The real math: what a 6% commission costs you in Salem

Commission is the largest single expense in most home sales, and it is also the one people think about least carefully. Here is the arithmetic, so you can judge it yourself.

The basic math

On a $500,000 home, a 6% commission is approximately $30,000.

Framed another way, that is roughly $6,000 for every $100,000 of home value.

Those figures are estimates, and the exact amount depends on your price and the terms of any agreement. But the order of magnitude is not in dispute. It is the difference between one number in your bank account and another. Run your own numbers →

What $30,000 actually represents

It helps to translate a percentage into something concrete. For many Salem homeowners, the amount a 6% commission absorbs is comparable to:

• A meaningful portion of a retirement contribution for a year or more.
• A substantial renovation, or a new roof plus windows.
• A significant addition to a down payment on the next home.
• Several years of property taxes.

The point is not that commissions have no value. It is that the value has to be measured against what the money could otherwise do, and against whether the same services can be obtained another way.

Can the same protection be obtained without the commission?

In our view, for a homeowner willing to sell their own home, yes. Here is what actually has to be covered:

• Exposure: your home on the MLS, and syndicated to the sites buyers actually search.
• Legal protection: every disclosure Oregon requires, correctly completed.
• Guidance: pricing, staging and negotiation advice from someone experienced.

We provide all three at no charge: Triple MLS syndication through WVMLS, RMLS and MyState MLS, the complete Oregon form package, and 1:1 coaching from a Managing Principal Broker. No listing fee, no 6% commission.

Then how do we get paid?

We invest in your success first, and we are upfront about the trade. We ask for a Google review, a referral to a friend or family member, and if we have earned your trust, the opportunity to connect you with a trusted buyer’s agent when you purchase your next property. When that purchase closes, we receive a portion of the buyer’s agent commission.

Roughly three out of four home sellers eventually buy another property. That is the basis of the model, and it is why the cost to you is zero rather than six percent.

Estimates only. Nothing here is a guarantee of savings, and any buyer-agent compensation is negotiated separately.