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Many real estate buyers and sellers don’t understand exactly who pays the real estate agent involved in the transaction. To understand who pays real estate commissions—whether it’s sellers or buyers or both—first take a look at how real estate agents are paid and how they share cooperating commissions. Don’t worry if you don’t know how commissions work because I’ve had clients who didn’t know, and it involves a bit of complexity, commission splits and other details that might not be disclosed during the transaction.

How Real Estate Commissions Work

• Real estate agents work for a real estate broker.
• All fees paid to a real estate agent must first pass through the broker.
• Only a real estate broker can pay a real estate commission and sign a listing agreement with a seller.

How Are Real Estate Agents Compensated by the Broker?

Commission divisions vary. New agents can receive as little as 30 percent to 40 percent of the total commission received by the brokerage. From that amount, other fees may be deducted such as advertising, sign rentals or office expenses. Top-producing agents might receive 100 percent and pay the broker a desk fee. Everybody else falls somewhere in between.

Listing Agent Fees

The most common type of listing agreement between a seller and her agent gives that agent’s broker the right to exclusively market the home. In return for bringing a buyer to the table, the seller agrees to pay a commission to the broker. Typically, this fee is represented as a percentage of the sales price and is shared between the listing broker and the broker who brings the buyer.

Co-Brokerage Splits

Divisions of fees among brokers are not always fair or equal, just like life. For example, a seller could sign a listing agreement for seven apples that stipulates the listing broker will receive four apples and will co-broker three apples to the selling broker. It’s not always a 50/50 split. In a buyer’s market, sellers might want to consider asking the broker to give a larger percentage to the buyer’s broker. In a seller’s market, the buyer’s broker might receive less, and no set formula exists.

Most divisions of the commission are locally based. In some parts of the country, it is very common for a listing agent to make more than the buyer’s agent. Be sure to ask about your local custom. The problem with co-brokerage fees is not necessarily whether to pay more to the buyer’s agent than it is to make sure buyer’s agents are not paid less than the local custom.

Seller Pays the Buyer’s Commission

Under a Buyer’s Broker arrangement, the named brokerage and agent represent the buyer. The fee paid to the broker is most commonly paid by the seller. Some buyer broker agreements contain clauses that will compensate the brokerage for the fee it is due less the amount paid by the seller. For example, a cooperating listing might offer to pay a broker a smaller portion of the sales price, whereas the brokerage operates at fees that are a higher percentage. The difference of, say, half an apple, could be paid by the buyer if the broker chooses not to waive that amount.

Buyer Pays the Commission Directly

The seller is not obligated, under most listing agreements, to compensate the listing broker for more than the listing side’s portion of the commission. Often sales prices are reduced to reflect the amount the buyer is paying. Sellers can also credit the buyer the commission and the buyer, in turn, credits the brokerage.

Who Pays the Real Estate Commission?

It can be argued and, quite rightfully so, that the buyer always pays the commission. Why? Because it’s typically part of the sales price. If the seller did not sign an agreement to pay a commission, the sales price might have been lowered. And therein lies the appeal of buying homes through unrepresented sellers because, given the same logic, those prices should reflect a net sales price without a commission. Except they don’t. Which causes potential disappointment for buyers who think that way.

All real estate commissions are negotiable, but not every agent will negotiate.

If you are a buyer, you can combine closing costs like commissions into your mortgage.

It is considered insulting to call an agent to list your home and ask if the agent will discount her commission in the first breath.

Agents cannot be solely judged on commissions. They are not all the same, like a commodity. Top agents often charge more than newer agents.

If you are a buyer, you do not directly pay the commission so a discount would not affect a buyer. There are a few agencies who offer to pay buyers to lure their business, but that type of business practice is considered an odd concept among many agents. To help alleviate much of this confusion, don’t be astonished if over the next 20 years sellers and buyers each retain their representation and pay separately for said representation.

In some cases, agents are seeing a reduction in the amount of commission paid to buyer’s agents. The commission is often not split 50/50 between listing and selling agents. Many listing agents make more than the buyer’s agents. And lately, that amount has been reduced even further, possibly because some listing agents will discount so low that they cannot afford to pay what other agents offer.

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With so much information readily available online, clients sometimes ask, “Why should we hire a real estate agent?” They wonder (and rightfully so) if they couldn’t buy or sell a home through the Internet or regular marketing and advertising channels without representation, without a real estate agent. Some do fine on their own, but many don’t. Here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider hiring a professional real estate agent.

01  Education and Experience

You don’t need to know everything about buying and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. The trick is to find the right person. For the most part, they all cost roughly the same, so why not hire a person with more education and experience than you? We’re all looking for more precious time in our lives, and hiring pros gives us that time.

02 Buffering Help

Agents take the spam out of your property showings and visits. If you’re a buyer of new homes, your agent will whip out her sword and keep the builder’s agents at bay, preventing them from biting or nipping at your heels. If you’re a seller, your agent will filter all those phone calls that lead to nowhere from lookie-loos and try to induce serious buyers to write an offer immediately.

03 Neighborhood Knowledge

Agents either possess intimate knowledge or they know where to find the industry buzz about your neighborhood. They can identify comparable sales and hand these facts to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. For example, you may know that a home down the street was on the market for $350,000, but an agent will know it had upgrades and sold at $285,000 after 65 days on the market and after twice falling out of escrow.

04 Price Guidance

Contrary to what some people believe, agents do not select prices for sellers or buyers. However, an agent will help to guide clients to make the right choices for themselves. If a listing is at 7%, for example, an agent has a 7% vested interest in the sale, but the client has a 93% interest. Selling agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose a price. Then based on market supply, demand and the conditions, the agent will devise a negotiation strategy.

05 Market Conditions Information

Real estate agents can disclose market conditions, which will govern your selling or buying process. Many factors determine how you will proceed. Data such as the average per square foot cost of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria, will have a huge bearing on what you ultimately decide to do.

06 Professional Networking

Real estate agents network with other professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many agents will hesitate to recommend a certain individual or company over another, but they do know which vendors have a reputation for efficiency, competency, and competitive pricing. Agents can, however, give you a list of references with whom they have worked and provide background information to help you make a wise selection.

07 Negotiation Skills and Confidentiality

Top producing agents negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because they are skilled. It’s part of their job description. Good agents are not messengers, delivering buyer’s offers to sellers and vice versa. They are professionals who are trained to present their client’s case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests.

08 Handling Volumes of Paperwork

One-page deposit receipts were prevalent in the early 1970s. Today’s purchase agreements run ten pages or more. That does not include the federal- and state-mandated disclosures nor disclosures dictated by local custom. Most real estate files average thicknesses from one to three inches of paper. One tiny mistake or omission could land you in court or cost you thousands. In some states, lawyers handle the disclosures—thank goodness!

09 Answer Questions After Closing

Even the smoothest transactions that close without complications can come back to haunt. For example, taxing authorities that collect property tax assessments, doc stamps or transfer tax can fall months behind and mix up invoices, but one call to your agent can straighten out the confusion. Many questions can pop up that were overlooked in the excitement of closing. Good agents stand by ready to assist. Worthy and honest agents don’t leave you in the dust to fend for yourself.

10 Develop Relationships for Future Business

The basis for an agent’s success and continued career in real estate is referrals. Few agents would survive if their livelihood was dependent on consistently drumming up a new business. This emphasis gives agents strong incentives to make certain clients are happy and satisfied. It also means that an agent who stays in the business will be there for you when you need to hire an agent again. Many will periodically mail market updates to you to keep you informed and to stay in touch.

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