About this video. The person on screen is an AI-generated avatar in my likeness. The voice is mine, cloned from recordings of my own voice, and the edit adjusts the sound. The image and voice may therefore differ from my real appearance and speech. The text is written and approved by me, and I am fully responsible for it. This process lets me publish regularly; it changes nothing about what is said. This video is in French — a full English transcript is provided below.
Hello. You’ve decided to sell your house yourself. This video isn’t trying to talk you out of it — it describes the work.
The question, as people ask it: “what documents to sell your house without a broker”
The Seller’s Declaration exists even when you sell on your own
Selling without a broker exempts you from no disclosure obligation. The Civil Code rules apply just the same.
Your disclosure obligations don’t depend on the presence of a broker. Many sellers find that out too late.
The Civil Code of Quebec provides for a warranty of quality, and a duty of the seller to inform the buyer. Those rules apply whether you have a broker or not. Selling on your own doesn’t exempt you from them.
What changes is the support. When a broker is on the file, they go through the questions with you, they ask you for details, and they have a duty to verify what they pass on. When you sell on your own, you answer on your own.
So answer in writing, calmly, with your documents in front of you. An answer given from memory in a hallway during a showing is the one people re-read two years later.
And have your form reviewed by a notary before you hand it to anyone.
The documents to gather before the first showing
An expired certificate of location delays more transactions than any other document. Check yours beforehand.
No matter who sells, the documents are the same, and the buyer or their notary will eventually ask for them.
The certificate of location first. It’s the document prepared by a land surveyor that describes the state of your land and your buildings. If it’s dated, or if work has been done since, it may no longer reflect reality. It’s one of the things that delays the most transactions.
Then your title deeds and the deed of purchase. The statement of your municipal and school taxes. Your invoices for work done. The record of your insurance claims. What’s in your urban planning file.
And if it’s a co-ownership (condo), the declaration of co-ownership, the syndicate’s financial statements, the minutes of the last meetings, the state of the contingency fund.
Gather them before the first showing. A missing document is replaced in weeks, not days.
Where your listing appears, and where it doesn’t
Buyers’ brokers shop every morning in a system where your listing doesn’t appear if you sell on your own.
Distribution is the most visible part of the work, and that’s where the gap is most concrete.
When you sell on your own, your listing lives where you put it. The for-sale-by-owner platforms, the neighbourhood groups, social media, your sign. That reaches people, and it shouldn’t be minimized.
What doesn’t happen is distribution between agencies. The licence holders’ listing system is what buyers’ brokers consult every morning for their clients. A property that isn’t there isn’t in front of them.
A good share of buyers work with a broker, and that broker shops in that system. You don’t lose those buyers, but they have to find you another way, on their own.
Some options allow a listing in the system without a full mandate. That exists, and it’s worth discussing.
Showings: who comes into your home
When you sell on your own, you’re home while a stranger criticizes your house. That changes the negotiation.
Showings are the part sellers underestimate the most, and it’s not a matter of effort.
When you sell on your own, the people who come into your home come at your invitation, without an intermediary. You don’t know whether they have a mortgage pre-approval. You don’t know whether they’re shopping seriously or just looking. And you’re home while they look.
There’s your time. Many showings lead nowhere, and each one requires preparation and a presence.
And there’s the negotiation. It’s hard to hear a criticism of your own house without reacting. An intermediary absorbs that; when you sell on your own, the remark reaches you directly, in your living room.
To any seller who hosts showings themselves: note who comes into your home, and when. A notebook is enough, and it’ll serve you if someone’s memory fails.
Qualifying a buyer over the phone: three questions
Three questions to ask over the phone before letting someone in. Every broker asks them.
The call before the showing does the sorting, and three questions are enough. They’re neither intrusive nor rude: every broker asks them.
First: do you have a mortgage pre-approval, or are you paying cash? It’s not a question of amount, it’s a question of seriousness.
Second: do you have a property to sell first? The answer changes the structure of the offer that will come, if one comes.
Third: within what timeframe are you looking to buy? Someone moving in three months and someone looking for next year aren’t visiting for the same reason.
Note the answers with the name and number.
And a precaution that has nothing to do with the sale: never host alone. Ask someone to be there.
The promise to purchase: the conditions matter more than the amount
A higher offer with three conditions isn’t necessarily better than a lower, firm one.
In a promise to purchase, the amount catches the eye first, and it’s rarely what decides the outcome.
What decides are the conditions and the dates. An offer conditional on obtaining financing. An offer conditional on an inspection. An offer conditional on the sale of the buyer’s property. Each has its deadline, and each deadline has a consequence if no one tracks it.
A higher offer with three conditions and long deadlines isn’t necessarily better than a lower, firm one. Comparing two offers means comparing structures, not amounts.
One thing to know too. The Organization’s forms are reserved for licence holders. When you sell on your own, the promise to purchase takes another form, and it’s the kind of document you have drafted or reviewed by a notary before signing.
On the scope of each clause, the person to consult is a notary.
The buyer’s financing and the lender’s appraisal
An accepted promise to purchase isn’t a sale. It’s in between that most transactions fall apart.
What surprises the most sellers isn’t the negotiation. It’s what happens afterward.
An accepted promise to purchase isn’t a sale. Between acceptance and the deed at the notary, there’s the buyer’s financing, and there’s the appraisal their lender may require.
If that appraisal comes in under the agreed price, the lender won’t lend on the difference. The buyer then has to cover the gap with their down payment, renegotiate, or withdraw if their condition allows it.
It’s not rare, and that’s where transactions fall apart. When you sell on your own, no one tracks that file for you. You discover the problem when it’s announced to you.
Ask to see the pre-approval before accepting, not just to hear about it.
For the mortgage side, the right person is a mortgage broker or the lender itself.
Tracking the critical dates through to the notarized deed
Between an accepted promise and the signing, there are six dates. Each one belongs to someone.
Tracking is the least visible part, and the one that requires the most consistency.
Between an accepted promise and the signing at the notary, there’s a series of dates. The date of the inspection. The date it’s lifted. The financing deadline. The date the documents are handed to the notary. The date of the deed. And the date of taking possession.
Each one belongs to someone — sometimes the buyer, sometimes you, sometimes a third party. And each has a consequence if it passes without anything happening.
When a broker is on the file, it’s they who track that calendar and follow up. When you sell on your own, it’s you.
One sheet, one date per line, who’s responsible for it, and a reminder in your phone three days before each.
It’s not complicated. It just has to be done, every week, until the end.
Who to call, and for what
I don’t do the inspection. My role is to know where to look and who to call.
- Notary
- Land surveyor
- Mortgage broker
- Municipal urban planning department
- OACIQ — Info OACIQ
Frequently asked questions
Get a value report for your property
Get a value report for your property — no commitment, whether you sell on your own or not
Full transcript of the video
Full transcript of the video above (translated from French). Published on September 11, 2026.
Hello. You’ve decided to sell your house yourself. This video isn’t trying to talk you out of it — it describes the work.
My name is Ernso Cléus. I’m a residential and commercial real estate broker at RE/MAX Crystal. I have a stake in this question, and I’d rather tell you upfront.
The disclosure obligations, the documents, the distribution, the showings, the offer, the buyer’s financing, and the dates through to the deed. That’s the work, in the order it comes.
The starting question — is it doable, and in what situations — is covered in a separate video on my channel.
I won’t give you any legal advice. For the scope of a document, there’s a notary.
The Seller’s Declaration exists even when you sell on your own
Your disclosure obligations don’t depend on the presence of a broker. Many sellers find that out too late.
The Civil Code of Quebec provides for a warranty of quality, and a duty of the seller to inform the buyer. Those rules apply whether you have a broker or not. Selling on your own doesn’t exempt you from them.
What changes is the support. When a broker is on the file, they go through the questions with you, they ask you for details, and they have a duty to verify what they pass on. When you sell on your own, you answer on your own.
So answer in writing, calmly, with your documents in front of you. An answer given from memory in a hallway during a showing is the one people re-read two years later.
And have your form reviewed by a notary before you hand it to anyone.
The documents to gather before the first showing
No matter who sells, the documents are the same, and the buyer or their notary will eventually ask for them.
The certificate of location first. It’s the document prepared by a land surveyor that describes the state of your land and your buildings. If it’s dated, or if work has been done since, it may no longer reflect reality. It’s one of the things that delays the most transactions.
Then your title deeds and the deed of purchase. The statement of your municipal and school taxes. Your invoices for work done. The record of your insurance claims. What’s in your urban planning file.
And if it’s a co-ownership (condo), the declaration of co-ownership, the syndicate’s financial statements, the minutes of the last meetings, the state of the contingency fund.
Gather them before the first showing. A missing document is replaced in weeks, not days.
Where your listing appears, and where it doesn’t
Distribution is the most visible part of the work, and that’s where the gap is most concrete.
When you sell on your own, your listing lives where you put it. The for-sale-by-owner platforms, the neighbourhood groups, social media, your sign. That reaches people, and it shouldn’t be minimized.
What doesn’t happen is distribution between agencies. The licence holders’ listing system is what buyers’ brokers consult every morning for their clients. A property that isn’t there isn’t in front of them.
A good share of buyers work with a broker, and that broker shops in that system. You don’t lose those buyers, but they have to find you another way, on their own.
Some options allow a listing in the system without a full mandate. That exists, and it’s worth discussing.
Showings: who comes into your home
Showings are the part sellers underestimate the most, and it’s not a matter of effort.
When you sell on your own, the people who come into your home come at your invitation, without an intermediary. You don’t know whether they have a mortgage pre-approval. You don’t know whether they’re shopping seriously or just looking. And you’re home while they look.
There’s your time. Many showings lead nowhere, and each one requires preparation and a presence.
And there’s the negotiation. It’s hard to hear a criticism of your own house without reacting. An intermediary absorbs that; when you sell on your own, the remark reaches you directly, in your living room.
To any seller who hosts showings themselves: note who comes into your home, and when. A notebook is enough, and it’ll serve you if someone’s memory fails.
How to qualify someone before letting them in
The call before the showing does the sorting, and three questions are enough. They’re neither intrusive nor rude: every broker asks them.
First: do you have a mortgage pre-approval, or are you paying cash? It’s not a question of amount, it’s a question of seriousness.
Second: do you have a property to sell first? The answer changes the structure of the offer that will come, if one comes.
Third: within what timeframe are you looking to buy? Someone moving in three months and someone looking for next year aren’t visiting for the same reason.
Note the answers with the name and number.
And a precaution that has nothing to do with the sale: never host alone. Ask someone to be there.
The offer to purchase and its conditions
In a promise to purchase, the amount catches the eye first, and it’s rarely what decides the outcome.
What decides are the conditions and the dates. An offer conditional on obtaining financing. An offer conditional on an inspection. An offer conditional on the sale of the buyer’s property. Each has its deadline, and each deadline has a consequence if no one tracks it.
A higher offer with three conditions and long deadlines isn’t necessarily better than a lower, firm one. Comparing two offers means comparing structures, not amounts.
One thing to know too. The Organization’s forms are reserved for licence holders. When you sell on your own, the promise to purchase takes another form, and it’s the kind of document you have drafted or reviewed by a notary before signing.
On the scope of each clause, the person to consult is a notary.
The buyer’s financing, the part you don’t see coming
What surprises the most sellers isn’t the negotiation. It’s what happens afterward.
An accepted promise to purchase isn’t a sale. Between acceptance and the deed at the notary, there’s the buyer’s financing, and there’s the appraisal their lender may require.
If that appraisal comes in under the agreed price, the lender won’t lend on the difference. The buyer then has to cover the gap with their down payment, renegotiate, or withdraw if their condition allows it.
It’s not rare, and that’s where transactions fall apart. When you sell on your own, no one tracks that file for you. You discover the problem when it’s announced to you.
Ask to see the pre-approval before accepting, not just to hear about it.
For the mortgage side, the right person is a mortgage broker or the lender itself.
Tracking the dates through to the notarized deed
Tracking is the least visible part, and the one that requires the most consistency.
Between an accepted promise and the signing at the notary, there’s a series of dates. The date of the inspection. The date it’s lifted. The financing deadline. The date the documents are handed to the notary. The date of the deed. And the date of taking possession.
Each one belongs to someone — sometimes the buyer, sometimes you, sometimes a third party. And each has a consequence if it passes without anything happening.
When a broker is on the file, it’s they who track that calendar and follow up. When you sell on your own, it’s you.
One sheet, one date per line, who’s responsible for it, and a reminder in your phone three days before each.
It’s not complicated. It just has to be done, every week, until the end.
Selling on your own means doing that work yourself, from the first document to the last date. Some people do it very well.
The step before is the same in both cases: knowing what your property is worth. I produce a value report — the comparable sales in your area, the features that matter, and what I draw from them. It commits you to nothing, and the link is below the video.
If you are already bound by a brokerage contract with another broker, this invitation is not addressed to you.
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker, RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
Read also: selling your house with a broker · all the tips for sellers · contact me
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker — RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
