You have five real options for avoiding (or reducing) realtor fees when you sell, and the cheapest one to try costs nothing: ask your agent to lower their rate.
Sounds too good to be true? It's not: Clever surveyed 500 home sellers who sold within the past 2 years. Among those who asked their agent for a lower rate, 93% were successful. The problem? Only 33% of all sellers ever ask.[1]
5 best ways to avoid realtor fees
- Ask your agent for a lower rate. The only option here with no trade-off, and 45% of the sellers who got a cut saved a full percentage point or more.
- List with a low-commission realtor. You can get a pre-negotiated 1.5% listing fee instead of the national average rate of 2.76%, with the same full service.
- Use a flat-fee MLS service. Pay $99 to $399 upfront for MLS exposure, then handle showings, offers, and paperwork yourself.
- Sell without a realtor (FSBO). You skip the listing fee entirely, but the median FSBO home sells for about 12% less.[2]
- Sell to a cash buyer. No commission and close in days — at roughly 70% of market value minus repairs.
Your other four options are effective, but may cost you something in exchange, whether that's service quality, time, or a lower sale price. A low-commission agent cuts your listing fee in half with no change in services; a flat fee MLS service cuts your listing cost to a few hundred bucks, but you run the sale yourself. FSBO and cash buyers eliminate commission entirely, but can cost you more than they save.
Here's what each one does to your bottom line on a $500,000 sale, and how to tell which one fits.
How much are realtor fees in 2026?
The national average is 2.76% to the listing agent and 2.70% to the buyer's agent, for a combined 5.46%, according to Clever's most recent commission survey. On a $500,000 sale, that's just over $27,000.
One thing that changed in 2024, and most sellers still don't know: you aren't required to pay the buyer's agent. After the NAR lawsuit settlement, buyer's agent compensation can't be advertised in the MLS, and buyers negotiate pay with their own agent in writing before they tour anything.
Sellers still commonly cover it as a closing concession, because most buyers can't pay an agent on top of a down payment. But it's your call now. Only 41% of sellers knew that before they listed.[1]
How to avoid (or save) on realtor fees in 2026
1. Ask your agent for a lower rate
Best for: Every seller who plans to use an agent. It costs nothing to ask.
Wrong for: Sellers already working with a low commission realtor, who are unlikely to go any lower on commission.
You may be able to negotiate a lower commission rate with your listing agent yourself.
Among sellers who used an agent, 33% tried to negotiate. Of those who asked, 93% got a reduction. The cuts were meaningful, too: 90% of those sellers got at least half a percentage point off, and 45% got a full point or more.[1]
A full-point discount on the listing side of a $500,000 sale is $5,000.
| Standard rate | After a 1-point cut | |
| Listing agent | $13,800 (2.76%) | $8,800 (1.76%) |
| Buyer's agent | $13,500 (2.70%) | $13,500 (2.70%) |
| Total | $27,300 | $22,300 |
| You keep | $472,700 | $477,700 |
Asked what actually worked, half of the sellers who got a reduction (50%) said they just asked directly. No leverage, no script, no competing bid. The next most common answers were having a home expected to sell easily (39%), a high-value home (27%), bundling a purchase and a sale with the same agent (25%), and a hot local market (22%).[1]
When you call, ask specifically:
- "What's your listing-side commission for a home in this price range?" Get the starting number on the record before you negotiate against it.
- "The national average listing fee is 2.76%. Where does your rate sit against that?" Naming a benchmark worked for 21% of successful negotiators.
- "Would you do 1.5%, or a sliding scale tied to the final sale price?" Ask for a specific number. A vague request for "a discount" gives the agent nothing to say yes to.
Comparison shopping is the other gap. Of sellers who used an agent, 65% interviewed exactly one before choosing, which leaves no competing quote to negotiate against. Interview three.
One counterpoint worth taking seriously. Chicago agent Remington Pettygrove of the Ben Lalez Real Estate Team at Compass: "If an agent is willing to give away their own money that easily, how hard do you think they'll negotiate for yours?"
2. List with a low commission realtor
Best for: Most sellers who want full service and a smaller bill.
Not ideal for: Sellers who want to eliminate commission entirely, or who are set on one specific agent.
A low-commission agent is a full-service realtor who charges less than the standard listing fee. The discount comes from volume, not from cutting service. Clever Real Estate pre-negotiates a 1.5% listing fee with agents at top national and local brokerages, then matches sellers to them.
On a $500,000 sale, 1.5% instead of the national average fee keeps $6,300 in your pocket.
| Standard rate | Low-commission agent | |
| Listing agent | $13,800 (2.76%) | $7,500 (1.5%) |
| Buyer's agent | $13,500 (2.70%) | $13,500 (2.70%) |
| Total | $27,300 | $21,000 |
| You keep | $472,700 | $479,000 |
The obvious question is whether a cheaper agent gets you a worse outcome. Our survey data says no. Among sellers who used a discount or low-commission agent, 82% said the service was as good as or better than a traditional agent, including 22% who said it was much better. And 69% said their home did not sell for less than it would have with a traditional agent.[1]
What keeps sellers away isn't a bad experience; it's that they've never heard of the option. Among all sellers, 41% didn't know low-commission brokerages existed, and another 27% had heard of them but knew little about them. Another 28% simply stuck with an agent they'd already picked.
Service still matters, and the thing you're paying for isn't MLS access. Mikaela Camacho, a Keller Williams agent in Dallas-Fort Worth: "Agents don't just pull recent sales; they read buyer behavior, demand trends, and absorption rates. In today's market, deals fall apart over pricing psychology and inspection negotiation, not over MLS access."
If you want to go below 1.5%, there are realtors with 1% commission, but you'll typically give up professional photography, in-person consultations, or full marketing support.
- Pricing strategy
- Staging advice
- Photography
- MLS listing
- Marketing
- Open houses
- Showings
- Negotiation
- Paperwork
- Closing support
How Clever works
Clever is a discount real estate broker that has helped 38,000+ sellers save on commission, with 4,500+ 5-star Trustpilot reviews. Choose your own top-rated local agent, get 100% full service, and sell your home for a 1.5% listing fee.
- #1 Tell us about your home. Answer a few quick questions and Clever’s Concierge Team introduces you to top-rated agents in your area. Free, with no obligation.
- #2 Choose your own agent. You compare top-rated local agents and choose the one that’s the best fit. Clever’s agents are top performers from every major brand and top local brokerage, they all offer full service, and they have already agreed to list for 1.5%.
- #3 List for 1.5%, with full service. Get everything a traditional brokerage offers (pricing, marketing, showings, negotiation, and closing) for a 1.5% listing fee instead of the 2.88% national average, saving you thousands.
Learn more: How others like you used Clever
3. Use a flat-fee MLS service
Best for: Sellers comfortable handling showings, paperwork, and negotiations themselves, but who want full MLS exposure.
Wrong for: First-time sellers, anyone short on time, or sellers in states with attorney-required closings who'd need to budget for that separately.
A flat-fee MLS service is the hybrid option — more savings than a low-commission agent, less risk than a pure FSBO sale. You pay a one-time fee (typically $99–$399) to get your home listed on the local Multiple Listing Service without hiring a listing agent. The MLS feeds Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, and (critically) buyer's agent search tools, which is where serious buyers find homes.
Two services dominate the national flat-fee MLS market:
- Houzeo: Starts at $399 for its Bronze plan, with national coverage and the contract forms most states require. The dashboard lets you accept offers and manage showings online.
- Beycome: Starts at $99 for Basic, $399 for Enhanced (adds 25 professional HD photos and a photography session), and $999 for Concierge, which includes a closing coordinator and a full CMA. Nothing is due at closing on any tier.
- See more flat-fee MLS options.
Watch for add-on fees across the category. Houzeo itself documents title company referral fees ($50 to $200), coordination fees ($50 to $200), cancellation or listing removal fees ($50 to $100), and photo update fees ($25 to $75) as common industry charges. Beycome charges nothing at closing, but Georgia MLS requires a $25 cancellation fee.
Here's the math on a $500,000 sale using Houzeo's $399 Bronze plan, assuming you still offer the buyer's agent 2.70% and sell at full market value:
| Standard rate | Flat-fee MLS | |
| Listing side | $13,800 (2.76%) | $399 (flat) |
| Buyer's agent | $13,500 (2.70%) | $13,500 (2.70%) |
| Total | $27,300 | $13,899 |
| You keep | $472,700 | $486,101 |
Two conditions about these savings figures: First, you have to sell at full market value, which is the part FSBO sellers most often miss. And second, you have to decide what to offer the buyer's agent. You can legally offer nothing, but buyer's agents are unlikely to bring clients to a home with no path to getting paid, and unrepresented buyers are a small slice of the market. Most flat-fee sellers still offer 2.5% to 3%, which means the savings come off the listing side only.
4. Sell without a realtor (FSBO)
Best for: Sellers who have done it before, in a hot market, ideally with a buyer already lined up.
Wrong for: First-time sellers, anyone on a deadline, or unusual homes that are hard to price.
Selling for sale by owner eliminates the listing fee. It also makes you responsible for pricing, prep, photography, marketing, showings, buyer vetting, negotiation, disclosures, and the contract.
It's doable. Steve Nicastro, Clever's managing editor and a former licensed agent in Charleston, SC, sold his mother-in-law's two-bedroom condo FSBO in September 2024. He paid for a flat-fee MLS listing to get on the MLS, hired cleaners for $250, and used a $50 lockbox. Within 10 days of going live he had three showings. His take afterward: it saved real money, it took real work, and an alternative might have saved more.
It's often worth it to pay for a flat fee MLS company ($99-$399) to get your property on the multiple listing service (MLS), which means many more buyer’s agents will see your listing.
One of the biggest downsides to selling without an agent is that FSBO homes usually sell for about 12% less[2] than homes represented by an agent. So even if you save a few thousand on listing agent fees, you may walk away with tens of thousands less overall.
Here's how the dollar math typically looks on a $500K home that sells at the median FSBO discount:
| Traditional agent | FSBO | |
|---|---|---|
| Listing agent fee | $13,800 (2.76%) | $0 |
| Buyer's agent fee | $11,799 (2.70%) | $13,350 (3% of $445K) |
| Total commission | $27,300 | $13,350 |
| Sale price | $500,000 | $437,000 |
| Net proceeds | $472,700 | $425,201 |
The commission savings gets erased — and then some — by the lower sales price.
Adam Sinclair, an agent in the Bay City–Saginaw–Midland market in Michigan, has a representative case: "The last FSBO I worked with lost $6,000 on the market value to save 3% on a $130,000 home. The only thing that matters is the bottom line delivered to the client at the closing table." The commission "savings" on that sale was $3,900. The net loss was about $2,100 — before factoring in the time spent.
FSBO isn't impossible, but it tends to fail in a specific way most sellers don't anticipate. Jenna Ritter, an agent in Hall and Lumpkin Counties, Georgia, puts it bluntly: "You can absolutely do FSBO… The problem is, very few people are comfortable with it. You will list your home FSBO and you will get inundated with calls from agents, but it's because they want the listing, not because they have a buyer." A flood of inquiries that looks like demand often turns out to be buyer's agents fishing for the listing or unrepresented buyers fishing for a discount.
If you still want MLS exposure without going fully solo, think about going the flat-fee MLS route, the lighter version of FSBO that solves the visibility problem without solving the pricing one.
5. Sell to a cash buyer
Best for: Sellers who need to sell as fast as possible, are in distress, are facing foreclosure, or have homes in poor condition
Wrong for: Sellers who want fair market value, can afford to wait for the right buyer, or have a desirable home
Cash buyers — including investors, iBuyers, and “we buy houses” companies — purchase homes directly, often as-is, with no agents involved. These sales are fast, simple, and eliminate realtor fees entirely.
The trade-off? Price. Investors commonly offer 70% of the home's after-repair value, minus the estimated repair costs. These buyers are looking for a steep discount so they can make a worthwhile profit when they resell the property.
| Standard sale | Cash investor | |
| Commission paid | $27,300 | $0 |
| Sale price | $500,000 | $320,000 |
| You keep | $472,700 | $320,000 |
You save $27,300 in commission and give up far more in your sale proceeds. That trade only makes sense when a traditional sale isn't available to you: fire damage, foundation problems, an active foreclosure timeline, or a property nobody will finance.
Vet anyone you talk to. Check state licensing records, the BBB, and Google reviews. Walk away from anyone who pressures you to sign on the first visit.
iBuyers (Opendoor, Offerpad)
iBuyers like Opendoor and Offerpad use algorithmic pricing models to make near-instant offers on homes in decent condition. Typical offers come in 5–10% below open-market value, plus a service fee of 5–8%, plus any repair credits. They make the most sense if you need speed and certainty on a home that doesn't need significant work — a relocation deadline, a recent inheritance, or an out-of-state move where managing showings isn't realistic.
iBuyers don't buy every property type. Older homes, rural homes, homes with significant deferred maintenance, and homes outside metro areas often don't qualify. Get a quote, compare it to one or two traditional agent CMAs, and treat the gap as the cost of speed and certainty.
Investors and "we buy houses" companies
Cash investors and "we buy houses" companies play a different game. They typically offer around 70% of the home's after-repair value (ARV), minus the cost of estimated repairs. The math is built around being able to flip or rent the property at a profit. On a $500,000 home that needs $30,000 in work, a typical investor offer is closer to $320,000.
This route makes sense for homes that genuinely can't be sold through traditional channels — fire damage, foundation issues, hoarder conditions, foreclosure timelines — but the risk of scams is real. Established national networks like HomeVestors (We Buy Ugly Houses) and We Buy Houses operate franchises with mixed local quality. Vet any local operator through state licensing records, BBB, and Google reviews before signing anything. Walk away from anyone pressuring you to sign on the first visit.
Selling to a cash buyer eliminates realtor fees — but the steep discount in sale price completely negates the savings. This route only makes sense if you need a fast, as-is sale and are willing to sacrifice profit for convenience.
Bottom line: What's the best way to save on realtor fees?
If you're selling with an agent, ask for a lower rate. It's free, it works nine times out of ten, and 45% of the sellers who succeeded got a full percentage point or more.
If you want the biggest reliable cut without touching your service or your sale price, list with a low-commission agent at 1.5%. Sellers who did it overwhelmingly report the same service (82%) and the same sale price (69%) as a traditional agent.
If you're experienced, organized, and willing to run your own sale, a flat-fee MLS listing at $99 to $399 saves the most of anything on this list that doesn't cost you sale price.
FSBO and cash buyers eliminate commission and usually cost more than they save. Choose them for speed, certainty, or a property that can't sell the normal way, not to save on fees.
FAQ
You can't avoid them entirely unless you sell without an agent, but you can cut them sharply. Ask your agent for a lower rate, which works for 93% of sellers who try it. List with a low-commission agent at 1.5% instead of the 2.76% average. Use a flat-fee MLS service for $99 to $399. Sell FSBO. Or sell to a cash buyer. The first two preserve full service and your sale price. The last two eliminate commission but usually cost more in sale price than they save in fees.
Yes, and far more reliably than sellers expect. Among sellers who asked their agent for a lower commission, 93% got one, and 45% of those cut a full percentage point or more off their rate. Half of them said that simply asking directly worked. The obstacle isn't agents saying no. It's that only 33% of sellers ask.
You're not required to. Post-2024 settlement, buyer's agent commissions can't be advertised in MLS listings, and buyers negotiate their own representation. In practice, most sellers still cover this fee — typically 2.5–3% — as a concession at closing, because represented buyers usually can't afford to pay their agent out of pocket on top of a down payment. Offering nothing to the buyer's agent often means fewer showings.
A flat-fee MLS service ($99 to $399) puts your home on the MLS and nothing else. You handle showings, negotiations, disclosures, and the contract. A discount broker like Clever gives you a full-service licensed agent for a 1.5% listing fee. Flat-fee MLS saves more and requires the most work. A discount broker saves less and you get an agent.
Most full-service agents won't go below 1.5% on the listing side. Some brokerages advertise 1%, but that usually comes with reduced service such as no professional photography or no in-person consultations. Anything below 1% is generally flat-fee MLS service rather than full representation.
Methodology
Every dollar figure in this guide traces back to a specific source. Here's how we calculated savings, sourced commission rates, and selected the agents quoted throughout.
Commission averages. The 2.76% listing-agent average and 2.70% buyer's-agent average come from Clever Real Estate's August 2026 commission survey [3], which collected typical commission rates from 434 partner agents across the U.S. Agents reported what listing-side and buyer-side commissions actually run in their markets — not list-price advertised rates. The combined 5.46% national average is what we applied to the $500,000 example sale price throughout the article ($20,299 in total commission at the national median home price; ~$27,300 at our $500K example).
Seller survey data. All seller behavior statistics come from Clever Real Estate's Home Seller Commission Survey, which polled 500 Americans who sold a home they lived in within the past two years. The survey ran July 10 to 14, 2026. Subgroup figures use smaller bases: negotiation behavior reflects 366 sellers who used an agent, reasons for not negotiating reflect 204 sellers, tactics that worked reflect 113 sellers whose agent agreed to a lower rate, and discount broker experience reflects 45 sellers who used one.
Savings math: The $500,000 baseline anchors every comparison. Negotiation savings apply a 0.5-point and 1-point reduction to the 2.76% listing average, the two thresholds 90% and 45% of successful negotiators reached. Low-commission savings are the difference between 2.76% and Clever's pre-negotiated 1.5% partner-agent fee. Flat-fee MLS savings use Houzeo's $399 Bronze plan against the 2.76% listing average, assuming a full-market-value sale and a 2.70% buyer's-agent concession.
Expert quotes. Quotes throughout the article come from licensed agents currently active in the markets they discuss. Where possible, we prioritized agents with direct experience handling the specific scenarios (FSBO sales, commission negotiation, low-commission listings) that the article covers. Agents quoted in this article:
- Mikaela Camacho, Keller Williams Realty — Dallas–Fort Worth, TX
- Remington Pettygrove, Ben Lalez Real Estate Team @ Compass — Chicago, IL
- Adam Sinclair, JPAR Great Lakes Bay Realty — Bay City/Saginaw/Midland, MI
- Jenna Ritter, Virtual Properties Realty — Hall and Lumpkin Counties, GA
