent anyway, so it is reasonable to ask the agent what the buyer's agreement allows before you respond.

Seller concessions are a different tool. A concession is money toward the buyer's closing costs rather than a payment to their agent. NAR's FAQs say MLSs may allow seller concessions, but they can't be limited to or conditioned on the buyer using or paying a buyer's agent. Lenders may limit how much a seller can contribute to a buyer's costs, so a concession that's too large may be reduced by the buyer's loan program.

NAR's FAQs also say a buyer can always ask, as a term of an offer, that the seller pay the buyer broker, and that the REALTOR® Code of Ethics prohibits a REALTOR® from delaying or withholding delivery of a buyer's offer while trying to negotiate buyer-broker compensation. If an agent tells you they won't present their client's offer unless you first agree to a fee, ask for the offer in writing and treat the compensation request as one of its terms.

• Decide your answer before you list and give every agent the same answer.
• Read any separate compensation agreement a buyer's agent hands you closely, and have it reviewed before you sign. A standalone agreement may create obligations apart from the REPC. Putting what you agree to in Section 4.3(e) keeps it inside the purchase contract.
• Run the net-proceeds math for each offer with the compensation request included. See /selling-costs/ and /selling-costs/utah-closing-costs/ for the other costs that come out of your proceeds.

Utah Code § 61-2f-306 generally allows real estate licensees to fill out only forms approved by the Utah Real Estate Commission and the Attorney General and forms provided by statute, with limited exceptions such as forms prepared by a party's own attorney. The current state-approved REPC, effective December 4, 2024, says on its first line that Utah law requires real estate licensees to use it, though the buyer and seller may agree to alter or delete its provisions or use a different form. So an offer written by a buyer's agent will almost always be on the REPC. The form and its addenda are free to download from the Utah Division of Real Estate.

Read the whole form, not just the price. These are the parts that matter most to a seller.

Time is of the essence under the REPC. Unless the contract says otherwise, performance on each date is due by 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and "days" means calendar days counted starting the day after the triggering event, such as Acceptance (Section 21). Write every deadline on a calendar the moment an offer comes in, and make sure you can meet the Seller Disclosure Deadline in particular. For a deadline-by-deadline walkthrough, see /utah/sell-by-owner/repc-explained/.

The highest price isn't always the best offer. An offer that closes on time for a little less is usually worth more than one that falls apart at the Financing & Appraisal Deadline. Compare offers side by side on these points:

• Net to you. Start with the price, then subtract any Seller's Compensation Contribution, seller-paid closing costs or concessions, a home warranty you'd pay for, and assessments or HOA transfer fees the offer assigns to you.
• Financing type. Cash with no Financing Condition (Section 8.3(a) checked) removes loan risk. A conventional loan, FHA or VA loan, or seller financing each carries different timelines and requirements; FHA and VA offers come with the state-approved FHA/VA Loan Addendum.
• Appraisal Condition. If Section 8.2 applies and the home appraises below the price, the buyer can cancel by the Financing & Appraisal Deadline and get the earnest money back. A buyer who waives it, or who offers to cover part of a gap in an addendum, is taking on more of that risk.
• Earnest money. A larger deposit signals commitment and gives you more if the buyer defaults after the conditions are waived. Under Section 8.1(c), if the buyer doesn't cancel or resolve objections by the Due Diligence Deadline, the deposit becomes non-refundable, except as provided for the appraisal and financing conditions.
• Earnest money released to you on a financing cancellation. Section 8.3(b)(i) has a blank for how much of the deposit goes to you if the buyer cancels over the loan after due diligence but before the Financing & Appraisal Deadline. A blank or a small figure means little protection.
• Deadlines. Shorter Due Diligence and Financing & Appraisal Deadlines get you to a firmer deal sooner. A Settlement Deadline that fits your move matters too.
• Contingency on the sale of the buyer's home (Section 2.2). This adds the risk of a second transaction.
• Possession and rent-back. If you need time after closing, it must be in a separate written agreement under Section 3.3.
• Assignment. Under Section 19, the buyer can't assign the REPC without your written consent, except to an entity the buyer holds an interest in. Watch for "and/or assigns" after the buyer's name; under Section 19 it counts as your consent only to that kind of permitted transfer.

This is a hypothetical comparison. Offer A has the higher price but nets less, depends on a loan and an appraisal, and keeps you in limbo longer. That doesn't make Offer B automatically better. You might counter Offer A on the compensation or the closing-cost credit. It shows why the price line alone isn't enough.

Ask for proof that the buyer can perform before you accept, and certainly before you take your home off the market.

• For a financed buyer, ask for a pre-approval letter from the lender, dated recently, for at least the loan amount in Section 2.1(c) and the loan type in the offer. Call the loan officer named on it to confirm it's real and current. A pre-qualification based on what the buyer told the lender is weaker than a pre-approval that reviewed their credit and income.
• For a cash buyer, ask for a recent bank or brokerage statement, or a letter from the institution, showing funds that cover the cash at settlement in Section 2.1(e). The buyer can black out account numbers.
• Check that the cash at settlement plus the loan plus the earnest money add up to the price.
• If you're offering seller financing, the state-approved Seller Financing Addendum and the Buyer Financial Information Sheet that goes with it give you a structure for reviewing the buyer's finances. Get an attorney involved before you agree to carry a loan.

Asking for this proof isn't rude. Apply the same request to every buyer so you treat everyone alike.

At the bottom of the REPC, the seller checks one box: Acceptance, Counteroffer, or Rejection. If you check Counteroffer, you present the buyer's terms subject to the changes in an attached addendum. The state-approved Addendum to Real Estate Purchase Contract (effective January 1, 2020) has a checkbox to mark it as an Addendum or a Counteroffer, says its terms control where they conflict with the REPC, and has a line for the date and time by which the other side must accept. If it isn't accepted by then, the counteroffer lapses.

Licensees must use an approved addendum form to make a counteroffer or any other change to a contract (R162-2f-401a(18)), and they may not make a counteroffer by striking out, whiting out or substituting language in the REPC's printed provisions or in the blanks already filled in (R162-2f-401b(1)(p)). Those rules bind the buyer's agent, not you, but following the same practice keeps your changes clear. Leave the buyer's REPC as written and put every change in a numbered addendum.

• Write each change precisely: "Section 4.3(e): Seller's Compensation Contribution shall be 1.5% of the Purchase Price" rather than "lower the commission."
• Change deadlines by naming the new date for each Section 24 deadline.
• Set a short, specific response time, such as 5:00 PM Mountain Time the next day.
• Number addenda in order (Addendum No. 1, No. 2) and keep every version. Each new counter can accept, counter or reject the last one.

Acceptance has a specific meaning under REPC Section 23. It occurs only when the seller or buyer has signed the offer or counteroffer to show acceptance, and that signing has been communicated to the other party or their agent. Until both happen, you don't have a contract, and either side's offer can lapse at its stated deadline. A counteroffer generally rejects the offer it responds to, so if you counter, you may not be able to go back and accept the original. Once both sides have accepted the same final terms, every REPC deadline runs from that Acceptance date.

Getting several offers at once is good news, but it needs care when you're managing it yourself.

• Tell every agent who has shown the home, or who asks, the same thing at the same time: that you have multiple offers and when you'll decide. Give everyone the same deadline.
• Decide whether to ask for "highest and best" offers by a set time, or to counter one offer while letting others know you've received other offers.
• Be careful about countering more than one buyer at once. If two buyers each accept a counter, you could end up obligated to sell to both. If you counter several buyers, say clearly in each addendum that it isn't binding until you sign again, and have an attorney review that language first.
• Think carefully before sharing one buyer's offer terms with another buyer. It can undermine trust and lead to disputes.
• Compare offers on the factors above, not only price. Choose using the same criteria for every buyer.

If you accept one offer, you can tell the other agents you'd consider a backup offer. A backup arrangement should be in writing and make clear it only takes effect if the first contract is cancelled. An attorney can draft the right language.

The federal Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to sell, refuse to negotiate, or otherwise make a dwelling unavailable because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin (42 U.S.C. § 3604(a)), to discriminate against a buyer because of a disability (§ 3604(f)), to falsely say a home isn't available for inspection or sale for a discriminatory reason (§ 3604(d)), and to make, print or publish any notice, statement or advertisement indicating a preference, limitation or discrimination based on a protected class (§ 3604(c)).

The Utah Fair Housing Act goes further. Utah Code § 57-21-5 lists race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, source of income, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity. It covers refusing to sell or negotiate after a bona fide offer, discriminating in terms or conditions, misrepresenting availability, and any written or oral statement or advertisement that expresses a preference, limitation or discrimination.

Both laws have a narrow exemption for a single-family home sold by its owner, but it is easy to lose. Among other conditions, such as limits on how many homes the owner holds or has recently sold, the federal exemption requires that the home be sold without the use of a real estate broker's sales facilities or services and without an advertisement that violates § 3604(c) (42 U.S.C. § 3603(b)). Utah's exemption likewise requires that the owner not retain or use a real estate broker or salesperson, and it doesn't apply if the owner uses a discriminatory statement or advertisement under § 57-21-5(2) (Utah Code § 57-21-3(1)). If you list through a flat-fee brokerage, you are using a broker's services, so assume both laws fully apply. Even if you don't, the advertising rules apply to everyone, and a separate federal law, 42 U.S.C. § 1982, bars race discrimination in the sale of property with no owner exemption.

• Describe the property, not the people: "three bedrooms, fenced yard, walk to the park" rather than "perfect for a young family" or "ideal for empty nesters."
• Avoid describing who lives in the neighborhood or naming churches or community groups as selling points.
• Use the same showing rules, the same proof-of-funds request and the same response time for every buyer.
• Judge offers on their terms: price, financing, deadlines and the buyer's ability to perform. Utah law allows distinctions based on a buyer's inability to meet the financial terms of a purchase contract (Utah Code § 57-21-3(6)).
• Be cautious with "love letters" from buyers that describe their family, faith or background. You don't have to read them, and many sellers decide based only on the offer terms.
• If a buyer with a disability asks for a reasonable accommodation during a showing, such as extra time or a companion animal, take the request seriously.

Once you have Acceptance, send the fully signed REPC and every addendum to the title company named in the offer, or agree with the buyer on one. In Utah, the title company usually acts as the escrow or closing office. It issues the title commitment you provide as a Seller Disclosure under Section 7(c), works with the buyer's lender, prepares settlement statements, and records the deed.

Earnest money is the first thing to confirm. On the REPC, the buyer delivers the deposit within four calendar days after Acceptance, and once the brokerage receives it, the brokerage has four calendar days to deposit it into its real estate trust account. Utah's broker rules set a separate default: a principal broker deposits a client's money into a trust account within three business days of receiving it, unless the written agreement says the money is to be held for a specific length of time or deposited upon the seller's acceptance, and that trust account can be one maintained by a title company if the parties agree in writing (R162-2f-401c(1)(h)). Either way, ask whoever holds the deposit for written confirmation of the date it was received and deposited. When you have no listing broker, the buyer's brokerage usually holds the deposit, or both sides sign the state-approved Deposit of Earnest Money with Title Insurance Company Addendum. That addendum warns that the title company may require both buyer and seller to authorize releasing the deposit, even where the REPC says no further authorization is needed, and that the Utah Division of Real Estate has no authority over the title company's release of it. Don't hold a buyer's earnest money yourself.

• Give the title company your contact details, your mortgage lender and loan number for the payoff, and any HOA contact.
• Calendar the Seller Disclosure Deadline and deliver your disclosures on time. See /utah/sell-by-owner/seller-disclosures/.
• Respond in writing to any due diligence objections by the Due Diligence Deadline. Under Section 8.1(b), the buyer can cancel or resolve objections in writing with you by then.
• Don't make substantial alterations, add new financing against the home, change title, or sign new leases without the buyer's written consent (Section 12).
• Before settlement, the buyer may do a final walk-through no earlier than seven calendar days before settlement (Section 11). Deliver the home broom-clean, free of debris and personal belongings, and repair any moving damage (Section 10.3).

For what comes out of your proceeds at closing, see /selling-costs/utah-closing-costs/.

Get a Utah real estate attorney or a licensed broker to look at the deal when:

• The buyer has no agent and someone needs to prepare the contract.
• An offer includes seller financing, an assumption, a contingency on the sale of the buyer's home, a rent-back, or an "as-is" waiver you don't understand.
• You receive a due diligence objection, a low appraisal, or a request to extend a deadline.
• You want to counter several buyers at once or take a backup offer.
• A buyer's agent asks you to sign a separate compensation agreement.
• Title has complications: an estate or trust, a divorce, liens, boundary questions, or water rights.
• You and the buyer disagree about the earnest money or whether a deadline was met.

A flat-fee brokerage is a middle path. JupiDoor, a licensed Utah brokerage, offers a Seller-Managed option in which you handle showings and negotiation while the brokerage lists the home on the MLS and handles the paperwork. Whatever route you take, read the full contract before you sign it. For the complete process, see /utah/sell-by-owner/, and to get on the MLS, see /utah/sell-by-owner/flat-fee-mls/.