No. There is no law requiring a Michigan seller to pay or contribute toward a buyer’s agent’s compensation. And it’s still one of the most common questions sellers bring up before they list. But “not required” and “no reason to think about it” are two different things, and the second part is where most of the confusion actually lives.
What Actually Changed, in Plain Terms?
For years, sellers routinely offered compensation to the buyer’s agent through the MLS, and most buyers never had to think much about how their agent got paid. That structure changed. Offers of buyer agent compensation can no longer be published on the MLS itself, and buyers are now expected to have a signed agreement with their own agent before touring homes, one that spells out how that agent is paid.
What did not change: a seller can still choose to offer compensation toward the buyer’s side of the transaction. It just isn’t automatic, it isn’t advertised the old way, and it isn’t something a seller is obligated to do. It’s a decision, not a default.
So What Happens If You Decide Not to Offer Anything?
Nothing happens automatically, and nothing is guaranteed either way. A buyer working with their own agent under a signed agreement may ask you, through their offer, to cover some or all of what they owe their agent. You are free to say yes, no, or somewhere in between, the same way you’d respond to any other term in an offer.
What’s worth understanding going in: buyers who are stretched on cash, or whose agreement requires their agent to be paid a certain way, may factor your stance into which homes they tour or how they structure an offer. That doesn’t mean you should assume you need to offer something to attract interest. It means it’s a variable now, where it used to feel invisible.
How Do You Actually Decide What’s Right for Your Sale?
This isn’t a one-size answer, and anyone who tells you it is hasn’t looked at your specific situation. It depends on your price point, how competitive your local market segment is right now, how much flexibility you have in your net proceeds, and what you’re trying to optimize for: the fastest sale, the highest price, or the widest pool of interested buyers.
A useful way to think about it: instead of starting with “what percentage should I offer,” start with “what number do I actually need to walk away with, and how much room does that leave me to negotiate on this point if it comes up.” That reframes it from a rate question into a net-proceeds question, which is the number that actually matters to you.
What Should You Ask Your Agent Before You List?
Before you’re staring at an actual offer and trying to decide in the moment, it’s worth having this conversation early: what your agent recommends for your specific listing, why, and what tradeoffs come with offering something versus offering nothing. Ask to see it modeled both ways, not just described in the abstract. A real conversation, with your numbers, beats a general rule of thumb every time.
It’s also fair to ask how your agent will present and explain your position to buyers’ agents so it doesn’t get miscommunicated or assumed. Clarity here protects you from having to make this decision twice, once in theory and once under time pressure.
Where This Overlaps With the Buyer’s Side of the Conversation
Buyers are having a version of this same conversation now too, ideally with their own agent, before they ever tour a home, so they understand what they’re responsible for and how they’d respond to different scenarios. If you’re a seller who’s also curious what that side of the conversation looks like, it mirrors your own: settle your position early, understand your options, and avoid figuring it out for the first time while an offer is sitting in front of you.
This post reflects general practice guidance, not legal advice. Seller concessions to help cover buyer agent compensation are a negotiable term between a seller and a buyer, and specific structuring should be discussed directly with your listing agent.
Questions Sellers Actually Ask About This
Q: Do I have to pay anything toward the buyer’s agent if I don’t want to? A: No. There’s no requirement to offer compensation to a buyer’s agent. Whether to offer something, and how much room that leaves in your net proceeds, is a decision you make with your agent based on your specific goals.
Q: Will refusing to offer anything scare buyers away from my listing? A: Not automatically, and not for every buyer. Some buyers and their agents will factor it in, others won’t. It depends on your price point and local competition. This is exactly the kind of thing worth modeling with your agent before you list, rather than guessing.
Q: Can I change my mind on this after I’ve already listed? A: You can adjust your position as offers come in, since this is negotiated on a per-offer basis rather than locked in permanently at listing. It’s still smarter to walk in with a clear starting position than to decide from scratch every time an offer arrives.
Q: Does this affect my listing price or just the offer negotiation? A: It’s typically handled as part of the offer and negotiation, not baked into your listed price. Your agent can walk you through how the two interact for your specific sale.
Q: How is this different from what I might have heard about “standard” commission rates? A: There’s never actually been a standard rate. Commissions have always been negotiable; that part hasn’t changed. What’s different now is that it’s no longer published or assumed by default, so it’s a decision you make on purpose instead of defaulting to what everyone else seems to be doing.
If you’re in the thinking-through-it stage before you list, the Smart Seller Prep Guide can help you sort what actually matters for your specific sale from what’s just noise.
If you’d rather talk it through with real numbers instead of hypotheticals, that’s a conversation, not a pressure appointment.