Marcus T. Wood, REALTOR® - HOW TO NAVIGATE THE HOME-BUYING PROCESS

paid through a transaction (commission) at the end of each sale.

For example, agents receive a commission once the transaction goes through to settlement (closes) based on the selling price of the home. At that point, the commission is earned. An agent does not receive any payment for time spent prior to a settlement. The commission itself is negotiated — in most cases, between the seller and the agent. Typically, an agent will earn a commission of 6% from the sale price, but some brokerages have commission discounts for the sellers with whom they work. Essentially, the listing agent and the buyer’s agent will split the commission. That can bring forth some issues. For example, sometimes the split might not be negotiated evenly. A seller could have agreed to pay a commission of 5.5% that, if further divided, the buyer’s agent would receive 3% while the listing agent receives 2.5% of the commission. This is an example of a "fair" split because the seller's agent is the one who negotiated a discounted commission, not the buyer's agent. Although some agents are either an associate broker or a broker, all commission payments go through a broker. A broker manages the brokerage where the agent is working. From there, the commission is then split to the agent and the broker, according to the agreement that has been made. The split will vary; sometimes, newer agents will earn a small portion of the commission compared to the experienced, or successful agents who generally sell more expensive properties or homes.

PAYING THE COMMISSION ITSELF

The overall commission is paid for at the settlement period by the seller. The fee is taken from the proceeds of the sale of the home or the property. However, the buyers pay the commission because they are literally paying to purchase the house, while the

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