SELLER NET SHEET
A listing agent used to say “we’ll look at the net.” After NAR that sentence actually means something. Buyer-broker compensation is no longer an automatic split of a 5% or 6% commission. It is a number on the offer — or it is absent.
Take two offers on the same house. Offer A is $425,000 and asks the seller to pay 2.5% to the buyer’s broker plus $8,000 toward the buyer’s closing costs. Offer B is $417,000 with neither. The loan payoff and the title bill are the same. On those assumptions, Offer B can leave the seller more money. The extra price on A does not cover the extra concessions.
That is not a recommendation to take the lower offer. Inspection, earnest money, financing, and timing still matter, and local transfer tax and proration customs change the dollars. It is a reason to put both offers on the same worksheet before anyone says “the higher one wins.”
Open the seller net sheet calculator and compare the two offers on this page’s numbers — then replace every rate with the title company’s estimate.
Yes, if the higher offer asks the seller to pay the buyer’s broker and closing costs. Those lines come out of the seller’s proceeds. A cleaner offer at a lower price can leave more cash after the payoff. Compare both on a seller net sheet before deciding.
No. Buyer-broker compensation is negotiated. A seller may offer it, a buyer may pay their own broker, or the amount may be zero. Treat it as its own line on the net sheet rather than half of a 5% or 6% commission.