The Sold For Top Dollar Guarantee, Explained Line by Line

Every guarantee in real estate sounds great on a postcard and gets complicated in the fine print. I know, because I'm Jeremy Fishnick and I put one on my own postcards. So rather than let you wonder what the catch is, I'm going to walk through my Sold For Top Dollar Guarantee one clause at a time, including the parts that limit it. If you still have questions at the end, call me and I'll answer them.

Short answer: If I list your home and it sells for less than the original agreed list price, I pay you the difference out of my commission, up to 1% of that original list price. Price reductions don't lower the benchmark, and it's measured on the gross contract price, so seller credits don't count against you. It's approved by my brokerage, LPT Realty.

The guarantee, in one sentence

Here's the plain-language version: your home sells at the original agreed list price, or I pay the difference, capped at 1% of that list price.

Now let's take that apart.

"Original agreed list price"

This is the price you and I agree on when we sign the listing contract. Not a number you picked off Zillow, and not a number I threw out to win the listing. It's the result of a real pricing conversation using comparable sales, the way an appraiser would approach it. I wrote about how I get to that number in pricing a home to create competition.

This matters because the guarantee only works if the price is realistic. If I agreed to list every house at whatever the seller hoped for, I'd be writing checks every month. So the guarantee forces discipline on both of us: you get a price I'm willing to stand behind, and I get a seller who understands the price is a strategy, not a wish.

"Or I pay the difference"

If the home closes for less than that original list price, I pay you the gap at closing, out of my commission. This isn't a separate insurance product or a third party. It's my money. That's the whole point: it puts my compensation on the same side of the table as your sale price.

"Capped at 1% of that list price"

Here's the limit, and I'd rather you hear it from me than find it in a footnote. The most I'll pay under the guarantee is 1% of the original agreed list price. On a hypothetical $240,000 listing, that's $2,400. If the home sold for $235,000, I'd pay you $2,400, not the full $5,000 shortfall.

Why a cap? Because I'm an agent, not a bank. Without a cap, a market shift or a buyer who gets cold feet could cost me more than I earn on the sale. With a cap, I can offer the guarantee on every listing and keep it simple. One percent is also roughly the range where a seller starts to feel a shortfall, so the guarantee is meaningful without being reckless.

"Price reductions do not reset the benchmark"

This is the clause that separates a real guarantee from a marketing gimmick. Some agents offer a "sell at list price" promise and then quietly reduce the list price until the house sells, at which point the home technically sold at list. That's not a guarantee. That's a shell game.

Under mine, the benchmark is the original agreed list price. If we later decide together to reduce the price, the guarantee still measures against the number we started with. If I recommend a reduction, I'm doing it knowing it could cost me. That keeps me from using reductions as an easy out.

"Measured on gross contract price"

In Wisconsin, buyers often ask for a seller credit toward closing costs or repairs as part of the WB-11 Residential Offer to Purchase. Suppose a buyer offers full list price but asks for a $4,000 credit. Does that count as selling below list?

Under my guarantee, no. I measure against the gross contract price, which is the number on the accepted offer, not the net you walk away with after credits. I set it up this way because credits are a negotiating tool that often helps a deal come together, and I didn't want the guarantee to discourage you from using one. You should still talk to your title company or attorney about how credits affect your proceeds, but they don't trip the guarantee.

What's not covered

The guarantee is tied to a traditional listing with me, so it applies to the sale that closes under that listing agreement. The benchmark is the one number we agreed to at the start, and the payment is capped at 1% of it. Beyond that, the exact wording lives in the listing paperwork, and I'll go through every line of it with you before you sign anything. If a situation comes up that the paperwork doesn't clearly address, ask me, and I'll give you a plain answer rather than a shrug.

How often does it come into play?

Not often, and that's by design. My launch process is built to produce competition: list on Thursday, showings Friday through Sunday, review offers Monday, with postcards to the surrounding neighborhoods, a 3D walkthrough, and a Zillow showcase listing all hitting at the same time. In the Platteville sale that beat the local market record, multiple offers pushed the price above list with no contingencies. The guarantee never came up because the strategy worked.

But markets move, and sometimes a house that priced right in April is a little heavy by July. When that happens, the guarantee is there. You shouldn't bear the whole cost of a pricing call I helped make.

Why bother offering it at all?

Because the thing sellers fear most is hiring an agent who talks big and then shrugs when the house sits. The guarantee is my way of saying I'll share the consequences. It pairs with my $0 cancellation policy: if the price is wrong, I pay; if the effort is wrong, you leave. Between the two, you're not stuck.

Both commitments are approved by LPT Realty and apply to every traditional listing I take in Lancaster, Platteville, Cuba City, Boscobel, Dodgeville, and the rest of southwest Wisconsin.

Talk to Jeremy

If you're thinking about selling and want a price I'm willing to put my commission behind, call or text Jeremy Fishnick at 608-732-2564 or email [email protected]. You can read more about how I sell homes at fishnickrealty.com. I'll bring the comps, you bring the questions.