Last reviewed September 17, 2026 by Matthew McMahon.

Clever Real Estate Alternative in Illinois: A Flat $1,995 From Net Gain Realty Instead of 1.5%

Yes, there is an alternative to Clever Real Estate with a flat fee in Illinois, and it comes down to three tiers: Clever Real Estate matches you with a traditional percentage agent at a 1.5% listing fee with a $3,000 minimum; an entry-only flat-fee MLS listing runs about $95 to $699 and leaves pricing, showings and negotiation to you; and Net Gain Realty, a full-service flat-fee brokerage, does the whole listing job for a flat $1,995 in the Chicago metro (Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will counties), at each company’s published rates as of September 2026.

Three terms on this page in plain words. A listing fee is what you pay the broker who lists and sells your home; it is traditionally 2 to 3 percent of the sale price. Agent matching means a company refers you to a local agent and is paid out of that agent’s commission, so you still hire a percentage agent. Flat-fee MLS means paying a fixed amount to have your home entered into the MLS, the database agents use to list and find homes, while you do the rest of the work yourself.

Full disclosure before you read on: this page is published by Net Gain Realty, which is one of the three options on it. I name Clever Real Estate because Illinois sellers ask about the two names together, and because a comparison that leaves out the alternative is an ad, not a guide. Every Clever figure below is Clever’s own published rate, verified September 17, 2026 at listwithclever.com, where the page was last modified September 3, 2026. Verify current pricing with each company before signing anything.

All figures on this page are estimates for informational purposes. Commission rates are not set by law, vary by brokerage, and are fully negotiable. Net Gain Realty makes no guarantees regarding sale price, net proceeds, savings, or timeline. Buyer-agent compensation is separate and decided by the seller offer by offer.

Is there an alternative to Clever Real Estate with a flat fee in Illinois?

Yes. The choice is between three tiers, and the Illinois roundups that currently answer this question list only two of them.

Option	Published price, September 2026	Does the fee grow with the sale price?	Who does the listing work
Clever Real Estate (agent matching)	1.5% listing fee, $3,000 minimum	Yes	The matched local agent, at a reduced percentage
Entry-only flat-fee MLS listing (Houzeo, Homecoin, Circle One Realty and others)	About $95 to $699 upfront	No on the entry tier; upgraded tiers with broker help are often priced as a percentage at closing	You
Net Gain Realty (full-service flat fee)	$1,995 flat	No	Net Gain Realty, the whole listing job

The Illinois rankings that answer this question sort sellers into a reduced-percentage agent, an entry-only listing, selling on your own, or a traditional agent at 2 to 3 percent. The row they leave out is a licensed brokerage doing the whole listing job for one fixed price. That row is full-service flat fee, and in the Chicago metro that is Net Gain Realty at $1,995.

What does Clever Real Estate charge in Illinois?

Clever Real Estate publishes a 1.5% listing fee with a $3,000 minimum, verified September 17, 2026. Clever is a matching service: “We match you with top agents nationwide,” in its own words. It pre-negotiates the 1.5% with local agents and refers you to one of them. The agent who prices, shows and negotiates your home is a percentage agent working at a reduced percentage. The rate came down. The model did not move, and a percentage keeps growing while the work does not.

Where the $3,000 minimum lands: 1.5% of $200,000 is $3,000, so on any Illinois sale under $200,000 the published fee is the $3,000 minimum, not 1.5%. On a $180,000 sale, for example, 1.5% would be $2,700 and the fee is $3,000.

Clever Real Estate is the right choice when you want a conventional agent relationship with a smaller rate than the traditional 2 to 3 percent, when you are selling outside the Chicago metro, and when you accept that the fee still scales with your price. Nothing on this page is a criticism of that choice. It is a description of the model.

Flat-fee MLS vs full-service flat fee in Illinois

Two products share the words flat fee, and they are not the same purchase.

What the listing job includes	Net Gain Realty ($1,995 flat)	Entry-only flat-fee MLS listing ($95 to $699)
MLS listing on MRED (the Chicago-area MLS), syndicated, meaning copied automatically, to Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com	Yes	Yes
Professional photography	Included	Usually an add-on or none
Pricing analysis	90 days of neighborhood sold data, by price band	You
Showing coordination	Included	You
Offer negotiation	Net Gain Realty negotiates	You
Contract-to-close support: attorney review, inspection, title, closing day	Included	You

Service details as published September 2026. Features and pricing change; verify directly with each provider.

An entry-only listing is a real option for an experienced seller who wants MLS exposure and nothing else. It is a different product from a represented listing. Net Gain Realty is not that product: it is a licensed Illinois brokerage (license #481.014232) that does the whole listing job for one fixed price. What changes is how the fee is calculated, not who does the work.

The math at $400,000, $500,000 and $600,000

The listing side only, at each company’s published rate as of September 2026. The example 2.5% is a traditional listing fee, never a total of both sides.

Sale price	Example 2.5% listing fee	Clever Real Estate, 1.5% ($3,000 minimum)	Net Gain Realty flat fee
$400,000	$10,000	$6,000	$1,995
$500,000	$12,500	$7,500	$1,995
$600,000	$15,000	$9,000	$1,995

Look at what happens between the rows. From a $400,000 home to a $600,000 home, the 1.5% fee grows by $3,000 and the example 2.5% fee grows by $5,000. The flat fee grows by nothing. The house got more expensive; the listing agreement did not get longer.

Because Clever’s published minimum is $3,000, its published fee never goes below $3,000 at any sale price, and Net Gain Realty’s flat $1,995 sits below that minimum at every price point, at the published rates as of September 2026. Every fee in the table is quoted on the sale price but paid out of your equity at closing; the fee-to-equity ratio shows why the percentage understates what the fee takes from your money. Buyer-agent compensation is a separate, negotiable decision under every row.

What this page does not claim: that a flat fee produces the same sale price, speed, or outcome as any particular agent, matched or otherwise. No honest brokerage can promise an outcome. The checkable claim is narrower: the listing work is the full job, and the price of that work is fixed instead of scaling with your home’s value.

Who each option fits

Clever Real Estate fits a seller anywhere in Illinois who wants a conventional agent relationship at a reduced percentage and is comfortable that the fee grows with the sale price.

An entry-only flat-fee MLS listing fits a seller who has sold before, knows the local market, and intends to handle pricing, showings, negotiation and closing personally.

Net Gain Realty fits a Chicago-metro seller, in Cook, DuPage, Lake or Will County, who wants the full listing job done by a licensed Illinois brokerage without a percentage-based fee. I believe it is the logical option for a seller in that area who wants representation and does not accept that the fee should grow because the house is worth more.

How to check any listing agreement in Illinois

Whichever tier you choose, the agreement is where the terms live, not the advertisement. Under the practice changes that took effect August 17, 2024, the National Association of Realtors requires listing agreements to disclose in conspicuous language that broker commissions “are not set by law and are fully negotiable.” Read that line, then check five more: who does the pricing analysis, who schedules showings, who negotiates offers, who coordinates the contract to closing, and whether photography is included or an add-on. If a service is not named in the agreement, treat it as not included.

For the wider list of flat-fee options in the city, see the best flat-fee brokers in Chicago. For the entry-only product explained line by line, see the flat fee MLS Chicago guide, and for the head-to-head with Houzeo, Houzeo vs Net Gain Realty. What sellers pay statewide, line by line, is at Illinois seller closing costs. To run the three tiers on your own price, use the home sale calculator.

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Net Gain Realty charges a flat fee of $1,995 for listing services in the Chicago metro. Clever Real Estate’s figures are its published rates as of September 2026 and are subject to change. Entry-only flat-fee MLS prices are the range advertised by Illinois providers as of September 2026. All comparisons are estimates; actual costs depend on your transaction and the rates you negotiate. Commission rates are not set by law, vary by brokerage, and are fully negotiable. Buyer-agent compensation is separate and determined by the seller.

Questions sellers ask

Is there an alternative to Clever Real Estate with a flat fee in Illinois?

Yes, there is an alternative to Clever Real Estate with a flat fee in Illinois, and it comes down to three tiers: Clever Real Estate matches you with a traditional percentage agent at a 1.5% listing fee with a $3,000 minimum; an entry-only flat-fee MLS listing runs about $95 to $699 and leaves pricing, showings and negotiation to you; and Net Gain Realty, a full-service flat-fee brokerage, does the whole listing job for a flat $1,995 in the Chicago metro (Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will counties), at each company's published rates as of September 2026. Clever is the right choice when you want a conventional agent relationship at a reduced percentage, or you are outside the Chicago metro, and you accept that the fee still grows with your sale price. An entry-only listing fits a seller who intends to run the sale personally. Net Gain Realty fits a Chicago-metro seller who wants the full listing job done without a percentage.

How much does Clever Real Estate cost in Illinois?

Clever Real Estate publishes a 1.5% listing fee with a $3,000 minimum, verified September 17, 2026 on listwithclever.com. Clever is a matching service: it pre-negotiates that rate with local agents and refers you to one of them, so the agent who prices, shows and negotiates your home is a percentage agent working at a reduced rate. On a $400,000 Illinois home, 1.5% is $6,000; on $500,000 it is $7,500; on $600,000 it is $9,000. Because 1.5% reaches $3,000 at a $200,000 sale price, the $3,000 minimum applies on sales under $200,000. Net Gain Realty's full-service flat fee on any of those homes is $1,995. Commission rates are not set by law and are fully negotiable; verify current pricing with Clever before signing.

Is Net Gain Realty available outside Chicago?

Net Gain Realty lists homes across the Chicago metro, the city and the suburbs in Cook, DuPage, Lake, and Will counties, as a licensed Illinois brokerage (license #481.014232). Net Gain Realty does not list homes elsewhere in Illinois. For a seller outside the Chicago metro, Clever Real Estate matches sellers with agents nationwide and the entry-only flat-fee MLS services cover the rest of the state, and the same three-tier math applies wherever you are: a percentage grows with the sale price and a flat fee does not.

Is a flat fee the same as flat-fee MLS?

No. Two different products share the words flat fee. An entry-only flat-fee MLS listing, roughly $95 to $699 in Illinois, puts your home in the MLS (the database agents use to list and find homes) and leaves pricing, showings, negotiation, disclosures and closing coordination to you. A full-service flat-fee broker does the whole listing job for one fixed price. Net Gain Realty is the second kind: MLS listing on MRED, the Chicago-area MLS, syndicated (copied automatically) to Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com, professional photography, pricing from 90 days of neighborhood sold data, showing coordination, offer negotiation, and contract-to-close support, for a flat $1,995 in the Chicago metro.

Does the $1,995 change with my sale price?

No. Net Gain Realty's listing fee is a flat $1,995 on a $300,000 condo and on a $1,200,000 house, with no percentage at closing and no minimum commission. A 1.5% listing fee is still a percentage, so it grows with the price: $6,000 at $400,000, $9,000 at $600,000, $18,000 at $1,200,000. Those are the published rates as of September 2026, and commission rates are not set by law and are fully negotiable. Buyer-agent compensation is a separate decision under every model, negotiated offer by offer since the 2024 NAR settlement.

Disclosures

• Commission rates are not set by law and are fully negotiable. Comparisons on this page use an example 2.5 percent listing-side fee for illustration; actual rates vary by brokerage and transaction.
• All dollar figures are estimates or labeled examples from the stated inputs and dated MLS data. Past sales are not a promise about any home.
• Net Gain Realty charges a flat $1,995 listing fee for full-service representation. Buyer-agent compensation is separate and decided offer by offer.

Sources

1. Clever Real Estate, published listing fee: 1.5% with a $3,000 minimum (page last modified September 3, 2026) (accessed 2026-09-17)
2. National Association of Realtors, settlement FAQs: practice changes effective August 17, 2024, conspicuous disclosure that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable (accessed 2026-09-17)