If I Am Selling My House Do I Have To Pay A Commission For The Buyer Agent?


If I Am Selling My House Do I Have To Pay A Commission For The Buyer Agent?
By Scott Rogers • August 29, 2024
If I Am Selling My House Do I Have To Pay A Commission For The Buyer Agent? Short answer - no. Longer answer - keep reading. For most of the transactions I have been involved with for the past 21 years... The sellers of most homes agreed in a listing agreement to pay a brokerage fee (commission) that would end up (in most transactions) being paid in part to the company and agent representing the seller and in part to the company and agent representing the buyer. But with home buyers now needing to sign buyer brokerage agreements before touring even a single house... ...and thus having more upfront conversations with their agent about compensation... ...some sellers might be wondering... If the buyer for my home is signing a buyer brokerage agreement to pay their agent for their services, do I have to offer to pay a commission to the buyer agent? Sellers are not required to offer to pay a commission to a buyer agent... though this is not actually new. You didn't have to offer to pay a commission to a buyer agent last year, nor do you this year. Given you don't have to offer to pay a commission to the buyer agent, what should you do, or what will most sellers likely do? WILL PAY - I imagine plenty of sellers will likely still plan to offer to pay the buyer agent's commission. In this scenario, the buyer will pay the seller X for the house and the seller will pay their agent's commission and the buyer's agent's commission out of the sales price. WON'T PAY - There will likely be some sellers who will not plan to offer to pay a buyer's agent's commission. In this scenario, assuming the buyer is represented by an agent, the buyer will pay the seller X for the house and the seller will ONLY pay their agent's commission out of the sales price. The buyer will then pay Y to their agent as a commission, resulting in the buyer paying X (sales price) plus Y (buyer agent commission) to purchase the home. What you as a seller might choose to do could be related to the balance of the market in your particular price range, or could be related to whether your target buyers are likely to have extra funds available to pay the buyer agent commission in addition to the sales price, or could be related to your overall pricing and marketing strategy. We will want to talk through all of these scenarios to determine your best course of action as to whether to offer to pay a buyer agent commission when you are selling your home. Receive Updates by Email Recent Articles: Is There A Price You WOULD Pay For This House? There Are Plenty Of Types Of Houses That Exist That Just Are Not Available To Purchase Home Sales By Price Range In The City Of Harrisonburg Are You Compromising On Aspects Of Your Next Home That You Can Or Cannot Change Later? How Much Slower Are The Winter Months In Our Local Housing Market? Rockingham County and New Home Sales Drive Surge in Area Housing Market Find The Balance Between Optimistic And Realistic Home Pricing Room Size Is Difficult To Understand Solely From Real Estate Photos How Much Would You Value Not Having To Prepare Your Home For Showings? One Out Of Four Homes Is Taking Longer Than A Month To Sell
Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@funkhousergroup.com
Based on information from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS® or its MLS, for the period Jan 1, 2000 through Nov 23, 2024 (unless otherwise noted).
Comments (0) or Subscribe