The part of a tiered commission where the tier actually paid

I sold the condo I'd lived in for nine years to fund the thing I'm slowly building. Because I read everything twice, I asked all three agents whether they'd do a tiered structure and two of them said no.

What we signed: 2.25% on the first $400,000, 3.5% on anything above $400,000. Term of 90 days. Seller-paid buyer-agent compensation authorized in writing at 2%, communicated by phone and on the brokerage site rather than in the MLS, which is how it works in my market now.

1,050 square foot two bed in a 42-unit building, elevator, one deeded garage space, HOA $415 a month with a special assessment for the roof that had two years left to run at $88 a month.

Comps in the building over 18 months: $381k, $389k, $394k, $402k for the one with a renovated kitchen. Mine had the original kitchen and a better view.

Listed $412,000. Sold $427,000 after two offers went at each other over a weekend.

The commission math: 2.25% on 400 is $9,000, 3.5% on the $27,000 above is $945. Total $9,945, which is 2.33% of the sale. A flat 2.5% would have been $10,675. So the tier saved me $730 and, more to the point, it meant my agent had a real reason to push past $412 instead of taking the first clean offer at $409.

The part that nearly broke it: the special assessment. First buyer's lender flagged the reserve study and asked for the HOA's roof contract before it would clear the building. That took eleven days and the buyer's rate lock had ten left on it. My agent got the HOA management company on the phone twice a day until the documents landed. I would not have known to do that.

What I'd keep: the tier, and asking for it before the pricing conversation instead of after. What I'd change: I'd have pulled the HOA reserve study and the assessment paperwork myself before listing rather than discovering the gap during underwriting.