Showing & Selling FSBO's

When working with buyers, it’s inevitable that you’ll run into a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) that they’re interested in. It’s super important to maintain your position of “unlimited inventory”, meaning you can show them any property for sale. We don’t sell houses, we represent buyers and help them pick the best house for them.

For Sale By Owner properties don’t have an advertised / agreed upon commission for a buyers agent. You’ll need to establish this at some point in your discussions with the Seller.


First Step:

  • Contact the Seller and arrange for a showing.
  • At this stage, I don't recommend negotiating or brining up your Buyer's Agent commission.  
  • I have brought my commission up as a first point of contact and it became a sticking point with the seller.  After viewing the home, the buyer didn't even like the house, so it became wasted energy.  

Set the appointment

  • Walk through the home with your buyer.  Do NOT let the buyer go alone  
  • If they like the home, contact the seller and ask if they are open to receiving an offer with a buyers agent commission concession within the offer.    
  • If they are, write the offer and include your commission as a line item.  
  • If they are not, explain to your buyer that the sellers are not willing to offer the commission and that they will need to compensate you directly at closing.

Rebuttals to FSBO sellers who refuse to work with an agent:  

  • Advise the seller that the buyers offer will be reflective of your commission.  
  • For example, if you are seeking 2.5% on a $200,000 home, the commission will be $5,000.  If the sellers are unwilling to consider the compesation, the buyers offer will reflect that as they will be paying that out of pocket and the offer will be $195,000.  
  • All parties will net the same- but it's often easier for the buyer to work the commission into the contract as a concession from the seller.

Getting Paid

  • Regardless of who is paying your commission, it needs to be a 'contractually agreed upon' line item and appropriate parties need to sign off and acknowledge
  • Seller is paying
    • Ensure that it is a line item in the purchase agreement
  • Buyer is paying
    • It needs to be in your Buyers Agency Agreement between you and the buyer and sent to the closing representative