Selling by owner when the buyer has an agent
Draft Pending review by a Texas title professional before it is final.
Plenty of buyers shop with an agent, and a home sold by its owner can still sell to them. Here is who that agent works for, who pays them, and how it shows up in an offer.
Updated
What changed in 2024
Since August 2024, after a national legal settlement over how agents are paid, a seller no longer offers buyer’s agents a fee through the listing service agents use, and a buyer who works with an agent signs a written agreement with that agent that says how the agent will be paid.
The result for an owner is simple: you don’t have to pay a buyer’s agent. You may still choose to offer something, or agree to it in a contract, if that helps you sell.
Stating your policy
Every listing on ListedBy states the owner’s choice about a buyer’s agent: nothing, a percentage of the price, a flat amount, or “negotiable”. It tells buyers and their agents where you stand before anyone writes an offer, and you can change it while the home is for sale.
Whom the buyer's agent works for
A buyer’s agent represents the buyer. Their job is the buyer’s best price and terms, and they owe you honesty, not advocacy. When you sell on your own, nobody on the other side of the table represents you, unless you hire someone for that part: a Texas real estate attorney can review an offer or a contract for you.
Texas license holders use a notice called Information About Brokerage Services to explain who represents whom. If you are unsure whose side someone is on, ask.
How it shows up in an offer
An offer from a buyer with an agent may ask you to pay part or all of that agent’s fee. It is negotiable, like the price, and it comes out of what you keep — so a lower offer that asks nothing toward the agent can leave you with more than a higher one that does. Compare offers by the net, not the price. If you agree to pay, the contract says so, and the title company pays it from your proceeds at closing.
The net sheet has a line for it, and pricing without sold prices covers the rest of the arithmetic.
Checking a license
You can look up any Texas real estate license holder on the Texas Real Estate Commission’s website. On ListedBy, a buyer’s agent who messages you gives a license number; ListedBy doesn’t verify it yet, so it’s worth looking up yourself.
When agents ask for your listing
The day a home goes up for sale by its owner, the owner starts hearing from people who want the listing, and from investors with fast offers well under the price. On ListedBy, messages that pitch an owner — offers to list the home, “free” valuations — wait for a person before they reach you. A buyer’s agent writing for a buyer goes straight through.