I am going to sell my house and the real estate agent I was planning on using sent over her contract today. The broker's compensation is listed at 6% of the sales price and the authority to cooperate and compensate other brokers 2.5% of the sales price. Does this mean I'm paying 8.5% in commission to both agents? Or does it mean I'm paying 3.5% to the selling agent and 2.5% to the buyers agent? What is the standard? Should I not be offering any payment to the buying agent and let them negotiate for it? This is my first house sale so I appreciate the guidance. Thanks.
Posted by makeamericask8again
5 Comments
No standard. Agreement would be 6 percent and then they are discussing how they split that 6 percent up with a cooperating broker. Offering comp to buyer broker with appropriate offer is a fine way to do it and you can tell your agent / broker that you’d like to do that.
This would likely mean 6% total, 3.5% and 2.5%.
I like the idea of having a buyer and their agent negotiate their side of compensation. It’s all negotiable and varies between agents.
What market are you in?
Commissions are negotiable. I’d push back requiring clear language showing 2.5% to the listing broker and 2.5% to a buyer broker, and 4.5% to the listing broker if that broker acts as a dual agent (procures a buyer directly not represented by a buyer broker) if its allowed in your state.
Try for 2.25 and don’t put in buyers fee. That is negotiable depending on offer. Maybe you don’t pay for buyers agent at all despite realtors saying “ it is standard” or “customary” to do so. They just want to make it easy on themselves and have buyers realtors work harder. Look at the total offer amount and if it is above what you wanted, maybe you consider paying buyers realtor. Maybe not. No need to already agree to paying them. You also may get an unrepresented buyer who asks for nothing! It’s possible. And try for 2.25 which is the going rate in many places. Realtor does no more work for 1 million house versus 200k. If you list for a lot, lower that percentage
Ask your agent to clarify. Broker fees are not fixed. Requested buyer compensation is included in an offer that is presented.