How to Save on Realtor Fees After the NAR Settlement

To save on realtor fees, you have five practical levers: negotiate your listing agent’s rate, hire a discount brokerage, use a flat-fee MLS service, sell the home yourself, or bundle your sale and next purchase with one agent. On a $400,000 home, combined commissions of 5% to 6% run $20,000 to $24,000, so even a half-point reduction is real money. A 2024 legal settlement involving the National Association of Realtors also shifted the ground under buyer-agent pay, and that shift gives sellers more room to push back on every fee in the deal.

What the 2024 NAR Settlement Changed for Sellers

Two rules took effect on August 17, 2024, and both matter for your wallet. Listing agents can no longer advertise offers of compensation to buyer agents on the MLS. And buyers must sign a written agreement with their own agent before touring any home, spelling out a specific compensation amount or rate, with a conspicuous statement that broker fees are negotiable and not set by law.¹

The practical effect: you are no longer expected to pre-commit through the MLS to paying the buyer’s agent. You can still offer buyer concessions like help with closing costs, and you can still agree to pay a buyer’s agent outside the MLS. But the old assumption that sellers automatically fund both sides has weakened, and that gives you leverage on the strategies below.¹

Negotiate Your Listing Agent’s Commission

The simplest saving is one most sellers never ask about: a lower rate. Commissions are set by individual agreement between you and your brokerage, not by law. Every written listing or buyer agreement now has to include a statement confirming compensation is negotiable.²

How much leverage you have depends on your price point and the market. On a home at $750,000 or above, the dollar payout is large even at a reduced percentage; dropping from 3% to 2.5% costs the agent about $3,750 and saves you the same. Most agents will discuss the math openly if you bring it up during the listing presentation. In a tight market with fast turnover, an agent’s per-listing workload is lower, which is a reasonable basis for asking to pay less. In a slow market that needs heavy marketing, expect more resistance.

Take Tasks Off the Agent’s Plate

If you provide professional photography, a pre-inspection report, or staging yourself, the agent’s upfront costs shrink. That gives you a concrete reason to ask for half a point to a full point off the listing side, because you are absorbing expenses they would otherwise pay.

Handle the Buyer-Side Offer as a Separate Number

Because the MLS no longer displays offers of buyer-agent compensation, you control that number through off-MLS channels. Your listing agreement should state your listing agent’s fee as a standalone figure, separate from any concession you may offer toward a buyer’s agent or the buyer’s closing costs. If a buyer’s agent has already agreed to accept a lower fee from their own client, the agreement should let you keep those savings rather than routing unused concession dollars back to your listing agent as a bonus.

Hire a Discount Brokerage

Discount brokerages typically charge a pre-set listing fee of 1% to 1.5% of the sale price, compared to the 2.5% to 3% a traditional listing agent charges. They run high-volume operations where different team members handle specific stages of the transaction. You trade a single dedicated agent for lower cost.

Some discount firms use tiered pricing. A base package with a yard sign, MLS entry, and basic paperwork might be a flat $3,000 to $5,000 regardless of home value. Higher tiers add photography and open house coordination. The less you pay, the more of the work you do yourself.

Check Your State’s Minimum Service Requirements

Roughly a dozen states require brokers to provide a baseline level of service regardless of fee. These duties usually include presenting offers and counteroffers, helping negotiate contract terms, and answering questions about the transaction. A discount brokerage in those states cannot legally strip its service down to MLS entry and nothing else, even if its marketing suggests otherwise. Before signing, ask exactly which services are included and confirm they meet your state’s minimums.

Use a Flat-Fee MLS Listing

A flat-fee MLS listing gets your property onto the Multiple Listing Service, and by extension the major real estate search sites, without full-service representation. You pay a one-time fee, typically $100 to $1,000, to a licensed broker who enters your property into the local MLS. You handle showings, negotiations, and the rest.

The upfront work is more than a full-service listing. You need accurate square footage, quality photos, the legal description from the deed, tax information, and any other data your local MLS board requires. Errors can delay the listing or cause problems later in the transaction.

Since the MLS no longer carries offers of buyer-agent compensation, you also have to decide separately how to handle buyer-side costs. You can offer buyer concessions through the MLS, like credits toward closing costs, or negotiate directly with buyer agents who bring offers. The flat-fee broker enters your listing but generally will not manage those negotiations for you.

Sell the Home Yourself

A For Sale By Owner approach eliminates the listing agent’s commission entirely. On a $400,000 home, skipping a 2.5% to 3% listing commission keeps $10,000 to $12,000 in your pocket. FSBO takes real time, some legal knowledge, and comfort with direct negotiation.

Federal Disclosure Rules Still Apply

Going agentless does not excuse you from legal obligations. Federal law requires sellers of homes built before 1978 to give buyers an EPA-approved lead hazard pamphlet, disclose any known lead-based paint hazards, share available inspection reports, and give the buyer at least 10 days to conduct their own lead inspection before the purchase contract becomes binding.³

The purchase contract itself must contain a specific Lead Warning Statement signed by the buyer. Every state also has its own property condition disclosure requirements, and most mandate a standardized form covering plumbing, electrical, roof, and other major systems. An agent would normally walk you through these forms; on your own, you research and complete them yourself.⁴

Fair Housing Rules Reach Private Sellers

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discriminatory advertising for any dwelling, with no exception for private sellers. You cannot publish a listing that indicates a preference or limitation based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. That applies to your yard sign, your online listing, and any social media posts about the sale. Even language that sounds neutral, like “perfect for young professionals,” can raise fair housing concerns if it implies a preference against families with children.⁵

Some individual sellers qualify for a narrow exemption from certain Fair Housing Act provisions when selling an owner-occupied home with four or fewer units, but that exemption does not cover advertising. The advertising ban applies to everyone. Selling without an agent, you have no compliance buffer, so review every piece of marketing carefully.

Budget for the Closing

Skipping a listing agent’s commission does not make the closing free. You will still coordinate with a title company or real estate attorney to handle the deed transfer, title search, lien clearance, and property tax proration. Expect professional fees of several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on location and complexity.

Bundle Your Sale With Your Next Purchase

If you are selling one home and buying another, using the same agent or brokerage for both gives you leverage. The agent anticipates a commission on the purchase, which makes them more willing to reduce the fee on the sale. A cut of 0.5% to 1% on the listing side is a reasonable ask, and many agents will agree without much resistance because they are securing two deals instead of one.

Get the arrangement in writing before you sign the listing agreement, not as a verbal promise. The contract should contain a specific clause or addendum spelling out the conditional fee reduction and the conditions that trigger it, including what happens to the listing rate if the purchase falls through.²

Read the Listing Agreement Before You Sign

Every saving strategy starts with what you sign. A few provisions deserve close attention.

Check the term length. Most exclusive listing agreements lock you in for three to six months. Some include a cancellation clause allowing termination with written notice; others require the broker’s consent. Once a purchase offer is accepted, cancellation becomes significantly harder because you are also bound to the buyer under a separate contract.

Look for a protection period, sometimes called a tail clause. It entitles the agent to a commission if a buyer introduced to the property during the listing period closes after the agreement expires. Periods of 90 to 180 days are common. Without knowing this, you could cancel the listing, sell to someone who toured weeks earlier, and still owe the original agent a full commission.

Confirm that the agreement separates your listing agent’s compensation from any amount you choose to offer toward a buyer’s agent. Under the current rules, these are distinct obligations. The listing contract should clearly state what the listing brokerage earns, and any buyer-side concession should appear as a separate line item you control.²

How Commissions Affect Your Taxes

Commissions reduce your taxable gain from the sale. The IRS treats them as selling expenses, which are subtracted from your sale price to calculate the “amount realized.” Sell for $500,000, pay $25,000 in commissions, and your amount realized is $475,000. Your gain is that amount minus your adjusted basis, which is generally what you paid for the home plus qualifying improvements.⁶

Most sellers of a primary residence can exclude up to $250,000 of gain from federal income tax, or $500,000 if married filing jointly, provided you owned and lived in the home for at least two of the five years before the sale. If your gain falls under the exclusion, the commission may not affect your tax bill at all. If your gain exceeds the exclusion, every dollar you save on commissions increases your taxable gain by the same dollar.⁷

One detail that catches sellers off guard: the Form 1099-S you receive after closing reports gross proceeds, not the net amount after commissions. You claim the commission deduction when you file your return. Keep the closing statement showing the commission breakdown; you will need it at tax time.⁸

1
National Association of REALTORS®. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers
2
National Association of REALTORS®. Compensation, Commission and Concessions
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property
4
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 523 (2025), Selling Your Home
7
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 701, Sale of Your Home
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-S Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions