Sellers need an advocate.
We are that advocate.
The assumed “standard” is still 6% — 3% to the listing broker, 3% to the buyer’s broker. We charge 1.5% on the listing side — half the going rate — and the $1,000 retainer, which includes pre-listing appraisal, will be refunded to you at closing. Not a cent of administrative, brokerage or transaction fees.
Listing commission
Buyers told the industry what they want. Most listings still don’t deliver it.
Every SAVE EQUITY REALTY listing includes all three, on every property, at no extra charge. That is the whole difference between a listing that sits and a listing that sells.
Buyer demand and agent provision figures from National Association of REALTORS® and BoxBrownie research. “We provide” reflects what is included with every Save Equity Realty listing as standard.
Since the settlement, everything is negotiable
The National Association of REALTORS® has responded to a series of lawsuits over how agents are paid. The result is that a buyer’s broker can no longer see what compensation, if any, a seller is offering on the MLS listing.
Every part of the transaction — from listing to closing — is now genuinely negotiable. We have already seen cases where a seller didn’t offer enough to the buyer’s broker, and that shortfall simply came back at them in the negotiation.
In a market like that, a seller needs someone whose job is to protect their number. That is the entire reason this brokerage exists.
What good does a prestigious address or a large building do for a seller? Why pay for that? Why not sell smarter and check off more boxes for less money? — Geof Hoge, GRI, Broker-Owner
The rate is from a job that no longer exists
The 3% model has been around for decades. What it used to pay for has almost entirely disappeared.
What 3% used to buy
- Printed brochures and mailers
- Photographs developed in a dark room
- Newspaper advertising, booked days ahead
- A brick-and-mortar office on a main road
- Reach limited to whoever drove past
- Weeks of lead time to bring a home to market
What the work is today
- Digital media produced and delivered online
- HDR photography edited the same day
- Syndication to every major portal at once
- Buyers searching from anywhere in the world
- Reach measured in states, not street corners
- A property presented in full within 24 hours
It is faster, broader and cheaper to do well than it has ever been. Because we use smart business practices, we can charge less — and still deliver more.
We rejected the junk fees too
Alongside the commission, many brokerages add a separate charge to sellers and buyers at closing. It appears as an Administrative Fee, a Brokerage Fee, or a Transaction Fee, and it can run as high as $600.
It is rarely explained and almost never negotiated. We rejected those charges for the same reason we rejected the 3% model: our commission is sufficient. Since we have priced our work correctly, we should not need to find more of your money on the closing statement.
At closing, you will not see
- Administrative feeup to $600
- Brokerage feeup to $600
- Transaction feeup to $600
- What we charge instead$0
Describes common market practice, not any specific competitor. Fee amounts and structures vary by brokerage and are negotiable.
A short list of what full service actually means here
Not an upgrade path. Not a package tier. This is the listing.
- Licensed Appraiser Pre-Appraisal includedAn independent valuation before the home goes to market, covered by the retainer. Pricing starts from a professional opinion, not a guess.
- High Dynamic Range bracketed photographyMultiple exposures blended per frame, so windows keep their view and interiors keep their detail.
- ANSI-accurate floor plansMeasured to the ANSI standard at 99.99% accuracy — not a sketch, and defensible if square footage is ever questioned.
- Real 3D virtual toursA genuinely walkable model of the home. Not photographs set to music.
- Virtual drone video of the interiorOne continuous flight through the home, the shot buyers actually stop scrolling for.
- Streaming TV marketingYour property running on Roku, Apple TV, LG, Google TV and more, with capability in over 30 languages.
- A dedicated property websiteIts own address to send buyers to, with every asset in one place.
- 1.5% commission, retainer refundedThe $1,000 retainer, which includes pre-listing appraisal, is returned to you at closing, so your total cost is 1.5% and nothing more.
- We meet buyers where they startOnline, 95% of the time. That is where the budget goes.
Why the retainer exists
Everything above is produced and paid for before your home ever reaches the market. The $1,000 retainer commits both of us to that — plainly, so we don’t get slighted, as has happened before.
It is refunded to you at closing. It is a good-faith deposit, not a fee: your total cost is 1.5%, and the rate we quote is the rate you pay.
What the difference is worth to you
Move the sliders. Nothing here is hidden, including the retainer.
Your decision, always. It is negotiable, never required to list with us, and since the 2024 settlement it is not advertised through the MLS.
Common practice at many brokerages. We charge none.
That is $13,100 that stays in your pocket instead of funding an office you will never visit.
Commissions are negotiable and are not set by law or by any REALTOR® association. The $1,000 retainer, which includes pre-listing appraisal, is paid when the listing is taken and will be refunded to you at closing. Figures are planning estimates only.
Geof Hoge, GRI
Broker · Owner · U.S. Veteran
We want to protect sellers from what we believe are high commission fees. That is not a marketing position — it is the reason the brokerage was founded, and the reason we refused to carry the administrative fees that came with the old model.
We feel our commission is sufficient. Everything else is just charging you twice.
What sellers ask first
Do I get the $1,000 retainer back?
Yes — in full, at closing. You pay $1,000 when we take the listing and it is refunded to you when the sale closes. On a $500,000 sale our side is $7,500, which is the 1.5% commission and nothing else.
The retainer exists because the photography, floor plan, 3D tour, drone work and streaming campaign are all produced and paid for before your home reaches the market. It commits both of us. It is a good-faith deposit, not a fee.
At 1.5%, what am I giving up?
Overhead. You are not paying for a prestigious address, a large building, or a layer of management between you and your broker. What you get is the full production list — HDR photography, ANSI floor plans, a real 3D tour, interior drone video, streaming TV placement and a dedicated property website — on every listing, as standard.
Do I have to offer the buyer’s agent anything?
No. It is negotiable, it is entirely your decision, and it is never a condition of listing with us. Since the 2024 NAR settlement it also cannot be advertised through the MLS.
What we will tell you honestly is that we have seen sellers offer too little and have the shortfall come straight back at them during negotiation. We will walk you through the trade-off for your specific home and price point, then you decide. The calculator lets you model every version of it, including zero.
How is 1.5% even possible?
Because the work changed and the rate didn’t. What once required printed materials, darkroom photography, newspaper deadlines and a storefront is now produced digitally and delivered online — faster, to a far broader audience. We can present a property to the standard buyers expect within 24 hours.
We run the brokerage around that reality rather than around a percentage set decades ago, and we pass the difference to you.
Where do buyers actually find my home?
Online, about 95% of the time. That is where the entire marketing budget goes: full MLS data, syndication to the major portals, the 3D tour and floor plan buyers keep asking for, social distribution, and streaming TV placement with capability in over 30 languages for out-of-state and international buyers.
Find out what your home is worth
A broker-prepared valuation, usually back to you within one business day. If the numbers don’t work for you, that is a perfectly fine outcome.