Handling Offers From Buyer's Agents as a Texas FSBO Seller

When you sell FSBO in San Antonio, somewhere around 80–90% of the serious offers you receive will be written by a licensed buyer's agent, not by the buyer directly. That is fine. It does not compromise your FSBO position, and it does not obligate you to pay a commission. But it does change how the paperwork arrives, what is buried in it, and where first-time FSBO sellers lose money.

This is the practical playbook for taking an offer from a buyer's agent on a Bexar County home: what shows up before the offer, what to read inside TREC 20-17, how commission actually works after the 2024 NAR settlement changes, and what to push back on.

Before any offer: the agent registration question

A buyer's agent will usually reach out before showing the property and ask one of two things: will you cooperate with a buyer's agent, and if so, what compensation are you offering. Since the August 2024 NAR settlement, the MLS can no longer advertise a seller-paid buyer-agent commission, so this conversation now happens off-MLS, in writing, before the showing.

You have three workable answers:

• No compensation offered. The buyer pays their own agent under their buyer representation agreement. Your price stays clean. Fewer agents will bring buyers, but plenty will if the home is priced right.
• Flat fee. You agree to contribute a set dollar amount (commonly $3,000–$8,000 in the San Antonio market) toward the buyer's agent compensation at closing. Simple, capped, predictable.
• Percentage. You agree to 2%–3% of sales price. Traditional, but the ceiling is open-ended.

Put whatever you agree to in a short written commission agreement before the showing. TREC does not publish a form for this; the buyer's agent's broker typically provides one (often a one-page "Registration of Buyer" or broker compensation agreement). Read it. Confirm it (a) names the specific buyer, (b) states the compensation, (c) is contingent on closing, and (d) expires on a date — 30 to 90 days is normal. Without an expiration, a registration can follow the buyer forever.

The offer will arrive on TREC 20-17

Resale single-family offers in Texas are written on the TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), form 20-17 in the current version. A buyer's agent will send you a filled-in PDF, usually with several addenda attached. Expect some combination of:

• Third Party Financing Addendum (TREC 40-11) if the buyer is financing.
• OP-L Lead-Based Paint Addendum if the home was built before 1978 (King William, Monte Vista, Alta Vista, Mahncke Park, older parts of 78209 — almost always triggered).
• HOA Addendum (TREC 36-10) for Stone Oak, Alamo Ranch, Cibolo Canyons, Redbird Ranch, and almost any post-1990 subdivision inside Bexar.
• Addendum for Sale of Other Property (TREC 10-7) if the buyer needs to sell first.
• VA or FHA financing addendum — common near JBSA-Lackland, Randolph, and Fort Sam Houston.
• A separate seller-concession or commission addendum specifying what you agreed to pay the buyer's agent.

Do not sign anything until every referenced addendum is attached. Missing addenda are the single most common defect in FSBO offer packets.

Reading the economics, not just the price

The headline sales price is the least important number on the first page. What you actually net depends on five lines that FSBO sellers routinely overlook:

Paragraph 12: Settlement and Other Expenses

This is where buyer's agents quietly shift costs to you. Watch for:

• Seller-paid buyer closing costs. A request for "Seller to pay up to $X,XXX of Buyer's expenses" is a direct hit to your net. On a $325,000 San Antonio home, a $10,000 concession is real money.
• Owner's title policy. In Texas, custom in most counties (including Bexar) is that the seller pays for the owner's title policy. Standard. Leave it.
• Survey. Paragraph 6C. Either you deliver an existing survey with a T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit, or the buyer pays for a new one. Do not agree to pay for a new survey unless you have already decided to.

Paragraph 5: Earnest Money

1% of sales price is typical in Bexar County. Less than that is a weak offer. The money goes to the title company named in Paragraph 6 — not to you, and not to the buyer's agent's broker. Independence Title, Alamo Title, Texas National Title, and Stewart all handle FSBO deals routinely in San Antonio.

Paragraph 23: Option Fee and Termination Option

The buyer pays you a small fee (usually $200–$500) for an unrestricted right to terminate during an option period (commonly 5–10 days). This is where the inspection happens. A 14- or 21-day option period with a $100 fee is not a serious offer — that is a buyer buying cheap time.

Paragraph 3: Sales Price financing breakdown

Confirm the cash-down number is realistic for the loan type. A VA buyer putting zero down near Randolph is normal. A conventional buyer claiming 20% down with a $200 earnest check is not.

The commission line

If you agreed to pay the buyer's agent, the offer must reflect it — either as a separate addendum or as a seller concession. If your registration agreement said $5,000 flat and the contract says 3%, those do not match. The contract controls at closing. Fix it before you sign.

Who represents whom

The buyer's agent represents the buyer. Full stop. They owe fiduciary duty to their client, not to you. Under TREC rules, at first substantive contact they should provide you the Information About Brokerage Services (IABS) form confirming this. If they do not, ask for it.

You are unrepresented. That is legal and common. It also means no one is reviewing the contract on your behalf. Two inexpensive fixes:

• Hire a Texas real estate attorney for a flat-fee contract review. In San Antonio this runs $300–$600 and is the best money a FSBO seller spends.
• Open title early. The escrow officer at Independence or Alamo Title will flag missing signatures, mismatched legal descriptions, and addendum gaps as a matter of course. They do not give legal advice, but they catch mechanical errors.

Counteroffering without an agent

You counter on the same TREC 20-17, not a separate "counteroffer" document. Either:

• Redline the contract, initial every change, sign, and send it back. The buyer must initial each change to accept.
• Or use TREC 39-9 (Amendment) after initial acceptance for later changes.

Keep your counter tight. Change the price, change the closing date, change the option period, strike the concession, adjust the commission — each as a discrete edit. Do not rewrite paragraphs. Do not delete boilerplate you do not understand.

What most people get wrong

• Treating the buyer's agent as neutral. They are not. They will present their buyer's position as "the market." It is not the market; it is one offer. Compare it to your list price and your pricing work, not to the agent's framing.
• Agreeing to commission verbally and then seeing a different number in the contract. The written registration agreement and the contract concession must match to the dollar. If they don't, whichever document gets signed last wins.
• Signing the IABS as if it were a representation agreement. It is a disclosure, not a contract. It does not make the buyer's agent your agent.
• Accepting a low option fee for a long option period. A $100 fee for 15 days is a free look. Set a floor: $250 minimum, 7 days maximum, negotiable from there.
• Letting the buyer's agent pick the title company. Paragraph 6 names the title company. Custom in Bexar is that the party paying for the owner's policy chooses — that is you. Pick a title company you have already spoken to.
• Paying a 3% buyer-agent commission by reflex. Post-settlement, compensation is openly negotiable. On a well-priced home in 78209, 78258, or 78250, 2% or a flat fee is often accepted. Ask.
• Missing the TREC 10-7 trap. If the offer is contingent on the buyer selling their current home and you accept without a kick-out clause, you are off-market for 30–60 days with no certainty. Always require a kick-out.

After acceptance

The executed contract goes to the title company named in Paragraph 6, along with the earnest money and option fee. The option period runs from the effective date (the date the last party signs — write it in, do not leave it blank). Inspections, appraisal, and financing contingencies run in parallel. Your job between contract and closing is mostly to respond promptly to the title company's requests: HOA resale certificate (if applicable), survey and T-47, MUD notice (common in far north Bexar and Comal County spillover subdivisions), and the signed Seller's Disclosure Notice on form OP-H if you have not already delivered it.

If you want to be ready before the first offer arrives, list the home on RentInSA at /list-your-home, pull comparable listings and rentals at /rentals for price calibration, and review more FSBO walkthroughs at /resources. If at any point the contract review feels over your head, hiring a Texas real estate attorney for a one-time review is faster and cheaper than hiring a listing agent for 3%.