Six percent of four hundred thousand dollars is twenty-four thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
That is the number in the seller’s head when they put the sign in the yard, and it is the number behind every objection you will hear from them. “I’m not paying a commission” is that number. “I already have interest” is a belief that the number is about to be collected. “Agents keep calling me” is irritation at people who want a piece of it. “Bring me a buyer and we’ll talk” is an offer to share a little of it, on their terms. There is no FSBO objection that is not, underneath, a piece of math the seller has already done.<\/p>\n
Which is why the standard rebuttals fail. They answer math with adjectives. Better marketing, wider exposure, professional negotiation. The seller nods and thinks: twenty-four thousand dollars. The only response that moves a person who has done a calculation is the rest of the calculation, and it has to be done in their figures, not yours, or it is just another adjective.<\/p>\n
Before any of the responses below, hold this in mind, because the sellers can tell whether you believe it.<\/p>\n
Some FSBOs will do fine. A seller in a hot market with a clean, well-priced house, a buyer who is a relative or a neighbor, and the patience to handle a contract will net more without you than with you, and the honest agent says so. NAR’s own data shows that a meaningful share of by-owner sales are to someone the seller already knew (NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers<\/a>). Those sellers were never your listing, and treating them as an objection to overcome is how agents earn the reputation the seller is already braced for.<\/p>\n The math approach works precisely because it is honest about this. You are not trying to prove the seller wrong. You are trying to make sure their number is complete. If it is, you wish them well and stay in touch. If it is not, they will see the gap themselves, in their own figures, which is the only way anyone ever sees it.<\/p>\n The number underneath: gross savings. Twenty-four thousand.<\/p>\n The question that completes it: what is your net?<\/p>\n Fair enough, and I’d think the same way. Can I ask what you’re expecting to net after everything? Not the price. The check at closing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Most FSBO sellers have a price. Few have a net. Walking through it, in their numbers, means asking what they expect to sell for, then what they think a buyer’s agent will want if one brings the buyer, then what the buyer will ask for after inspection when there is nobody on the seller’s side to push back, then what carrying the house another sixty or ninety days costs in mortgage, taxes and utilities if it takes longer than they planned. You are not supplying any of these figures. You are asking for them, and the seller is discovering that the twenty-four thousand has several claims against it that were not in the original calculation.<\/p>\n Sometimes the net still favors going it alone, and you say so. More often the seller realizes the savings are closer to the fee of a good negotiation than to the whole commission, and now the conversation is about what a listing agent actually costs against what one actually recovers. That is a conversation you can have. “Six percent” was never one.<\/p>\n The number underneath: one, or several, of something. The question is what.<\/p>\n That’s great, and it might be all you need. Can I ask, is that an offer in writing, or someone who’s said they’re interested?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The gap between “interest” and “offer” is where most FSBO sales die, and the seller often does not know it yet. A showing is interest. A text saying “we love it” is interest. A pre-approval letter and a signed offer with an earnest deposit is a buyer. Ask how many showings, how many second showings, how many people asked about financing, and whether anyone has put anything on paper. You are not disputing their buyer. You are helping them count.<\/p>\n If they genuinely have a written offer, congratulate them and offer to look it over, no charge. A seller with a real offer and no representation is about to negotiate an inspection response, an appraisal gap and a closing timeline against a represented buyer. The agent who read the offer for free is the agent who gets called when that gets hard.<\/p>\n The number underneath: a buyer’s agent fee, usually two or three percent, offered as a fraction of the full number.<\/p>\n Do not argue with this one. Accept it.<\/p>\n I’d be glad to, and I’ll be honest that I don’t have one today. If I did, what would you be willing to pay a buyer’s agent? And separately, if it hasn’t sold in sixty days, would you be open to a conversation about listing it then?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This is the FSBO script’s<\/a> core move applied to an objection. The seller has just told you they will cooperate with buyer’s agents and named a figure, which is useful information for every buyer you work with in the area. You have declined to invent a buyer, which distinguishes you from the callers who said “I might have someone.” And you have put a date on the second conversation, which the seller agreed to because it cost them nothing today.<\/p>\n The mistake is to treat “bring me a buyer” as a brush-off. It is a small, real deal being offered. Take it.<\/p>\n The number underneath: a count, and it is high. The seller has been called a dozen times.<\/p>\n You’re right, and I’m one of them. I’ll keep this short for that reason. The calls will slow down in about a week, and I’d rather be the one you remember when they do than the twelfth one today.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Do not apologize for the profession, and do not distance yourself from it, because you are in it. Acknowledge the count, be brief, and give them a reason to sort you from the pile. Then actually be brief. The seller who says this is not rejecting you. They are telling you what they have experienced, and the response that works is to experience it with them for one sentence and then get off the phone before you become part of the problem.<\/p>\n Record the date. Call back when the crowd has moved on, which for FSBOs is usually ten days to two weeks after the listing first appeared, and open with the fact that you said you would.<\/p>\n The number underneath: a date, and the seller usually has not picked one.<\/p>\n That makes sense. What’s the date? Not roughly. If it hasn’t sold by a specific day, when do you switch?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Sellers who say this almost never have a day in mind, and asking for one is the most useful thing you can do for them. A FSBO with a deadline manages the sale. A FSBO without one drifts, drops the price in small increments, and lists in month five with a stale listing history that costs them more than the commission would have. If they pick a date, ask if you can be the first call a week before it, and put that in your priority lane<\/a>. If they will not pick one, note that too, and check back at day forty-five, because that is when the drift becomes visible to them.<\/p>\n None of the responses contain a claim about you. There is no marketing plan, no track record, no promise of a higher price. Every one of them is a question that asks the seller to finish their own math, and the agent’s only contribution is to notice which figure is missing.<\/p>\n That is deliberate, and it is the difference between this and the rebuttal collections. A rebuttal tries to change the seller’s number. A question lets the seller change it themselves, which is the only version that survives the moment you hang up. The seller who was told the commission pays for itself forgets that by dinner. The seller who worked out their own net and found it twelve thousand dollars lower than they thought does not.<\/p>\n“I’m not paying six percent”<\/h2>\n
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“I already have a buyer” or “I’ve had a lot of interest”<\/h2>\n
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“Bring me a buyer and I’ll pay you”<\/h2>\n
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“Agents keep calling me”<\/h2>\n
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“If it doesn’t sell, I’ll list it”<\/h2>\n
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The table<\/h2>\n
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\n \nWhat they say<\/th>\n The number underneath<\/th>\n The question that completes it<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n I’m not paying six percent<\/td>\n Gross savings<\/td>\n What do you expect to net at closing?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n I already have a buyer or interest<\/td>\n A count of something<\/td>\n Is it an offer in writing, or interest?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Bring me a buyer<\/td>\n A buyer’s agent fee<\/td>\n What would you pay one? And can we talk at sixty days?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Agents keep calling me<\/td>\n A high count of calls<\/td>\n Acknowledged. Which one will you remember next week?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n If it doesn’t sell I’ll list it<\/td>\n An unpicked date<\/td>\n What is the date, exactly?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n What all five have in common<\/h2>\n