How Much Do Real Estate Agent Make? And Who Pays

After a real estate agent successfully closes the sale of a home, they make a certain commission on the total sale of the house. Averagely, the commission is between 5-6% of the sales price. 

Real estate agent commissions are usually divided into two; the seller’s agent takes 50% and the buyer’s agent takes 50%. However, regardless of how the commission is split, both the seller’s and buyer’s agent are paid by the seller after the closing of the sale.

For instance, a 6% commission on the sales price of $300,000 would equal $18,000. And even when the money is split between both agents, their earnings are a substantial sum of $9,000 on the home sale. These figures are not easy to pay by home sellers and the same applies even to the wealthy.

Who pays the real estate agent commission?

When it comes to who pays the real estate agent commission, buyers are lucky because the seller pays the commission. Some buyers prefer to have their agent (buyer’s agent). This is good for the buyer because it helps the buyer work with a professional whom he can keep constant communication with. 

However, you must ensure that any real estate agent you choose must be competent, reliable, and trustworthy. But the fact remains that the seller pays both the buyer’s and seller’s, agent.

You could say that the seller pays commission using the money he gets from the buyer; this doesn’t mean it is the buyer paying the real estate commission because the buyer won’t pay an extra fee to hire their agent. And if the buyer’s agent is not available, then the seller’s agent will not share the commission with any other person.

Also, you should know that most real estate agents get paid in commission rather than fees; this means that they’re paid according to their success rate of closing the sale of a home rather than the hour they used to work.

So if they’re unable to close the sale of a home, then they may not get paid at all. The chances of them getting selling a home depends on many factors including luck. But if they’re unable to sell the home, then they won’t get paid for all their hard work.

Dual agencies

This is when the buyer and the seller use the same agent meaning a situation whereby one person acts as the buyer’s and seller’s agent. This is known as a dual agency and a seller may be able to negotiate on the rate of the commission with the agent. 

However, dual agencies could cause some challenges especially when they have to represent a side fairly especially if there’s a dispute between the buyer and the seller.

The Best Way To Sell Your House

The best way to sell my house fast Austin without having to pay any fees in real estate commission is to sell to a cash house buyer. At Austin All Cash, we buy houses Austin from our customers and we help them get their houses off the market in record time. Austin House Buyers will buy your houses conveniently without putting you through any stress.

Contact us today to learn more about our services!