Six questions you should have answered before you hire a Realtor®.

Fair question. Here's the straight answer.

Utah does not have a set Realtor® commission. Compensation is negotiable and must be agreed to in writing. In many Utah transactions, full-service real estate compensation commonly falls in the 5%–6% total range when both the listing brokerage and buyer brokerage are being compensated through the transaction, but the final amount depends on the services provided, the property, the brokerage agreement, and the terms negotiated between the client and brokerage.

The 3% percent I charge covers a lot more than people see: marketing budget, professional photography, signage, MLS fees, broker splits, taxes, insurance, the legally-required errors-and-omissions coverage, the dozens of hours spent on showings that don't lead to offers, and the deals that fall apart at the inspection — for which I get paid exactly $0.

On a typical transaction, after splits with my brokerage, taxes, business expenses, and the deals that died, my actual take-home is usually between 35–45% of that 3%. Anyone telling you they "make 3%" is doing the math wrong.

Will I do it for less?

Typically no, but it depends on the price point, the complexity of the deal, and whether I'm representing both sides. What I won't do is cut my fee and quietly cut the marketing budget, cut the photography, or stop returning your calls — which is what happens at most discount brokerages. You get what you pay for, and your home is the wrong place to find that out.

Ask yourself this: if a Realtor® is willing to drop their commission that easily — their own money, the thing they negotiate for a living — how confident are you that they'll fight hard for yours when it's time to negotiate the largest investment of your life?

If commission structure matters a lot to you, ask me on the first call. We'll talk through it openly, and if it's not a fit, I'll point you to someone better suited.

Most agents quote the 5–6% (for both buyer and seller agent. Note commission is fully negotiable in the state of Utah and payment details must be in writing.) and stop there. Then at closing, you find out you're netting $20–40K less than you thought. Here's the actual list, on a hypothetical $600K Utah sale:

• Total commission (both sides)~$30,000–$36,000
• Title & escrow fees$1,200–$2,500
• Owner's title insurance (often seller-paid)$1,500–$2,800
• Recording & transfer fees$200–$500
• Prorated property taxesVaries (1–2 months typical)
• Buyer concessions (now common in 2025–26 market)$3,000–$15,000
• Pre-listing repairs / touch-ups$500–$8,000
• Staging (full or partial)$0–$4,000
• Professional photography (I cover this)$0
• Mortgage payoff statement / wire fees$30–$100
• Home warranty for buyer (negotiable)$1,000+
• HOA transfer fees$200+
• Capital gains (if applicable, after exclusions)Talk to your CPA

On that $600K sale, real-world net to seller usually lands somewhere between $545K and $560K — not the $570K you'd expect from just subtracting commission. Before we list, I'll build you a line-by-line net sheet using your actual mortgage balance and your actual house. No surprises at the closing table. Ever.

Most agents are trained to point out the granite countertops, the open floorplan, and the natural light. They are not trained to say "the furnace is 22 years old, the roof has maybe five years left, and that addition off the back wasn't permitted."

Before we write an offer, I walk the home with you and flag the mechanicals, the roof, the drainage, the permitting, and anything that screams "expensive surprise in year two." If something looks wrong, I'll say so out loud, even if you love the kitchen. Once the offer is accepted I highly recommend you getting a professional inspector to come in and show you the issues that are there to help you further protect your investment.

This is the single biggest reason buyers say they wish they'd hired me sooner. Don't tour 15 homes with the wrong agent first.

The honest answer for most of Utah right now: longer than it used to. Days-on-market across Utah and Juab Counties have stretched meaningfully from the 2021–22 frenzy. Anyone telling you "it'll fly off the market in a weekend" is either lying or hasn't looked at the data this quarter.

Before we sign a listing agreement, I'll show you three things:

• →The last 6–12 months of closed comps in your specific neighborhood — not the city, the neighborhood.
• →Average days on market for homes that sold (and the ones that expired without selling).
• →The list-to-sale-price ratio, so you know how much homes are actually closing for vs. their asking price.

Then I'll give you a realistic price range and a realistic timeline. Sometimes that range is lower than what you were hoping for. I'll still tell you. Pricing right on day one almost always nets you more money than chasing the market down with three price drops over 90 days — which leads directly to the next question.

Sometimes the honest answer is wait. Sometimes it's rent another year and save. Sometimes it's this specific house is a bad investment for you, even though you love it. You deserve to hear that before you sign, not after. I'll say it.

Here's roughly how I think about it with clients:

• Buy now if…

  You plan to be in the home 5+ years, your job is stable, your monthly payment (PITI + HOA + a real maintenance reserve) is comfortably under 30% of take-home, and you have 3–6 months of reserves left after closing.

• Wait if…

  You might relocate in 2–3 years, you're stretching to qualify, you have no reserves left after the down payment, or you're buying because you feel pressure (from a partner, a parent, or a Realtor®) rather than because the math works.

I'd rather lose you to "wait six months and save" and earn your trust than push you into a house you regret. A client for life beats a commission this quarter every time.

Two reasons. Neither one helps you.

1. They're buying the listing.

Some agents inflate the price on purpose to win the contract. They know that once you're signed for six months, they can come back in three weeks and start "adjusting expectations" — which is industry-speak for talking you down to the price they always knew it would sell for. By then you're locked in, you've turned down other agents, and starting over feels worse than just dropping the price.

2. They genuinely don't know the market.

Some agents pull comps from the wrong neighborhood, ignore what's actually going under contract right now (vs. what's just sitting listed), or haven't walked enough homes this year to know that the kitchen you remodeled in 2018 doesn't carry the weight it did two years ago. They're not lying — they just don't know.

What overpricing actually costs you:

• →The first two weeks are gone. That's when 80% of serious buyers see your listing. Overpriced + fresh = ignored.
• →Every price drop screams "something's wrong" — even when nothing is.
• →You chase the market down. By the time you cut to where you should have started, comparable homes have closed lower, so even that price is now too high.
• →Days on market kill leverage. A home sitting 60+ days attracts lowball offers from buyers who smell blood.
• →You usually net $20–50K less than if you'd priced it right on day one — plus carrying costs for the extra months.

My approach: I'll show you three numbers — what an aggressive agent would tell you, what the market will actually pay, and what I'd list at to create competition in the first 10 days. Then you decide. If another agent quotes you $80K higher than I do, ask them to show you the three closed comps that justify it. If they can't, you have your answer.