If you’re looking to buy or sell a house fast in Owasso, it’s likely you’ve considered hiring a real estate agent who can help you with the process. A real estate agent earns a commission from selling a home, and how much this commission is depends on what the home was sold for as well as other factors.
In this article, we walk you through everything you need to know about real estate agent commissions, and we also share tips you can use when you want to avoid paying realtor fees and commissions.
How Do Real Estate Commissions Work?
When you decide to put your house on the market with help from an agent, you need to sign what’s known as a “listing agreement”. Included in this agreement are clauses which dictate how the realtor is to be paid if a sale is completed. Make no mistake: You can always negotiate and get your realtor to lower the size of their commission, even after this agreement has been signed. After all, under federal antitrust law, it’s illegal for real estate professionals to collectively set a uniform commission rate.
Generally, 5% or 6% of the home’s selling price is paid in realtor commissions. Most sellers factor in what they’ll be paying in commissions when determining a fair listing price.
The 5% to 6% of the home’s selling price is usually split 50/50 between the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent, but they can choose to split this sum however they want.
Who Gets Paid Commissions From A Home Sale?
When a home sale is finalized, numerous parties make commissions from the sale, including:
- The listing agent; this is the person who put up the listing on behalf of the seller.
- The buyer’s agent; this is the realtor the buyer hired for assistance.
- The listing agent’s broker; this is the broker that employs the listing agent.
- The buyer’s agent’s broker; this is the broker that employs the buyer’s agent.
Real Estate Commissions Example
Here’s a quick example which shows how much you’d pay in commissions when selling a house in Owasso. Let’s say you sold the home for $300,000 and the commission rate is 6%. $18,000 would be paid in commissions, which means both agents would get $9,000 before the brokers get cut in.
Generally, an agent will split the commission they get with their broker 60/40. In this case, the agent gets $5,400 while the broker gets $3,600. It’s common for more experienced agents to split 70/30 or 80/20 with their brokers.
In this example, the final commission split is:
- Listing agent: $5,400
- Listing broker: $3,600
- Buyer’s agent: $5,400
- Buyer’s agent’s broker: $3,600
If the listing broker finds a buyer who doesn’t have an agent, they get to keep the full 6% commission, which is $18,000 in this example. Remember, this is the amount made before taxes. Like in any other profession, these earnings are eroded by business expenses and taxes.
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