Are 6% Realtor Commissions Reasonable Given the Services They Provide Sellers?
People who do a FSBO home sale almost always do it to save money. And it seems to make sense to save a 6% commission, which is $30,000 on a $500,000 home. Actually it only makes sense to save this commission expense if you can do better without hiring a Realtor. You must have a good understanding of the home sale process to decide what Realtor services you need or don’t need. You also need to assess where hiring a specialist for certain home sale tasks (like staging, legal advice or marketing) my allow you to get better service at a lower price. The challenge that I have in assessing this question is determining exactly what the Realtor will do for you. By this I mean, they may offer to serve as the quarterback to make sure all other tasks are completed by professionals who you pay in addition to the Realtor commission you pay. When it comes to marketing, I find it hard to figure out what a Realtor will do for my home versus what they are doing to market and advertise their own service
