Is Your Agent in Camp 1# or 2# ?

Excerpts from "Selling Later" by Wendy Gilch.

As the NAR settlement dust settles, brokerages have begun to fall into two distinct camps: those in camp one that are embracing transparency and true fee negotiation, and those in camp two that are scrambling to protect the old system and keep commissions “average” or “standard.”

Camp #1: “Just Ask With the Offer”

These brokerages don’t set buyer agent commissions in advance. Instead, they tell buyers to negotiate their agent’s fee as part of the offer, putting you in the driver’s seat.

• What that means:

• You choose how much to pay your agent.

• That fee becomes part of your offer to the seller.

• The deal is clearer, cleaner, and more customizable.

✅ If you negotiate a lower fee instead of asking for a rebate:

You’re doing it right. 

Example: You agree to pay your agent 2% instead of 3%. That lowers the overall cost of your offer, making it more attractive to sellers.  It can free up room to negotiate other perks — like closing cost help or repairs.

⚠️ If you ask for a rebate instead:

Your agent builds 3% into the offer but promises to give some back later.  Doing this could create a few issues:

• Your offer now looks more expensive to the seller.

• You’ve got less wiggle room elsewhere.

• You might end up financing your own rebate if the seller asks you to offer more to offset the agent fee (yikes).

Translation: You could be weakening your offer just to get money back you didn’t need to spend in the first place.

Camp #2: “We Already Picked a Number For You”

These brokerages still have sellers pre-set a buyer agent commission in the listing agreement. You might never see that agreement, but the number’s baked into the listing — even if you and your agent discussed something totally different.

⚠️ If you negotiate a lower fee with your agent:

Great move… but here’s the problem: If your agent only wants 2%, but the seller offered 3%, what happens to that extra 1%?  In some markets, it might go back to the seller. In others? The listing agent pockets it.  This happens a lot in states where commissions are shown still as a lump sum in the listing contract.

So you tried to save money, but the system quietly rerouted the leftovers to someone else.