Commission rates are supposed to be negotiable, so why can I negotiate the commission with an agent who makes us an offer?
Commissions are only negotiable with your listing broker (that’s us) before your home is listed. Once it’s decided what commission is to be offered to the buyer’s agents for bringing their buyers, that commission amount is entered in the MLS by the listing broker. This creates a contractual obligation for the listing broker to guarantee that commission to any agent who produces a buyer. This can be confusing to some For Sale By Owner clients who assume our only role is to enter the listing in MLS, similar to placing an ad in the newspaper. Anybody can place an ad in a newspaper, but you need a real estate license and must sign a contract with a real estate board to be able list a home on MLS. It becomes clearer when you consider why the MLS was created in the first place. The concept is for agents to make their listings available to all the other agents to sell, and to be able to show their buyers all the other agents’ listings as well as their own. The traditional 6% commission is spl
