How buyers and sellers navigate homebuying’s seismic shakeup

When Dana McMahan sold her home this spring, she decided to try to maximize her take-home profit by skipping out on the help of a full-service Realtor.

Traditionally, home sellers in the US have been responsible for paying real estate commissions. The standard 5% or 6% commission was usually split between the seller’s broker and the buyer’s broker, referred to as cooperative compensation.

“I think it’s safe to say that for quite some time I’ve really not felt like it was fair for...