Why “saving” on commission usually costs you more

Everybody loves to bitch about 3%, 6%, or whatever the fee to list your home is, but very few people actually understand what goes into getting a deal done.

People see the closing statement. They see the commission line. They see the photos. They see the sign in the yard. What they don’t see is everything that happens before any of that exists. They don’t see the calls, the prep, the cleanup, the money out of pocket, the negotiating, the problems that have to get solved, and the risk that gets taken long before there is any certainty the thing is even going to sell.

Take a deal like my buddy Jack R’s . The house had a messy lawn situation and needed work before it could even be properly presented. So, before I ever had a real shot at selling it, I had to spend money getting the property presentable. I also purchased a listing concierge package through my brokerage, which includes photos and done for you marketing, and that can run anywhere from about $400 to $1,000 depending on the property and the level of service.

That means I’m already into the deal out of my pocket, up front, before the listing has even had a real chance to perform, and before there’s any guarantee of a closing.

So no, this isn’t about defending commissions. What I’m saying is that YOUR net is what matters.

It’s not about how much money you think you saved by beating up your agent on fee. It’s about how much money you actually walk away with after all the prep, marketing, negotiation, concessions, and friction are accounted for.

That’s the part people miss. A lot of sellers get hypnotized by the idea that they’re saving money by pushing for a lower fee, but if that comes at the expense of pricing, exposure, presentation, negotiation, or the quality of the deal, then the cheap fee can end up costing a lot more than it saved.

If you want to get the most money in the least amount of time, with the least amount of hassle, you call a broker who knows what the hell he’s doing.

That’s not about ego. That’s about execution. It’s about somebody who knows how to position the property correctly, solve problems before they blow up, and keep the deal moving instead of just putting a sign in the yard and hoping for the best.

And on the buy side, it’s the same kind of false simplicity.

People act like real estate is just a matter of finding a house and making an offer, but it’s not that clean. Like: “why do I need a buyer’s agent anyway, he’s not showing me homes – I keep sending HIM homes on Zillow”.

But on the buy side, you’re usually choosing between three things: price, location, and condition. You don’t get all three. You usually get two of the three, and the job is figuring out which two matter most to you.

My job is to help you sort that out, what matters, what doesn’t, and how to win on the two things you care about most.

Because honestly, you’re probably only going to get about 85 or 90% of what you want in a house. No one gets 100%.

First, I’ll ask you what matters most: price, location, or condition. Then I’ll ask you again, once we narrow it down, which of the remaining two matters more. Because once you know what matters most, you can make a smarter decision instead of pretending the market is going to give you everything.

If you want the best price, maybe you compromise on location or condition. If you want the best condition, then price or location usually gives. If you want the neighborhood, then you may need to accept a different condition level or pay for it. That’s the real game.
And that’s where a good broker actually earns their money. Not by pretending there’s some magic house out there that gives you everything you want for nothing. By helping you decide what matters, what doesn’t, and how to win on the two things you care about most.

Same thing with the people who say, “You don’t need a realtor, you just need an attorney.”

Sure. If all you need is paperwork, hire an attorney. But if you want pricing strategy, marketing, exposure, negotiation, problem-solving, and someone managing the actual chaos of the transaction, that’s a different job.

And I’m not saying attorneys don’t have these skills, or that agents are smarter. I’m saying that atttorneys DON’T DO THIS. They write contracts.

And the FSBO crowd says the same bullshit in a different way: “I sold every house myself and got top dollar.”

Maybe you sold it. That doesn’t mean you maximized it.

Selling a house and getting the best possible outcome are not the same thing. A house can sell fast and still leave money on the table. A seller can feel good about the closing and still not know whether they got the best result the market would have given them. That’s where experience, judgment, and strategy matter.

Agents ain’t there to just open doors. We’re there to position the property, create leverage, protect the deal, and get the strongest possible result. That’s the part nobody wants to talk about when they’re yelling about commissions online.

Again, I’m not defending commissions.

What I am saying is that your net is what matters, not the amount of money you think you saved by cheaping out on representation or beating up your agent on fee.

If you want the most money in the least amount of time, with the least amount of hassle, call a broker who knows what he’s doing.

If you want to buy a home in the neighborhood you want, at the condition you want, and at the price point you want, understand that you’re only going to get two of the three. My job is to help you figure out which of the two matter most, and then go to work getting those two while not wasting your time pretending we can control the third.

That’s the job.

Peace