Landian Insights · Selling
Flat fee vs 1% listing fee: the math at $400K, $650K and $950K
September 29, 2026 · Landian · 6 min read
The short version
“1%” sounds like the floor of the market. It is not. One percent of a $650,000 home is $6,500; Landian’s flat fee in that price band is $5,999, which is 0.92%. At $950,000 the flat fee is $8,999 against $9,500. And under $500,000 the honest answer runs the other way: a 1% service is cheaper on paper, minimums permitting, because Landian’s floor is $4,999.
- At $400,000 a 1% service is $4,000, Landian is $4,999, and a traditional 2.5% listing side is $10,000.
- At $650,000 the flat fee is $5,999, $501 under 1% and $10,251 under 2.5%.
- At $950,000 it is $8,999, $501 under 1% and $14,751 under 2.5%.
Every listing-fee pitch in the market is a percentage with a floor: 2.5% to 3% from a traditional brokerage, 1.5% from a matching service, 1% from the discount brokerages, each with a minimum that quietly decides what you pay on a cheaper home. Landian’s fee is a flat dollar amount set by the home’s price band. Here is what the three approaches cost at three prices, the full schedule, and what the six best-known national services publish as of September 2026, so you can check the arithmetic yourself.
Three worked examples
The listing side only. The buyer’s agent is a separate line since the 2024 settlement, and every service below prices the buyer side separately too. The 1% row uses the $3,000 minimum most 1% services publish; the named comparison further down uses each company’s own minimum.
| Listing side | Fee | Of the price |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional listing agent at 2.5% | $10,000 | 2.50% |
| A 1% service with a $3,000 minimum | $4,000 | 1.00% |
| Landian flat fee for this price band | $4,999 | 1.25% |
| Kept by the seller versus 2.5% | $5,001 | $999 over 1% |
| Listing side | Fee | Of the price |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional listing agent at 2.5% | $16,250 | 2.50% |
| A 1% service with a $3,000 minimum | $6,500 | 1.00% |
| Landian flat fee for this price band | $5,999 | 0.92% |
| Kept by the seller versus 2.5% | $10,251 | $501 under 1% |
| Listing side | Fee | Of the price |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional listing agent at 2.5% | $23,750 | 2.50% |
| A 1% service with a $3,000 minimum | $9,500 | 1.00% |
| Landian flat fee for this price band | $8,999 | 0.95% |
| Kept by the seller versus 2.5% | $14,751 | $501 under 1% |
Read the last row. At $400,000 the flat fee sits $999 above the 1% number, because $4,999 is the least Landian charges for a full listing with a licensed local agent. From $500,000 on it is under 1% at every price, and the gap against a 2.5% listing agent is five figures.
Why the crossover is $500,000
$5,000
1% of a $500,000 home
the crossover price
$4,999
Landian's floor, a dollar under it
Landian fee schedule
$425K
median agent-assisted sale price, 2025
NAR 2025 Profile
One percent of $500,000 is $5,000, and the floor of the schedule is a dollar less. Above that price every band is set at 1% of the band’s starting price minus a dollar, so the fee is under 1% the moment a home crosses into the band and falls as a share of price from there. That is the whole design: a flat number that never becomes a percentage, and never exceeds 1% on a home over $500,000. It also means the schedule is not the cheapest option for every home. On the national median home, about $425,000, a true 1% service with a $3,000 minimum charges $4,250; Landian charges $4,999. What you get for the difference is covered at the end.
The schedule
| Expected price | Flat fee | Share of price |
|---|---|---|
| Under $600K | $4,999 | 1% at $500K, 0.83% at $599,999 |
| $600K to $700K | $5,999 | 0.86% to 1% |
| $700K to $800K | $6,999 | 0.87% to 1% |
| $800K to $900K | $7,999 | 0.89% to 1% |
| $900K to $1M | $8,999 | 0.9% to 1% |
| $1M to $1.25M | $9,999 | 0.8% to 1% |
| $1.25M to $1.5M | $11,999 | 0.8% to 0.96% |
| $1.5M to $2M | $14,999 | 0.75% to 1% |
| $2M and up | $19,999 | 1% or less |
Quoted from the higher of the price you expect and a third-party estimate of the home’s value, and written into your Client Agreement before you meet an agent. From $500,000 an agent may propose a different amount before you choose, capped under 1% of the expected price; below it the quoted fee is final. Payable only at closing.
The named comparison, as of September 2026
These are published listing fees and minimums, not negotiated ones, collected in September 2026 from the companies’ own pages and the review sites listed in the footnotes. Terms change; the footnotes say where to check. Each row is the fee for the listing side at the three prices above.
| Service | Published terms | $400K | $650K | $950K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redfin | 2% (1% when you also buy through Redfin); minimum $2,000 to $9,000, by market | $8,000 ($4,000 with a Redfin purchase) | $13,000 ($6,500 with a Redfin purchase) | $19,000 ($9,500 with a Redfin purchase) |
| Clever | 1.5%; minimum $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,750 | $14,250 |
| Ideal Agent | 2%; minimum $3,000 | $8,000 | $13,000 | $19,000 |
| 1 Percent Lists | 1%; minimum about $3,000, varies by franchise | $4,000 | $6,500 | $9,500 |
| SimpleShowing | 1% (Florida, Georgia, Texas); minimum $3,500 to $5,000 | $4,000 to $5,000 | $6,500 | $9,500 |
| Houwzer | 1%, capped at $10,000; minimum $2,500 to $3,000 | $4,000 | $6,500 | $9,500 |
| Landian | Flat fee by price band; floor $4,999, no percentage | $4,999 | $5,999 | $8,999 |
Three things the table does not say on its own:
- Redfin’s 1% is conditional. The listing fee is 2%; it drops to 1% only when you also buy your next home through Redfin within their window, and the minimum runs from $2,000 to $9,000 depending on the market. Compare against the 2% column unless you are certain you will buy with them.
- Houwzer’s $10,000 cap wins at the top. A 1% fee capped at $10,000 stops rising at $1,000,000. Landian’s schedule keeps stepping: $11,999 from $1.25M, $14,999 from $1.5M and $19,999 from $2M. So from $1.25M Houwzer’s published cap is the lower number, and at $2M and up it is $10,000 against $19,999. If you are selling a home above $1.25M in one of Houwzer’s markets and price is the only question, their cap is the better deal. Between $500,000 and $1.25M, Landian’s band is lower at every price.
- Under $500,000, 1% is cheaper than $4,999. 1 Percent Lists, Houwzer and SimpleShowing all publish 1% with a minimum of $2,500 to $5,000, which puts them at $4,000 on a $400,000 home. The higher-percentage models cross the other way much sooner: Ideal Agent and Redfin at 2% cost more than the flat fee from about $250,000, Clever at 1.5% from about $334,000.
What the flat fee buys that the percentage does not
On price alone the schedule wins from $500,000 to $1.25M against everything in the table, and loses below $500,000 to the true 1% services. The reason to compare the rest of the offer is that none of the six can say the following four things together.
- You choose the agent, from cards. Licensed local agents answer your request; you compare their cards (Google rating, reviews, response time, consultations, closings) and pick one. The brokerage-model services assign whichever employee is free; the matching services pick two or three names by phone.
- The fee is set before you meet them. Your band and its dollar amount are in your agreement before the first conversation, and the agent has already seen it. Nobody negotiates at your kitchen table.
- Non-exclusive, cancel any time. You are not locked in until your home is listed, and you cancel from your dashboard.
- Pay only at closing. Nothing upfront, no minimum that quietly becomes the fee on a smaller home, and no percentage that grows if the home sells for more than expected.
Optional listing media (drone, video, a 3D floor plan and more) is a menu your agent can arrange, priced upfront and paid through Landian, never required and never bundled into the fee. Landian works across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada; none of the services in the table does.
Run your own number
Enter your address and the price you expect, and Landian shows the band, the fee and the agents who have already accepted it, before you talk to anyone.
Footnotes and sources
- Landian fee schedule: flat listing fee by expected price band, as published on landian.co and in the Client Brokerage Agreement, September 2026. Fees are in US dollars; the same numbers apply in Canadian dollars in Canada.
- Redfin listing fee (2%, 1% with a Redfin purchase) and minimums by market ($2,000 to $9,000): Redfin’s published fee pages as summarised by Anytime Estimate, “Redfin fees,” 2026.
- Clever Real Estate (1.5%, $3,000 minimum): listwithclever.com, September 2026.
- Ideal Agent (2%, $3,000 minimum): Real Estate Witch review, 2026.
- 1 Percent Lists (1%, about $3,000 minimum, varies by franchise): Clever’s ranking of 1% commission brokerages, listwithclever.com, September 2026.
- SimpleShowing (1%, $3,500 to $5,000 minimum, Florida, Georgia and Texas): Real Estate Witch review, 2026.
- Houwzer (1%, $2,500 to $3,000 minimum, capped at $10,000): Clever’s ranking of 1% commission brokerages, listwithclever.com, September 2026.
- Median agent-assisted sale price ($425,000): National Association of Realtors, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, November 2025.
- The traditional 2.5% listing side is a national rule of thumb for one side of a 5% to 6% total commission; local practice varies.
Published fees change. This comparison is refreshed monthly with the Landian Market Report; if a company’s terms on this page are out of date, write to hello@landian.co and we will correct them.