Buyer Agent Commission.

In plain English

The buyer agent commission is the fee paid to the real estate agent who represents the person buying a home. For decades, sellers typically covered this fee and it was posted alongside the home in the listing database. That changed with the 2024 National Association of Realtors settlement: buyer-broker compensation is no longer posted in the MLS, and buyers now sign a written agreement spelling out what their agent will be paid before touring homes. The seller may still agree to cover some or all of it, but that is now negotiated deal by deal.

01Why it matters

You can now be on the hook to pay your own agent if the seller will not, so the number and who pays it is something to settle in writing before you fall in love with a house.

02The math, step by step

Suppose your written buyer agreement says your agent earns a set percentage of the purchase price. Commissions are negotiable and practices changed after the 2024 NAR settlement, so the rate is whatever you and your agent put in writing. On a $300,000 home at a 2.5% rate, that is $7,500. In your offer, you can ask the seller to cover that $7,500. If they refuse, you would owe it yourself at closing, so you build that into your budget early.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

Every figure on this page is sourced to a primary document. Tap to open the original.