Why Traditional Agents Push Back Against Discount Real Estate Models

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

14 Nov 2025

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Discount brokerages face strong resistance from traditional real estate agents, a conflict that goes beyond simple competition, according to David Corbitt, broker at 1 Percent Lists First Coast. Corbitt described a deep divide in the industry when established agents are confronted with lower-commission models.

“For the real estate community, they hate us. They think we’re going to ruin the market. They think that we’re the worst thing out there, because, again, they’re only looking at their bottom line. They’re not looking at the buyer or the seller’s bottom line,” Corbitt said.

Corbitt has seen this hostility firsthand. Even as agents benefit from rising home prices and improved splits with their brokerages, he said, they resist passing any savings to clients.

“It’s funny, because all the agents are making more and they’re paying their brokerage less, but they’re not helping the home buyer or the home seller. They’re pretty much getting the same thing they’ve been getting, even though the sales price goes up, the brokerage splits go up. Agents are making more money, but they’re not willing to give any of that money to the buyer or the seller,” he said.

Corbitt’s perspective comes from outside the real estate industry. After 27 years as a personal trainer at a high-end Jacksonville oceanfront club, he moved into real estate and quickly noticed contradictions in how consumers approach real estate transactions compared to other major financial decisions.

Corbitt’s franchise, 1 Percent Lists, uses a flat 1 percent listing fee as a key advantage over traditional brokerages. “With the 1 percent, it allows us to at least get our foot in the door, and then after we get our foot in the door, we’re able to provide them with the marketing that we’re going to do, everything that we’re going to do, all for 1 percent versus whatever everybody else charges.”

This approach is particularly appealing in Jacksonville Beach, where the median sale price is about $677,000. The 1 percent fee saves sellers roughly $13,000 compared to the standard 3 percent commission.

Yet Corbitt points out that many consumers still choose agents based on relationships and referrals rather than cost. “Real estate is really a relationship business. A lot of people use the realtor they’ve used before, or use the realtor that they get referred to from a friend. If people would shop Realtors as much as they shop mortgage rates, we would really be too busy.”

He notes the contradiction: “People will prioritize relationships over commissions. People wait years to get a mortgage rate that’s 1 percent less, but they’ll pay an extra 2 percent just—I don’t understand it, but that’s where it is.”

Despite pushback from traditional agents, Corbitt’s business is growing. “I’ve talked to several agents lately, and they keep telling me they’re having some struggles, they’re having some issues. They’re not doing as well as last year, versus us. We’re booming past last year.”

Recent changes, such as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) commission settlement, have also shifted seller expectations. Corbitt explained, “It has changed a lot with the way we approach sellers. We do not offer the buyers’ commission. The seller does, and it’s up to the seller for what they want to offer, even if they want to offer a commission.”

When questioned about service quality on a discounted fee, Corbitt stresses operational efficiency rather than cost-cutting. “Sometimes you’ve been overpaying. You just didn’t know it. We don’t have a lot of overhead. We keep all our costs to a minimum. That’s the only way you can do it. You have to keep everything cheap as far as your back office.”

Corbitt believes that the resistance from traditional agents is a sign that discount models pose a real threat to established pricing structures. Rather than dismissing the model, he says, traditional agents recognize that lower-commission brokerages are changing the competitive landscape in real estate.