Dealing with Buyers’ Agents as a Private Seller
Roughly 40% of our MLS® System listings sell directly to the buyer with no buyer’s agent involved. The other 60% sell to buyers who are working with a buyer’s agent. Understanding how to work with those agents is a key part of a successful private sale.
This guide explains your role in the sale, how buyer’s agents get paid, what “mere postings” really are, and how to protect yourself and your equity when negotiating.
How Our MLS® System Listings Sell
Direct to Buyer
40%
No buyer’s agent
With Buyer’s Agent
60%
Agent representing buyer
Either way, our system is designed so you stay in control as the seller—whether you’re dealing directly with buyers or negotiating with their agents.
As a Private Seller, You Take on the Role of the Listing Agent
When you sell your home For Sale By Owner, you become both the vendor and the salesperson.
As the vendor (seller), you are responsible for keeping your “shop” in order—your home should feel as organized and welcoming as possible. A calm, prepared seller creates a more positive experience when buyers come to view the property.
As the salesperson, you already know almost everything there is to know about your home. In many ways, there is no one better to show it than you. Create a positive vibe, answer questions honestly, and don’t be afraid to enjoy the process.
With our system, you interact directly with buyers instead of having agents negotiate everything behind the scenes. Many sellers find this very fulfilling—not just because of the money they save, but because they get to know the people who will be moving into their home.
When an offer becomes serious, both parties can be protected by including simple clauses that make the offer subject to approval by each party’s lawyer. Please seek the advice of a legal professional at this stage if you haven’t already done so.
Selling your property For Sale By Owner doesn’t have to be complicated. Being prepared and friendly goes a long way. Our online system pulls everything together for you in one place.
Direct interaction with buyers removes the traditional roadblocks. You can work out a deal that feels fair to both sides more quickly, and pass your home on to someone you’ve actually met.
Common Things Agents May Tell You to Get You to List with Them
The bottom line: your success is driving our success—and not everyone in the traditional real estate industry loves that.
When you choose not to list your home with an agent, you keep control of the process. That means some people in the industry may try to plant doubts about your chances of success as a private seller.
There is an ongoing marketing narrative in Canada that says homeowners shouldn’t attempt to sell their own home without a “full-service” agent. Our customers feel differently: they trust that no one is better suited to sell their property than they are, and they leverage technology to do it.
Because there’s a lot of money at stake, some stakeholders will say that flat fee programs or mere posting systems “don’t work” or come with serious disadvantages. In reality, most of our sellers simply want their property shown on the major industry websites—and our system offers one of the most widespread listing syndication setups in Canada.
Our flat fee system is designed so you can hold on to more of your hard-earned equity by paying far less in commission—without giving up MLS® System and REALTOR.ca exposure.
If someone tells you “this doesn’t work,” ask yourself who benefits if you give up and list the traditional way.
The Truth About “Mere Postings” in Canada
Selling your property For Sale By Owner has become much easier thanks to technology and important changes in how the MLS® System can be used.
Technology now provides many of the tools sellers need: websites like ForSaleByOwner.ca, email, smartphones, tablets, social media, and instant alerts. Buyers can easily search for listings and contact sellers directly.
In 2010, following negotiations with the Federal Competition Bureau, private sellers gained the ability to harness the power of the MLS® System through mere postings. CREA defines a mere posting as a listing where the brokerage submits the listing to the MLS® System but does not provide traditional full-service support.
Flat fee and discounted listing services have grown out of this model. Our Flat Fee Mere Posting brokerages have been offering these services since 2013, continuously refining our system based on thousands of customer experiences.
Today, our Flat Fee Selling System is one of the best-priced alternatives to traditional “old-school” full-service real estate throughout Canada, and new sellers are using it every day.
You can keep control of your sale, use our platform to market your property, and still benefit from the reach of the MLS® System and REALTOR.ca via a flat fee posting.
How Your Property Appears on REALTOR.ca
Most of our sellers want their property shown on REALTOR.ca—and our listings appear there in a very similar way to full-service agent postings.
The main difference is that our listings include a line in the description that tells buyers there is more information available if they follow the specified links on the REALTOR.ca page. REALTOR.ca rules don’t allow us to show your direct contact information there, so the goal is to get buyers to click those buttons.
Once they click, they can see your ForSaleByOwner.ca listing, where they find your name and contact details, all of your photos, your full property description, any video or audio you’ve added, your open house schedule, and the full property specs (including room dimensions if provided).
This is a big part of why our system works so well—and why so many of our properties sell directly to buyers without buyer’s agents involved.
You can view detailed screenshots of how this works on our “How FSBO & REALTOR.ca Are Linked Together” page.
REALTOR.ca – Stats & Why It Matters
More traffic means more leads—and, ultimately, more sales opportunities for you.
According to the 2022 REALTOR.ca Insights Report, the site received:
- 121 million visitors
- 564 million visits
- 1.8 billion property page views
- 5.7 million REALTOR.ca & REALTOR.ca DDF® leads
- 49% market share for Canadian real estate web and mobile traffic
This traffic comes from both industry participants and the general public during their home search. It’s the main reason our customers want to appear on REALTOR.ca in the first place.
Our flat fee postings appear on REALTOR.ca like other listings, with the key difference that buyers are guided to your custom FSBO landing page and ForSaleByOwner.ca listing for more info. That extra layer helps attract more buyers who aren’t already committed to an agent.
On your FSBO listing, buyers can see open house schedules, printable brochures, extra pictures, video, audio, and even a link to your own property website if you have one.
All of this increases your chances of attracting a buyer directly—without a buyer’s agent—saving you even more.
Negotiating with Buyer’s Agents
What should you do if you’re contacted by a buyer’s agent? Here are key points to keep in mind.
Across Canada, there are no posted minimum or maximum commission percentages. How much you pay (if anything) is entirely up to you. There are common patterns that vary by province, but you are in control of what you’re willing to offer.
A) Set the Maximum You’re Willing to Pay
Many sellers are comfortable paying up to about half of what a full-service listing commission might have been. Others choose a different amount—or nothing at all. Decide your maximum “finder’s fee” or commission in advance.
If a buyer’s agent presents you with a contract, ensure it identifies the buyer by name and clearly spells out the agreed-upon commission (percentage or dollar amount). If that buyer later completes the purchase, you will likely owe that commission—even if they try to go around their agent.
B) Sign Only for That Client or a Short Time Period
Avoid contracts that tie you to a buyer’s agent for the entire duration of your listing. Instead:
- Link the agreement to one specific buyer (names in the contract), or
- Limit it to a short time frame (for example, 48–72 hours).
That way, you’re only committed to that agent for that client and that window of time.
C) Ask Lots of Questions
Just as you qualify buyers, you should also qualify buyer’s agents. Ask:
- Has your client been pre-approved for a mortgage?
- Do they need to sell an existing home first?
- Are they familiar with this area?
- How long have you been working with them?
Their answers help you gauge how serious the buyer is and how much commission you may want to offer to encourage showings.
D) The Offer & the Sale
When a buyer’s agent is involved, the buyer will typically make an offer through that agent, who then presents it to you. You can accept, reject, or counter.
Always include a clause making the offer subject to your lawyer’s approval. We strongly recommend seeking legal advice if you haven’t already.
Once you have a signed agreement, send it to your lawyer promptly so both sides’ lawyers can finalize the details and move the sale forward.
Commissions – Tips & Information
Understanding typical commission structures helps you see just how much your FSBO approach can save.
As an example, in Ontario a “typical” total commission on a $600,000 property at 5% would be $30,000, plus approximately $3,900 in sales tax—for a total of around $33,900.
In Alberta, a common structure is 7% on the first $100,000 and 3% on the balance. On a $600,000 sale that’s $22,000 in commission, plus about $1,100 in GST—for a total of $23,100.
With our selling system, there’s a real chance you’ll be dealing directly with buyers who contact you without an agent. In that scenario, you may pay zero commission.
Some creative sellers even use part of their potential commission savings as a buyer incentive—such as “cash back at closing” for buyers who complete the purchase without a buyer’s agent. Our system includes “Buyer Agent Friendly” settings where you can describe exactly how you’re willing to cooperate.
You can also reduce the chance of buyers bringing an agent into the mix after finding your property online by clearly stating that they’ll save money by dealing with you directly.
There are no rules in private sales that limit the incentives you can offer. Think outside the box and remember that buyers often expect to share in the savings when they work directly with you.
Don’t Give Up – Your Confidence Is Key
The biggest obstacle private sellers face is often losing confidence after hearing horror stories or pressure from outsiders who hope you’ll give up and list the traditional way.
Real estate has changed. With the Internet, technology, REALTOR.ca, and ForSaleByOwner.ca, you now have a very real chance of selling your own property successfully.
If you ever need a boost in confidence or want clarification on something an agent has told you, you can contact us toll-free at 1-888-323-1998 ext. 101.
Thank you for taking the time to read this information—and good luck with the sale of your property!
Have questions about an interaction with a buyer’s agent, or need help deciding what to offer as commission? Reach out—we’ll walk through it with you.
Contact FSBO Support