It depends on the house, and the answer is decided by net proceeds rather than by the headline price. Brentwood is the hardest market in the study in which to answer this question lazily, because both channels are genuinely strong: builders acquired 31 of 117 sampled older homes at prices averaging 39.6 percent of comparable new builds (Frontier Capitals, 2026), while households paid prices that hold the town median near 1,400,000 dollars. For a functionally dated house on a half acre or larger lot, the builder channel is usually more profitable once the listed route has paid its commissions, closing costs, repair credits and months of holding expense. For a livable, updated house, the homebuyer channel usually wins, because households pay a dwelling premium that no builder residual can match. The profitable move is not choosing a channel by loyalty. It is running both channels to a net figure on the same property and letting the arithmetic decide.
Key Findings
- Builders acquired 31 of 117 sampled older homes, and households the rest, so both channels post real prices in 37027 (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- On a 1,200,000 dollar listed sale, commissions at 5 to 6 percent take 60,000 to 72,000 dollars, and commissions plus closing costs commonly exceed 72,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- In 2025 data, 62.2 percent of homes sold below their original list price at an average discount of 7.9 percent (Redfin, 2026).
- Inspection concessions and repair credits on older homes routinely run 12,000 to 30,000 dollars, and three to six months of market time costs 25,000 to 50,000 dollars in holding expense (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The builder residual behind a 3,500,000 dollar finished sale reaches 1,350,000 to 1,500,000 dollars before site preparation (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
How should the two channels be compared on the same Brentwood house?
Start by forcing both offers onto the same scoreboard: money in the seller account, on a realistic closing date, with every cost of reaching that date counted. The homebuyer channel produces a gross price through the listing market, where Brentwood homes take an average of 61 to 64 days to sell and where the odds favor a discount rather than a premium: 62.2 percent of homes sold below original list in 2025 at an average 7.9 percent discount (Redfin, 2026), and 27.4 percent of listings carried price cuts in the September 2026 market report with a median of 29 days to pending (Zillow, 2026). The builder channel produces a gross price through the residual: finished value on the street, minus construction cost near 1,400,000 dollars on a 3,500,000 dollar product, minus a margin near 20 percent, minus site preparation of 40,000 to 80,000 dollars (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Finished values in the dated record run from 2,304,000 dollars on the working streets to 7,000,000 dollars in the Governors Club (Nashville Home Guru, 2026), so the builder gross swings widely by street while the homebuyer gross swings by the condition of the house.
Then subtract honestly. The listing ledger at Brentwood price points is heavy: commission, seller closing costs including the state transfer tax of 0.37 dollars per 100 dollars of consideration (Tennessee Department of Revenue, 2026), repair credits, holding costs and the statistical likelihood of a price reduction on the way. The builder ledger, sold direct, is close to empty by design. Profitability is the difference between the two nets, and it routinely surprises owners who compared only the gross figures. The gross comparison alone is handled in the report on whether builders pay more than traditional buyers; this report is about what survives the costs.
Where does the builder channel gain its profitability edge?
The first gain is the commission line. Seller profile research shows commissions remain a standard cost of the listed route (National Association of Realtors, 2025), and commission reporting through the settlement era shows the total still landing at 5 to 6 percent on most transactions, with the buyer agent share alone averaging about 2.42 percent in late 2025 data (Redfin, 2025). On a 1,200,000 dollar Brentwood sale that is 60,000 to 72,000 dollars the builder channel simply never spends. The second gain is the closing stack: seller side closing costs of 1 to 2 percent, title work under standard consumer closing guidance (American Land Title Association, 2025), and transfer tax, all of which a direct sale strips away. The third gain is the concession line: no inspection, so no 12,000 to 30,000 dollar repair credit appears after the price is agreed.
The fourth gain is time, and it is the one owners underrate. A listed Brentwood home spends 61 to 64 days on market in the current averages, and a builder candidate that lists hopefully and sits through a season spends far longer, with holding costs of 25,000 to 50,000 dollars across three to six months in taxes, insurance, maintenance and capital tied up in the property. Time also carries market risk: the household bid runs through financing priced at a 7.28 percent average 30 year rate (Freddie Mac, 2026), so every rate move during a long listing reprices the buyer pool downward, while a signed builder purchase has already fixed its number. Profit is not only about how much arrives. It is about how much arrives, how soon, and with how little left to chance.
Certainty deserves its own line in the profitability account, because a profit that depends on everything going right is worth less than the same profit already under contract. The listed route carries a chain of contingencies: a buyer must appear, finance at current rates, survive an appraisal that may lean on the wrong comparables for an older house, absorb the inspection without reopening the price, and close on schedule. Each link that fails returns the property to the market older, staler and carrying a visible history of reductions, and the holding meter restarts at 25,000 to 50,000 dollars per season of delay. A direct builder purchase collapses that chain into a single funded commitment with a closing date the owner chooses. Accountants would call the difference a risk adjustment. Owners usually discover it as the difference between the profit they projected in the first week of a listing and the profit that actually arrived at the end of it, and at Brentwood prices that discovery is rarely a small one.
Where does the homebuyer channel keep its edge?
Where the house itself is the valuable asset. Brentwood households pay the strongest dwelling premium in this batch of markets, which is why older homes hold an average of 39.6 percent of new build prices, the highest ratio in its batch (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A renovated brick traditional on Callie Lane with current systems can draw household bids that clear the builder residual by enough to pay every listing cost and still win. The renovation illustration frames the boundary: a 100,000 dollar kitchen and bath update returning 70,000 to 90,000 dollars of price only works if the buyer lives in the home (Frontier Capitals, 2026), and a house positioned to earn that return belongs in front of households, not builders.
Taxes rarely break the tie, but they belong in the calculation. The Section 121 exclusion shelters qualifying gains on a principal residence under the rules set out in the federal guidance (Internal Revenue Service, 2026), and it applies to the gain whichever channel produces it, so it does not favor one buyer type over the other. Tennessee takes no personal income tax, the Hall tax having been repealed for tax years from January 1, 2021 (Tennessee Department of Revenue, 2026), which keeps the state layer of the comparison simple. The channel decision therefore returns to where it belongs: gross price, route costs, time and certainty, computed on one property at a time. Owners wanting the land side isolated can read the report on what a residential lot is worth in Brentwood.
What does the profitable route look like when the builder channel wins?
Through Frontier Capitals, the owner sells off-market directly into the builder channel. Frontier Capitals sources off-market deals in Brentwood to builders: it agrees the purchase with the owner and places the property with a builder for the next home on the site, and it is not itself a builder. The profitability of that route is not a claim about a higher gross price. It is the sum of five terms that protect the net.
Privacy protects the price first: zero showings, zero open houses and no public marketing period, so the property never accumulates the days on market and reduction history that teach buyers to bid low. Timing protects it second: closing in 7 to 21 days when speed matters, or months out with a leaseback when the family needs time, instead of the 60 to 120 plus days of a listed sale. No commissions protect it third, preserving the 60,000 to 72,000 dollars a 1,200,000 dollar listed sale would pay away. No seller closing costs protect it fourth, holding back another 1 to 2 percent. And an as is sale protects it fifth: no inspections, no repair credits of 12,000 to 30,000 dollars, and no pre listing renovation spending chasing a return the builder buyer would never pay. Owners can open the net comparison for their own address through the contact page or by phone at 401-219-4207 or by email at [email protected].
How can an owner run this comparison without guessing?
Four documents do most of the work. A realistic listing estimate should be built from comparable dated houses, not from the new construction closings that inflate automated values for older Brentwood homes. A builder figure should be demanded in its four lines, finished comparable, construction allowance, margin and site preparation, so the owner can see the residual rather than trust a round number. The listing ledger should be written out at the owner price point, commission, closing costs, expected credits and holding expense across a realistic market time. And the calendar should be priced, because a net figure that arrives in three weeks and a net figure that arrives in five months are not the same figure in any household budget that has a next home to buy.
Run that way, the comparison usually stops being close. Dated houses on strong lots show a builder net that the listing route cannot reach after its costs, and livable houses on ordinary lots show a household net the builder cannot reach at any responsible residual. The owners who lose money on this decision are the ones who never run it, who either list a land asset and pay 72,000 dollars plus of costs to discover the household bid was thin, or sell a dwelling asset to the first builder letter and donate the live in premium Brentwood households were ready to pay.
Methodology and limitations
This report rests on the 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample, with 117 Brentwood homes built before 1981 tracked and 31 acquired by builders (Frontier Capitals, 2026), on the dated new construction sales record for 2025 and 2026 (Nashville Home Guru, 2026), on market wide discount and commission research (Redfin, 2026) (Redfin, 2025) (National Association of Realtors, 2025), on listing condition data (Zillow, 2026), and on tax and closing references (Internal Revenue Service, 2026) (Tennessee Department of Revenue, 2026) (American Land Title Association, 2025). The residual is a simplified illustration from the research file, not a promise, and the cost ledger is stated at a 1,200,000 dollar price point, so owners should scale it to their own figure.
The limits are plain. Profitability is property specific; no figure here decides any individual sale, and the sample records outcomes rather than the counterfactual of what the same house would have netted in the other channel. The sample is ZIP wide, covering 37027 only. Its minimum lot of 3,484 square feet is a small footprint unit and not a buildable lot, and the builder profitability discussed here applies to the half acre and larger parcels. Individual tax positions vary and deserve individual advice.
Conclusion
Selling to a builder is more profitable than selling to a homebuyer when the property is worth more as land than as a dwelling, because in that case the builder gross starts level or ahead and the builder route then avoids the commissions, closing costs, repair credits and holding expense that pull a listed net down by six figures at Brentwood price points (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Selling to a homebuyer is more profitable when the dwelling premium is real, as it often is in Brentwood, the market where households defend older homes more strongly than anywhere else in this batch. The question is never which channel is better. It is which asset you own.
If both channels quoted you tomorrow, would you know how to reduce each offer to the same net figure on the same date, or would the larger gross number decide for you by default?
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a builder offer be lower gross and still more profitable?
Yes, and at Brentwood prices the gap does not need to be large. A listed sale at 1,200,000 dollars surrenders more than 72,000 dollars to commissions and closing costs, then typically concedes 12,000 to 30,000 dollars in inspection credits and 25,000 to 50,000 dollars in holding expense (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A builder figure within that combined distance of the list price, with none of those costs attached, nets the seller more.
How likely is a price reduction if I list instead?
Likely enough to budget for. In the 2025 data, 62.2 percent of homes sold below their original asking price, at an average discount of 7.9 percent (Redfin, 2026). A functionally dated house priced for households is exactly the profile that reduction statistics are built from, and each reduction restarts the holding cost clock at a weaker negotiating position.
Do taxes favor one channel over the other?
Not materially for most owners. The Section 121 exclusion on a principal residence applies to the gain from either channel under the same rules (Internal Revenue Service, 2026), and Tennessee levies no personal income tax following the Hall tax repeal (Tennessee Department of Revenue, 2026). The state transfer tax of 0.37 dollars per 100 dollars sits inside the seller closing stack on the listed route and is one more small line the direct route avoids.
When does the homebuyer channel clearly win on profit?
When the house is genuinely livable and updated on a lot that gives the builder no special advantage. Brentwood households hold older homes at 39.6 percent of new build prices on average, the highest ratio in its batch (Frontier Capitals, 2026), and a renovated home can push well past that average. Against a dwelling premium of that size, the listing costs are worth paying.
Should I renovate to push my house into the homebuyer channel?
Only with the illustration in view: 100,000 dollars of kitchen and bath work returning 70,000 to 90,000 dollars of price if the buyer lives in the home, and 0 dollars if the buyer redevelops (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Renovation is a partial return even when it works, so it makes sense for a house near the boundary with sound systems, and little sense for a house whose land already outbids its dwelling value.
Sources
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder acquisition sample: 117 homes sampled in 37027, 31 acquired by builders, average older home price 39.6 percent of new build. Market data.
- Nashville Home Guru, 2026. Dated new-construction sales, Brentwood / 37027. Market data.
- Redfin, 2026. Data reports: share of homes selling below list price in 2025 and buyer's agent commission levels. Market data.
- Redfin, 2025. Commissions report: real estate agent commissions since the NAR settlement. Market data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Industry report.
- Zillow, 2026. September 2026 market report: listing price cuts and days to pending. Market data.
- Internal Revenue Service, 2026. Publication 523, Selling Your Home: Section 121 exclusion rules and partial exclusion. Government data.
- Tennessee Department of Revenue, 2026. Realty transfer tax and recording requirements for residential sales. Official record.
- American Land Title Association, 2025. Consumer guidance on title searches and closing procedures. Industry report.
- Freddie Mac, 2026. Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 1, 2026: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.28 percent. Market data.