Homeowners researching how to sell their house today will quickly run into a wave of articles and websites promising savings through FSBO or so-called “discount” and “low-commission” broker models. Sites like Clever Real Estate, Houzeo, and others publish polished guides comparing traditional agents, flat-fee MLS services, and selling without representation altogether. The message is consistent: full-service agents are expensive, FSBO is risky, and the smart middle ground is a reduced-fee agent matched to you by a national platform. It sounds reasonable, and it is presented as consumer advocacy. But the economics behind those promises deserve a closer look.
What is rarely emphasized is how those agent-matching and discount platforms are paid. In many cases, the agent you are referred to owes a significant referral fee back to the website that sent you the lead, often one-third, and sometimes closer to half, of the commission they earn. That cost does not disappear just because the listing fee is advertised as lower. It is absorbed somewhere in the transaction. That raises a fair and important question for sellers. If an agent is already giving up a large portion of their compensation to a third-party website, could a homeowner negotiate equal or better terms directly with a qualified local agent who is not paying a referral toll at all?
Many of these same articles also lean heavily on broad national statistics, such as claims that FSBO homes sell for dramatically less than agent-listed homes. Those figures usually come from aggregated national studies and often blend together very different situations, including family transfers, off-market sales, and homes that were never fully exposed to the open market. In practice, especially in markets like St. Louis, outcomes hinge far more on pricing accuracy, exposure, negotiation skill, and how issues are handled during inspections and underwriting than on whether a listing fee starts with a one or a two.
None of this means selling FSBO is always wrong, or that every discount model lacks value. It does mean sellers should pause and ask better questions before choosing a path. Who is being paid, how much, and by whom? What incentives are built into that structure? And am I optimizing for the lowest advertised fee, or the best overall outcome? At MORE, REALTORS®, we have long believed that real value comes from transparency, experience, and alignment with the client, not from fear-based statistics or hidden referral economics. A good Realtor should be willing to explain all of the options, including FSBO and alternative models, and help you decide what truly makes sense for your home, your market, and your goals.
