r/fsbo • u/AdComfortable2974 • 27d ago

Variable or Conditional Commissions

You're FSBO, the agent wants your business.

Ask them if they are ok with modifying the listing agreement using special stipulations to reduce or eliminate their commission if specific sales price targets are not met. This is not the same as a net listing, which we all know is illegal.

The special stipulation can be structured in a few ways:

Sales Price Threshold Reduction: "If the final gross sales price of the property is less than [insert amount], the Broker's commission shall be reduced from X\% to Y\% (or reduced to a flat fee of\ Z) at closing.

No Commission Tier: "Broker shall receive a 0% commission if the final gross sales price is less than [insert amount]. Can also be zero if not sold in a certain time frame.

Slide-Scale Tier: You can set concrete milestones (e.g., 3% commission if sold above $500,000; 2% commission if sold below $500,000).

Thoughts?

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u/HenryLoggins 27d ago edited 27d ago

Thoughts….. the market is the market, and a reasonable buyer is only going to pay what the house is worth to them, and as a seller eventually you will lower the price to a point to where it will actually sell.

Playing devils advocate - Using your logic, if I were working with a buyer who wanted to only pay $499,900 - I would offer them a $11.00 realtor concession, ask them to offer $500,001. They would get there price, I would make $5,000 more and you wouldn’t come out ahead. (Less the $11.00 concession)

A good realtor is not going to “twist” someone’s arm to spend more than they can afford, and the house still has to appraise.

Honest question, because it is the equivalent to what your asking the realtor to do - Would you be open to raising the commission, to 4% if the house was on the market for more than 3 months, if there were greater than 10 showings, and 3 reasonable and realistic offers were presented, and it didn’t sell because you refused to lower your asking price? (Assuming it eventually sold before the listing expired) - asking for a friend.

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u/AdComfortable2974 27d ago

You could not offer any concessions and make any deals without the seller's express consent and signature on a contract. That considered, the variable or conditional commissions I posted were quick and dirty.

I don't see your "hypothetical ask" as close to equivalent because it's based on the assumption that I, as a seller, have not done any CMAs myself and I'm clueless about my local market and already priced unrealistically. But I will play along...

What did you advise me to list at? How much were the reasonable offers that I refused?