The Anderson County Commissioner's Court voted Dec. 30 to engage Landmark Realty to broker the sale of the county Civic Center property, approving a 1.5% seller-side listing commission.

Christy Scroggins of Landmark Realty told the court her firm would invest in upfront marketing — drone photos, commercial video and LoopNet listings — and said "It's 1.5 for marketing and negotiating," describing the 1.5 percent as the listing-side compensation she was proposing. Commissioners discussed whether to set a fixed buyer-agent percentage; Scroggins recommended flexibility and suggested 2% as a fair buyer-agent starting point while noting all amounts can be negotiated in any given offer.

The judge and commissioners asked about marketing spend, listing distribution to larger MLS markets and the possibility of capping total commission paid from sale proceeds. Commissioners also noted the minimum asking price discussed at the meeting was $600,000: at that minimum, 1.5% would equal $9,000 in seller-paid listing compensation.

The court approved Landmark Realty’s proposal by voice vote (motion by Commissioner Dixon; second by Commissioner Hill), authorizing the county to proceed with Landmark as listing broker and allowing negotiation of buyer-agent compensation at the time offers arrive.

Next steps were not enumerated in detail at the meeting; the court will receive offers and any negotiated compensation terms as individual proposals and approve them as required under county contracting procedures.