Should Sellers Offer a Buyer Agent Commission? (2026)

DiscountAgent.com Blog • Seller Education

By Aaron Peters • Broker / Owner, DiscountAgent.com • August 2026

Updated: August 2026 • 13 min read

This is the single most common question I get from Utah sellers now: “Do I still have to pay the buyer’s agent?”

The short answer is no. You have never been legally required to, and since the 2024 NAR settlement it is explicitly negotiable and can no longer be published in the MLS. Any compensation you offer has to be communicated outside the MLS.

The useful answer is more complicated, and it contains a trap. Sellers who reflexively offer zero often end up paying more than sellers who set a number up front — and some lose qualified buyers entirely without ever knowing it happened.

Here is how the decision actually works, what each option costs on a median Salt Lake County home, and the structural reason a low listing commission changes the calculation entirely.

What Actually Changed in 2024

Three concrete changes took effect in August 2024. Everything else you have heard is interpretation.

Offers of buyer agent compensation left the MLS. A listing agent can no longer publish what the seller is offering the buy side. Whatever you offer has to be communicated another way — in practice, agent to agent, or negotiated in the offer itself.

Buyers must sign a representation agreement before touring. That agreement states what the buyer’s agent will be paid. If you offer less than that figure, the buyer owes the difference out of pocket.

Nothing became mandatory or forbidden. You may offer a full commission, a partial amount, or nothing. That flexibility technically existed before 2024 — what changed is that it is now an explicit decision instead of an assumption.

The part that surprises people: commissions did not fall after the settlement. Industry data through 2025 and into 2026 shows buyer agent compensation holding steady or edging slightly upward, with most sellers still offering something in the 2% to 2.5% range. The settlement handed you the right to negotiate. It did not negotiate on your behalf. Our full breakdown of the settlement.

Your Four Options

All figures on a $655,000 home — the Salt Lake County single-family median.

Offer a competitive amount (2% to 3%)

$13,100–$19,650

Maximum buyer pool. No financing friction. Your home competes on equal footing with every other listing. This is what most Utah sellers still do, and in a market with normal inventory it is the safe default.

Offer a reduced amount (1% to 1.5%)

$6,550–$9,825

A middle path. The buyer covers the gap between your offer and their agreement, which is a smaller ask than the full amount. Works when your home is priced sharply or demand is strong. Expect some buyers to negotiate the difference back into the offer.

Offer a flat dollar amount

$5,000–$10,000

Increasingly common, and the structure several Utah home builders have standardized on. You name a dollar figure rather than a percentage, which caps your exposure and makes your cost predictable regardless of final sale price. The economics shift substantially with your price point — the next section works through exactly where it helps and where it backfires.

Offer nothing

$0 — maybe

Legal, occasionally correct, and more complicated than it looks. The next section explains why this frequently costs more than offering something.

Why Offering Zero Often Costs More

Here is the mechanic most sellers miss. Offering nothing does not remove the buyer agent’s compensation from your transaction. It moves it — from a number you set in advance to a term the buyer writes into their offer.

When a buyer’s agent sees no compensation offered, the standard response is to request it inside the purchase offer. And a buyer asking for something in an offer asks for what their agreement says, not what you would have volunteered.

What You Do	What Happens	You Pay
Offer 2.5% up front	Buyers see it, no friction	$16,375
Offer 0%, buyer requests 3% in the offer	You negotiate from behind	$19,650
Offer 0%, buyer pays their own agent	Smaller buyer pool	$0

Illustrative scenarios on a $655,000 sale. Commission is negotiable in every transaction and not set by law.

On this median home, offering nothing and then conceding 3% in negotiation costs $3,275 more than simply offering 2.5% at the start. You also give up the anchoring advantage: a seller who names a number is negotiating down from their own figure, while a seller who names nothing is negotiating up from the buyer’s.

To be fair to the other side: offering zero genuinely works in some situations. A sharply priced home in a hot pocket with multiple offers can hold the line. Cash buyers and unrepresented buyers are unaffected. And a seller willing to lose a few weeks of market time to test it is making a legitimate bet. The mistake is not the choice — it is making the choice without knowing this mechanic exists.

The Flat Fee Option: Where It Helps and Where It Backfires

Rather than offering a percentage, you name a dollar amount — commonly $5,000, or $10,000 on higher-priced homes. Several Utah home builders have moved to a flat $10,000 buy-side offer as standard policy, which is a meaningful signal about where the market is heading.

The appeal is predictability. You know your exact cost before an offer arrives, and it does not climb if your home sells above asking. But the effective percentage swings dramatically with price, and that is what determines whether it works for you.

Sale Price	2.5% Would Be	$5,000 Flat =	$10,000 Flat =	$10k vs 2.5%
$350,000	$8,750	1.43%	2.86%	Costs $1,250 more
$400,000	$10,000	1.25%	2.50%	Exactly even
$555,000	$13,875	0.90%	1.80%	Saves $3,875
$655,000 (county median)	$16,375	0.76%	1.53%	Saves $6,375
$870,000	$21,750	0.57%	1.15%	Saves $11,750
$1,200,000	$30,000	0.42%	0.83%	Saves $20,000

The number to remember: a flat $10,000 equals exactly 2.5% at a $400,000 sale price.

Below $400,000, a flat $10,000 is more generous than a standard percentage — on a $350,000 home it works out to 2.86%. Above $400,000 the savings compound quickly: $6,375 at the county median, and $20,000 on a $1.2 million home. A flat $5,000 crosses over at $200,000, which means on essentially any Utah home it reads as a reduced offer.

Why Builders Landed on Flat $10,000

It is a rational policy for a seller with volume. A home builder moving homes in the $500,000 to $700,000 range pays roughly 1.4% to 2% under a flat $10,000 — enough that buyer agents still engage, while capping per-unit exposure and making the cost identical across every floor plan and lot premium. It also removes an incentive to steer buyers toward the more expensive elevation.

Individual sellers can borrow the structure, with one caution. Builders have inventory, model homes, advertising budgets, and rate-buydown incentives to compensate for a below-market buy-side offer. If your only lever is the commission, a flat fee that reads as thin gives buyer agents less reason to prioritize your listing — and you do not have a sales office to make up the difference.

If you are on the buying side of this: a builder’s flat $10,000 is paid to your agent’s brokerage, which means half of it can come back to you. Register with an agent before your first visit to a sales office — walk in unrepresented and the builder keeps that money. How the new construction rebate works.

One more consideration buyers care about. A buyer’s representation agreement typically states a percentage. If yours says 2.5% and you offer a flat $5,000 on a $655,000 home, that buyer owes their agent roughly $11,375 out of pocket — unfinanceable, on top of the down payment. The gap is what matters to them, not the structure.

Flat fees are, in other words, a good fit for higher-priced homes where the effective percentage still lands near market, and a poor fit for entry-level homes where the buyer has the least cash to close the gap.

Who You Lose When You Offer Nothing

Roughly 80% of buyers work with an agent. That is the pool you are drawing from. The question is not whether buyers will find your listing — it is which of them can actually write an offer on it.

The constraint is cash, not preference. A buyer agent commission cannot be financed into the mortgage. If you offer nothing, the buyer pays it out of pocket, on top of a down payment and closing costs. Three groups feel that immediately:

FHA and VA buyers

Low or zero down payment is the entire reason these programs exist. A buyer putting 3.5% down does not have $16,000 sitting idle for their agent. In Utah, this is a meaningful share of the market — and VA buyers in particular are a group most sellers would rather not exclude.

First-time buyers

Assembling a down payment already stretched them. They have no equity from a prior sale to draw on. If your home is priced anywhere near entry level for its area, this is a large fraction of your realistic buyers.

Anyone stretched on cash to close

Even well-qualified move-up buyers often have their funds committed until their own sale closes. An extra unfinanceable expense is the thing that makes them write on a different house instead.

A word on steering. The settlement prohibits agents from steering clients away from listings based on compensation, and most agents take that seriously. But there is a difference between steering and practicality. An agent whose buyer has $12,000 in cash beyond the down payment is not going to build a tour around homes that require another $16,000. Your listing does not get rejected — it never makes the list. You will never see that as a data point, only as a quieter listing.

The Part Almost Nobody Explains

Every article on this topic treats the buyer agent commission as an isolated decision. It is not. It is one half of a total number, and the other half is what you pay your own agent.

A seller paying 3% on the listing side is under real pressure to squeeze the buy side, because 3% plus 2.5% is 5.5% of their equity. A seller paying 1.5% on the listing side is in a completely different position — and it opens a move the first seller cannot make.

Scenario	Listing Side	Buy Side	Total	You Pay
Traditional agent, standard offer	3%	2.5%	5.5%	$36,025
1.5% listing, same 2.5% offer	1.5%	2.5%	4.0%	$26,200
1.5% listing, generous 3% offer	1.5%	3%	4.5%	$29,475
1.5% listing, reduced 2% offer	1.5%	2%	3.5%	$22,925

Look at row three. With a 1.5% listing commission, you can offer buyer agents 3% — more than the traditional seller down the street is offering — and still pay $6,550 less in total commission.

That is a competitive advantage, not just a savings. Your listing becomes the more attractive one to show, your buyer pool is the widest on the block, and you still walk away with more equity than the seller who is squeezing the buy side to afford their own agent.

How to Decide for Your Situation

Offer 2.5% to 3% if

Your home is priced where FHA, VA, and first-time buyers shop • inventory in your area is normal or elevated • you need to sell on a timeline • your listing commission is already low, so total cost stays competitive

Offer 1.5% to 2% if

Your home is priced sharply and shows well • demand in your pocket is strong • you are comfortable negotiating the gap when it comes up • you have some flexibility on timing

Offer a flat $10,000 if

Your home is above roughly $650,000, where $10,000 still reads near 1.5% • you want predictable, capped exposure • you expect offers above asking and do not want the fee climbing with the price • you are competing against new construction already using this structure

Consider offering nothing if

You are in a genuinely hot micro-market with multiple offers • your price point attracts cash and high-equity buyers • you have no timeline pressure and can test it for two or three weeks • you understand that the request will likely reappear inside an offer

You can also change your mind. Nothing locks you in for the life of the listing. A common approach: start at a lower number, watch showing activity for two or three weeks, and adjust if traffic is thin. That is a far better sequence than starting generous and trying to claw it back later.

FAQ: Buyer Agent Commission for Utah Sellers

No. It is negotiable and always has been. Since the August 2024 NAR settlement, offers of buyer agent compensation can no longer be published in the MLS and must be communicated outside it. You may offer a full amount, a partial amount, or nothing. Most Utah sellers still offer something in the 2% to 2.5% range because it keeps the buyer pool wide.

Usually one of two things: the buyer requests compensation inside their offer, or buyers who cannot pay out of pocket write on a different house. Offering zero does not remove the cost — it converts it from a number you set into a term the buyer names. On a $655,000 home, offering nothing and then conceding 3% in negotiation costs about $3,275 more than offering 2.5% up front.

Most Utah sellers land between 2% and 2.5%. Offer at the higher end if your home is priced where FHA, VA, and first-time buyers shop, if inventory is normal or elevated, or if you have a timeline. Offer less if your home is sharply priced in a strong pocket and you can absorb a slower start. What matters most is your total commission, not the buy-side number in isolation.

Yes, and it is increasingly common — typically $5,000, or $10,000 on higher-priced homes. A flat $10,000 equals exactly 2.5% at a $400,000 sale price. Below that it is more generous than a percentage; above it your savings grow quickly, reaching about $6,375 at the $655,000 county median and $20,000 on a $1.2 million home. Flat fees suit higher-priced homes and read as thin on entry-level ones.

Because it caps per-unit exposure while staying high enough to keep agents engaged. On a $500,000 to $700,000 build, flat $10,000 works out to roughly 1.4% to 2%. It also keeps the cost identical across floor plans and lot premiums and removes any incentive to push a buyer toward a pricier elevation. Individual sellers can copy the structure, but builders offset a thin buy-side offer with model homes, advertising, and rate buydowns that a private seller does not have. Buying new construction? That flat $10,000 goes to your agent’s brokerage — half of it can come back to you if you register with an agent first.

Yes, and this is the part most sellers miss. With a 1.5% listing commission instead of 3%, you can offer buyer agents a full 3% — more than the traditional seller nearby — and still pay 4.5% total versus their 5.5%. On a $655,000 home that is $29,475 versus $36,025, a savings of $6,550, while giving your listing the wider buyer pool. See how the listing service works.

Generally no. That is the constraint driving this entire question. A buyer agent commission is not a financeable loan cost, so if the seller does not cover it, the buyer pays cash on top of their down payment and closing costs. It is why FHA, VA, and first-time buyers are the groups most affected when a seller offers nothing.

Steering based on compensation is prohibited under the settlement, and most agents take that seriously. The practical issue is different. An agent whose buyer has limited cash beyond the down payment cannot realistically build a tour around homes requiring thousands more out of pocket. Your listing is not rejected — it may simply never make the list, and you would never see that as anything but a quiet listing.

Agent to agent. A buyer’s agent calls or emails the listing agent to ask before scheduling a showing or writing an offer, or the request comes in as a term of the purchase offer itself. Because compensation cannot be advertised through the MLS or MLS-fed displays, that direct inquiry is the primary channel — which is exactly why your listing agent needs to be responsive. An unanswered question about compensation is a showing that does not get booked.

No. Industry data shows buyer agent commissions holding steady or edging slightly upward since 2024. The settlement made compensation negotiable rather than customary — it did not lower anything on its own. Savings still come from choosing a lower-cost listing broker, not from the rule change. Our full settlement breakdown.

Yes. Nothing locks you in for the life of the listing. A sensible approach is to start at a lower number, watch showing activity for two or three weeks, and increase it if traffic is thin. That sequence works far better than starting generous and trying to reduce it later, which signals weakness to the market.

With a traditional listing agent, typically 5.5% to 6% combined — roughly $36,000 to $39,300 on a $655,000 home. With a 1.5% listing commission and a competitive 2.5% buy-side offer, total lands near 4%, or about $26,200. Commission rates are negotiable in every transaction and are not set by law.

Call or text 801-243-8900 or email Aaron@DiscountAgent.com. The right number depends on your price point, your neighborhood’s current inventory, and how much of your buyer pool is likely financing with low down payments. You will get a straight recommendation and the reasoning behind it, not a script.

Disclaimer

This article is general educational information about real estate commission practices, not legal advice. Commission rates and terms are negotiable in every transaction and are not set by law. Figures shown are illustrative scenarios on a hypothetical sale price and are not quotes or predictions. Market conditions, buyer financing profiles, and lender guidelines vary. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions about your listing agreement or purchase contract.

DiscountAgent.com is not a real estate brokerage. It is the marketing website of Aaron Peters, a licensed Utah real estate agent. Services are provided through NetLogix Realty, License #6390407-AB00. Utah is a non-disclosure state; figures shown are approximate.

The buyer agent commission question feels like it is about fairness. It is really about arithmetic and buyer pools. Offering nothing rarely eliminates the cost — it relocates it into a negotiation you enter from a weaker position, and it quietly narrows the set of people who can write on your house.

The better lever is the one most sellers never touch: what you pay your own agent. Cut that from 3% to 1.5% and you can be the most generous listing on the street to buyer agents while still keeping more equity than the seller next door.

Call or text 801-243-8900 or email Aaron@DiscountAgent.com.

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Should You Offer a Buyer Agent Commission? A Utah Seller's Guide