If you’ve been reading about real estate over the past couple of years, you’ve almost certainly seen headlines about the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement and “the end of the 6% commission.” For Tennessee homeowners thinking about selling on their own, the natural question is: what does any of this actually mean for me?
The short answer is that the settlement changed some long-standing rules about how buyer’s agents get paid — and on balance, those changes are good news for For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sellers. This guide explains what really changed, what didn’t, and how to use the new landscape to your advantage when you sell your Tennessee home in 2026.
A Quick Refresher: What the NAR Settlement Actually Was
In 2024, the National Association of Realtors agreed to a $418 million settlement resolving a series of lawsuits about how real estate commissions worked. As part of that agreement, NAR adopted a set of “practice changes” that took effect in August 2024 and now shape how home sales are handled nationwide, including here in Tennessee.
It’s important to be clear about what the settlement did not do. It did not cap commissions, set a new legal rate, or ban the 6% model. Commissions in the United States have always been negotiable, and they still are. What the settlement changed was the plumbing — specifically, how buyer-agent compensation is communicated and how buyers and their agents formalize their working relationship.
Change #1: Buyer-Agent Commissions Left the MLS
Before the settlement, a seller listing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was generally expected to advertise a commission for the buyer’s agent right there in the listing. That offer was visible to every agent searching the MLS, and it effectively became a standard most sellers felt they had to follow.
Under the new rules, offers of buyer-agent compensation can no longer be displayed inside the MLS. Compensation still exists — it just gets negotiated separately, deal by deal, rather than broadcast on the listing. For a FSBO seller, this is a meaningful shift: the old, semi-automatic expectation that you’ll pay a set buyer-agent commission has been replaced by a genuine, case-by-case decision that’s entirely yours to make.
Change #2: Buyers Now Sign Agreements Before Touring
The second major change is on the buyer’s side. An agent who is an MLS participant now must have a written agreement with a buyer before showing that buyer a home. That agreement spells out how the agent will be paid and how much.
Why does this matter to you as a seller? Because it means buyers and their agents are now having direct, upfront conversations about compensation. When an agent brings you an offer, the buyer already understands that someone — the seller, the buyer, or some combination — will cover that agent’s fee. Compensation is on the table as a normal negotiation point, not an awkward surprise.
What This Means for You as a Tennessee FSBO Seller
Put the two changes together and the picture for FSBO sellers is encouraging. You are no longer expected to pre-commit to a buyer-agent commission just to be taken seriously. You can decide what to offer — if anything — based on each individual offer, your local market, and how motivated you are.
This flexibility pairs perfectly with a flat-fee MLS listing. You can read more about that approach in our guide on how a flat-fee MLS listing works in Tennessee, but the headline is simple: you get full MLS and Zillow exposure for a small fixed fee, and you control every compensation decision from there.
Should You Still Offer a Buyer’s Agent Commission?
This is the question nearly every FSBO seller asks, and the honest answer is: it depends, and that’s okay. Roughly half of all home buyers still work with an agent, so offering a competitive buyer-agent commission — often somewhere in the 2–3% range — can widen your buyer pool and keep your home on agents’ radar.
On the other hand, you might choose to offer less, offer a flat dollar amount, or offer nothing up front and simply negotiate compensation when an offer arrives. If a buyer comes to you without an agent at all, there may be no buyer-side commission to pay. The right move depends on how hot your local market is, how quickly you need to sell, and how much competition similar homes are giving you. We walk through the trade-offs in detail in our article on whether to offer a buyer’s agent commission.
The “Steering” Question: Will Agents Avoid My Listing?
A common worry is that buyer’s agents will simply steer their clients away from a FSBO home that offers a low commission or none at all. It’s a fair concern — but here’s an underappreciated point: the settlement specifically targeted practices that allowed agents to filter or avoid listings based on the commission offered.
In addition, because buyers now sign compensation agreements with their own agents up front, a buyer can instruct their agent to write an offer on your home regardless of what you’re offering. The buyer can ask you to cover the agent’s fee as a term of their offer, or agree to cover part of it themselves. The decision increasingly sits with the buyer, not solely with the agent — and motivated buyers don’t want to skip the right house over a commission technicality.
Did Commissions Actually Drop?
Many people expected the settlement to push commissions sharply downward. In reality, the data has been more muted. Buyer-agent commissions dipped only slightly after the practice changes took effect — then largely rebounded, with national averages settling close to where they were before.
The real change isn’t the number — it’s the conversation. Compensation is now openly negotiable on every deal instead of being a fixed expectation. For a FSBO seller who is comfortable negotiating, that’s a genuine advantage. You control your single largest controllable cost, and you can use it strategically rather than treating it as a fixed line item. Our guide on negotiating like a pro can help you put that to work.
How to Use the New Rules to Your Advantage
To make the most of the post-settlement landscape, start by listing on the MLS through a flat-fee service so agent-represented buyers can actually find your home. Decide your buyer-agent commission strategy before you list, even if your plan is simply “I’ll negotiate it per offer,” so you’re never caught off guard.
When an offer comes in, look at the full picture — price, financing strength, contingencies, and any request for you to cover the buyer’s agent — rather than reacting to the commission line alone. Consider seller concessions toward buyer closing costs as a flexible alternative to a straight commission. And keep good records of every compensation agreement, because clear paperwork protects you at closing. For the full cost breakdown of a Tennessee sale, see our guide to Tennessee closing costs.
A Quick Timeline of How We Got Here
Understanding the backstory helps the changes make sense. For decades, the standard practice was for a listing agent to set a total commission with the seller, then advertise a share of it to buyer’s agents through the MLS. Buyers rarely saw or negotiated that number directly — it was simply baked into how transactions worked.
A series of lawsuits challenged that structure, arguing it kept commissions artificially uniform and obscured from the people paying them. Those cases led to the National Association of Realtors settlement, and the practice changes that followed took effect in August 2024. The headline shifts — no commission offers inside the MLS, and written buyer-agent agreements before touring — are now simply how Tennessee real estate works.
For a FSBO seller, the takeaway is that the “rules” you may remember from selling a home years ago have genuinely changed. The old assumption that you must offer a set commission is gone, replaced by a system where you decide and negotiate. That’s worth knowing before you list.
Talking Compensation With a Buyer’s Agent
Because compensation now gets discussed openly, it helps to have a calm, simple way to handle the conversation when an agent calls about your home. You don’t need to be an expert negotiator — you just need to be clear and friendly.
If an agent asks what you’re offering, an honest answer like “I’m open to discussing buyer-agent compensation as part of a written offer — bring me your buyer’s best terms and we’ll work it out” keeps you flexible without committing to a number on the spot. If you’ve decided on a figure, you can simply state it. If you’d rather steer toward a concession, you might say, “I’m happy to consider a closing-cost credit the buyer can apply as they choose.”
The key is to stay matter-of-fact. Compensation is now a normal negotiation point, not a confrontation. Agents deal with this conversation on every transaction, and a cooperative, businesslike tone keeps your home easy to work with. Our guide on negotiating like a pro has more on holding these discussions with confidence.
Don’t Forget the Buyer’s Side
One more shift worth understanding: buyers are now more informed than ever about commissions, because they sign agreements spelling out what their agent costs and who pays. That cuts both ways for you. Some buyers, newly aware of the expense, may ask you to contribute — but many also understand that compensation is negotiable and are prepared to cover some or all of it themselves to get the home they want. Treat each offer as its own conversation, and you’ll find the new system is more transparent and workable than the old one it replaced.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to offer a buyer’s agent commission in Tennessee?
No. Since the 2024 NAR settlement, offering buyer-agent compensation is entirely optional and negotiated on each deal. Many sellers still offer one to stay competitive, but it is no longer a requirement.
Can buyer’s agents see what I’m offering them?
Not through the MLS. Offers of buyer-agent compensation can no longer be advertised inside the MLS. Compensation is now communicated and negotiated outside the listing, typically as part of the offer.
Does the NAR settlement make it easier to sell FSBO?
In several ways, yes. It removed the built-in expectation that sellers pre-commit to a set buyer-agent commission, and it curbed practices that let agents steer buyers away from low-commission listings.
Will buyer’s agents still show my home?
Yes, especially when a buyer wants to see it. Buyers now sign compensation agreements with their agents up front, so a buyer can direct their agent to write an offer on your home and negotiate the agent’s fee as a term of that offer.
Did the settlement lower commissions?
Only modestly. National averages dipped briefly and then largely rebounded. The bigger change is that compensation is now openly negotiable on every transaction rather than a fixed expectation.
Sell Smarter Under the New Rules
The NAR settlement didn’t end FSBO — if anything, it tilted the playing field a little more in your favor. You now have clear, explicit control over how much you pay in commission, and the rules discourage anyone from sidelining your listing because of it.
The best way to take advantage is to combine that flexibility with real MLS exposure. You can list your Tennessee home with FSBOTN.com for just $99 and reach agent-represented buyers on your own terms. Curious how your overall costs compare to hiring a full-commission agent? Our FSBO vs. agent cost comparison lays it all out.