Commission Charged by Real Estate Agents: The 4 Ways It Gets Paid in 2026

Updated October 2026. Rules checked against NAR’s consumer guides on listing agreements, written buyer agreements, offers of compensation and seller concessions, NAR’s settlement page for sellers and NAR’s September 2026 sales report, read October 28, 2026.

No law sets the commission real estate agents charge; it’s negotiated. As of October 2026, a seller’s agent is paid under the listing agreement, and a buyer’s agent under a written buyer agreement that must state a clear amount. That buyer-side fee can be paid four ways: by the seller, by the listing broker, by the buyer, or through a seller concession.

Jump to: 🤝 Who agrees to what · 🪜 The four ways · 💲 Example sale · 🏠 Concessions · 📍 Flat fee · ❓ FAQ

Most commission articles ask “how much?” This one asks “who agrees to it, who signs, and who actually pays?” Those answers changed in 2024, and they decide what you’ll see on your closing statement. If you want averages and alternatives, our other guides cover those; links are at the end.

Who agrees to each commission, and where is it written?

There are two possible fees in a sale with agents on both sides, and each lives in its own contract.

The listing agreement. NAR’s consumer guide calls it the contract that lets your agent represent and market your home, lists the services, and says what the agent will be paid. It states plainly that agent compensation is fully negotiable and not set by law. The type of agreement also matters: under an exclusive right-to-sell agreement you owe the fee no matter who sells the home, while an exclusive agency agreement lets you sell it yourself without paying the agent. Our guide to types of listing agreements compares them.

The written buyer agreement. Buyers working with an agent who is a REALTOR® sign one before touring a home with that agent, in person or virtually. NAR says the compensation must be clearly defined, for example $0, a flat fee, a percent or an hourly rate, and not open-ended or a range. Visiting an open house alone doesn’t require one.

What are the four ways a buyer’s agent gets paid?

1. The seller offers compensation directly. NAR’s guide on offers of compensation says this is optional; it’s the seller’s call. If you offer, it can be a flat amount paid straight to the buyer’s agent. It can be shared through flyers, signs, websites, social media or a phone call, but not on the MLS.

2. The listing broker shares part of its fee. The seller can let the listing agent pass part of the listing fee to the buyer’s agent. NAR’s settlement page says your agent must disclose this to you in writing in advance and get your approval, with the amount or rate stated.

3. The buyer pays under the buyer agreement. If the seller offers nothing, or less than the buyer agreed to pay, the buyer covers the difference at closing, as the written agreement says. Buyers can negotiate any part of that agreement, NAR notes, including services, length and compensation.

4. The buyer asks for a concession in the offer. Instead of a direct payment to the agent, the buyer’s offer can ask the seller to cover some of the buyer’s costs. More on how that differs below.

For the seller’s side of this choice, see do sellers pay the buyer’s agent commission? and for how the money moves at the closing table, read who pays the realtor commission.

What does each path look like on a typical sale?

NAR’s September 2026 existing-home sales report put the median price at $417,500. Here’s one sale, with a listing fee of 2.5% and a buyer agent agreement of 2.5%, used only as an illustration.

These percentages are examples only. Commissions are not set by law or NAR rules and are fully negotiable. Sellers choose whether to offer any buyer-agent compensation, and how much. Since August 17, 2024, such offers can’t be shown on the MLS. Your own numbers depend on what you negotiate. To run them yourself, try our commission calculator guide.

Notice who can save on which line. A seller controls the listing fee through negotiation or by choosing a different service. The buyer-agent line is a marketing decision for the seller and a budget item for the buyer. A buyer with less cash may prefer a home where the seller offers something.

How is a seller concession different from compensation?

A concession is when the seller pays some of the buyer’s purchase costs, NAR’s concessions guide explains. Think title search, loan origination, inspection, HOA fees, taxes or repairs. An offer of compensation is narrower: it pays the buyer’s agent for bringing a buyer who closes.

The rules differ, too. Concessions can be shared on an MLS where the MLS allows it, but only as the total sum and not tied to using or paying a buyer’s agent. Some MLSs only allow a yes or no. Lenders and state law cap how much a seller can concede. NAR adds one detail worth knowing: any payment toward the buyer’s broker fee is excluded from those lender limits and must be made off the MLS.

In practice, a buyer’s offer might ask for “$8,000 toward closing costs” (a concession) or “seller pays buyer’s broker 2%” (compensation). The first helps the buyer’s cash to close in general; the second pays the agent. The commission note above applies to that 2% too.

How does a flat fee listing change the commission?

It replaces the listing-side percentage with a fixed fee. With Beycome, Basic is $99 and Enhanced $399, and the fee is earned when the listing is published on the MLS, so nothing more is owed to Beycome at closing, even if you find the buyer yourself. Basic is $129 in California and Illinois. Beycome lists homes in 17 states and DC.

On the buyer side, Beycome doesn’t set, collect or pay any buyer’s-agent compensation on your listing. You decide whether to offer any, and you agree it directly with that agent in writing. A free template, “Compensation Agreement – Seller to Buyer’s Broker”, is in the dashboard under Legal Forms; it’s signed by you and the buyer’s broker and works as escrow instructions at closing. In Beycome internal data for 2026, about 36% of closed sales had a buyer with no agent.

Want a person to negotiate with you, always on your side? Concierge gives you dedicated experts and full support while you keep control of every decision, at $1,399. See all packages on the flat fee MLS page.

Do you need an agent to sell or buy?

No, it’s not required; it’s your choice. A full-service agent prices, markets, shows, negotiates and coordinates the closing, and many sellers value that. Selling with a flat fee listing, you handle more of that work and keep more of the price. Both are fair paths. If you want an agent at a lower rate, our guide to low commission real estate agents near you explains what to ask.

Buying? Beycome’s buyer program is open to every buyer on homes listed by other agents (the commission credit can’t apply where no buyer-agent commission is offered, like most FSBO homes, or on homes listed by Beycome sellers). Beycome keeps 1% of the price, $1,499 minimum, and credits the rest of the buyer-agent commission at closing with lender approval. Details are on the buyer program page.

Where can you read more about commissions?

Each of our commission guides answers a different question. For a line-by-line cost of one sale, read the average commission for selling a house. To pick a way to sell, see commission and your seller options. Pricing models are in agent commission alternatives explained, state differences in commission by state, and the control trade-off in commission costs versus control.

For the rules themselves, the National Association of Realtors keeps its consumer guides at facts.realtor. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains closing documents, and the Nolo legal resource platform has plain-English articles on real estate contracts. If an agreement confuses you, NAR’s own guide suggests asking an attorney.

Questions about real estate agent commissions