We attended an interesting conference for Realtors by Steve Shull of Performance coaching.

Steve made the point that Listing agents should charge more money for their services than Buyer's agents because not only were they instrumental in getting the home to the market, but also they were taking the upfront financial risk of paying for the marketing of the home.

He suggested a typical commission split of 6%, with 2.5% going to the buyer's agent and 3.5% going to the seller's agent.

Of course, such a scheme can only be convincing for sellers if the Realtor is able to present powerful examples of their marketing with gorgeous photography at its core.

On a typical $500k home, that extra .5% means and extra $2,500 commission, and we think $2,500 is well worth the couple hundred dollars invested in professional photography.