Question Every Home Buyer Should Ask: How Much Are Real Estate Commissions?

How much do real estate agents get paid to sell a house? It depends. Real estate commissions are negotiable.

 

[Video Transcript]

Hey all Zach MacDonald, your real estate agent with Real Property Associates, and today’s question that every home buyer should ask is, how much is a real estate commission? I don’t get this question asked very often. I’d think that would happen more often. Buyers … I think buyers know in general that a listing firm is paying the commission. Essentially what happens is the seller hires an agent, and their firm to list and sell their house, and then as part of that marketing the seller’s agent, or the listing agent, will share or split a part of the commission with the buyer’s agent and their firm.

The general commission is around six percent. So five, six percent. It used to be more like eight, 10 %, right? And so the larger the dollar amounts, usually the smaller the commissions, but if you’re in a more general price bracket you’re going to see somewhere between five to six percent commission if you’re selling your house, depending on who it is.

Some companies will do it for less and the question is, if you’re thinking about selling, is more “Okay, what am I getting for less?” If you’re getting the same thing, great. Good for you. And if you’re a buyer you don’t really need to be super concerned with that, but you should know and be educated. Your agents firm is going to be making two and half to three percent on the purchase price, whatever that purchase price is, they’re going to be essentially grossing that much in commission dollars.

So, that’s it.