Real Estate Agent Commission Calculator

The NAR settlement resolved antitrust litigation alleging that the old structure inflated commissions by requiring sellers to advertise buyer-agent compensation on the MLS.

Two rules took effect. Compensation offers to buyer agents can no longer appear on the MLS. And buyers must sign a written representation agreement, specifying their agent's compensation, before being shown homes.

What did not change is that a seller may still offer to pay the buyer's agent — it simply has to happen outside the MLS, through negotiation on the individual deal.

In practice most sellers still do, because a listing that offers nothing to buyer agents is competing against listings that do. But it is now explicitly a negotiating position rather than a posted default.

The clearest change for buyers is that they now have a written agreement stating what their agent is owed, and if the seller does not cover it, they may owe it themselves. That is a real cost to understand before signing.

It is worth being specific about the service, because the value varies enormously and the fee mostly does not.

On the listing side: pricing advice from local sales data, professional photography, MLS entry and syndication to the major portals, showing coordination, offer negotiation, and management of the contract through to closing.

The pricing advice is the part that most often justifies the fee. A property listed 10% too high in the first two weeks — when it gets the most attention — frequently sells for less in the end than one priced correctly from the start.

On the buyer side: search, comparative analysis, negotiation, and coordination of inspection, appraisal and financing contingencies. For a first-time buyer this is genuinely substantial. For an experienced buyer who has found the house themselves, it is considerably less.

What the fee does not scale with is the work. Selling a $900,000 house is not twice the work of selling a $450,000 one, but at a fixed percentage it pays twice as much. This is the structural argument behind flat-fee and discount models, and it is a fair one.

The right choice depends on the market more than on the property. In a market where anything listed sells in a week, the marketing value of a full-service agent is low and the savings from a discount model are close to free. In a slow or complicated market, an agent who knows how to price and position a property earns their fee several times over.

Full-service agent —

2.5–3% per side. Everything handled. The default, and reasonable when you value the time saved or lack local knowledge.

Discount brokerage —

commonly 1–2% listing side. Usually full MLS exposure with less hand-holding; the savings are real and the service is genuinely thinner.

Flat-fee MLS —

a few hundred dollars to get listed. You handle showings, negotiation and paperwork. Works best in a hot market with a straightforward property.

For sale by owner —

no listing commission, though you will usually still offer something to a buyer agent. FSBO homes have historically sold for less on average, though the comparison is confounded by which sellers choose it.

iBuyer —

an instant cash offer with a service fee often exceeding a full commission, in exchange for speed and certainty. You are buying convenience, and it is priced accordingly.

Some situations give you real room, and it is worth knowing which.

A high-value property is the clearest. The percentage produces a fee out of proportion to the work, and most agents know it.

Using the same agent to sell and to buy is the second. You are bringing two transactions, and a reduced rate on one or both is a normal ask.

A property that will sell easily — well priced, good condition, strong market — is the third. Low effort, quick close.

And a repeat client or a referral relationship carries weight, because the cost of acquiring a client is a large part of what the commission funds.

What is worth avoiding is negotiating the fee so low that your listing is deprioritised against the agent's other work. The point is a fair price, not the lowest possible one — and interviewing three agents tells you more about the market rate than any single negotiation will.